Leftovers

Dinner last night was leftovers...planned leftovers which are different from regular old leftovers... let me explain.
When I was growing up, I hated leftover night (which didn't happen often) because it was just a jumble of little bits of previously really good food reheated in the microwave. Now that I am the one planning out dinners for a family, I understand how important those leftovers came be in the family budget. So, there are some meals in our family menu that I know make too much. When I make these recipes I make sure there is enough for at least 2 full meals and I freeze half of the results. By freeze half of what I make, I know that we don't have to repeat a meal twice in one week and I know that there is a night in the future where cooking will be easy.
One of the tricks I use for planned leftovers is reheating everything in the oven. That helps insure that everything is heated thoroughly and evenly without increasing our exposure to the chemicals released by reheating plastic. I also try to make sure that only one part of the meal is a leftover. If the main course was a planned leftover, I try to pair it with fresh side dishes so that it feels like a brand new meal instead of feeling like leftover night.