Guidelines for BBQ Leftovers

A Bite-Size Read for Your Health and Your Waistline

Photo by Lee Myungseong on Unsplash

The weather is getting nicer, which means it’s time for pool parties, cookouts, and backyard barbecues! All those events mean lots of food — and lots of leftovers. We all know leftovers can be a challenge because holi-days tend to become holi-weeks or holi-years. Here are some ideas to repurpose and reuse your leftovers (and permission to throw them out)!

1. What to Keep & How Much
   Decide what you want to keep and how much of it you need. Think about the foods that you would typically have at home anyway and keep those. What can you repurpose to make an easy weeknight meal that aligns with usual choices? Keep that. This might look like keeping the leftovers from fruit and veggie trays while throwing away the sugary dips that come with them. Pick and choose the indulgent choices each subsequent time you’re enjoying the leftovers rather than eating everything, at the same time, again and again, at every meal until they’re gone.
2. Give It to Guests
   Whatever you don’t want, send it home with your guests. When you’re at the store, buy extra takeout containers, whether they’re the ones from a restaurant or reusable ones. At the BBQ set them out so that people see them and know they’re for your guests to use to take food home. It sets the expectation you’re happy for them to take food to go. As a…