I worked the last 3 nights and I lost count of the number of people who felt strongly they had "food poisoning" after eating Thanksgiving leftovers. 5 days is the absolute MAX you should ever eat leftovers. Aim for no more than 3. For group gathering party kind of leftovers where you don't have as much control over double dipping, little hands and Aunt Lucy's smokers cough... maybe just 24-48 hours. Keep in mind many people have their food out for hours on T-day before it even gets put away. Not good.
No turkey sandwich is worth it coming out both ends at 2am.
So consider this your final warning. It's time to trash your leftovers. No, you can no longer freeze them either. It will just delay the misery that lies under that plastic wrap. And if your DH is anything like mine, get rid of it all for their own good!! Because my husband firmly believes if you can't see anything growing, it must be OK to eat.
Re: If you haven't already, please toss T-day leftovers!!!
I think that's totally different. Preparing food in a safe manner and then keeping it chilled until eaten poses a rather low risk for bacterial contamination and growth. Eating stuffing that was picked at by a dozen people, left out for 3 hours and then put back in the fridge for 5-6 days...
Joyco - If you insist. But when you have explosive diarrhea and your big girl panties end up being a big girl diaper, don't come crying to me
Yum! I think I'll go dig out a piece of pumpkin pie
I know the 3-5 day rule, and depending on the food, usually toss at 3-5. Sometimes, bad. Okay, often I'm bad. And I'm seriously heading for pie.
Thanks for the reminder!
I ate leftovers for the 6th day in a row on Tues. I'm like your DH though- if it's not green, it's good! Growing up if there was food, it better not go to waste.
DH gave our dog the rest of the turkey this morning.