Doggy Bag, Please!

I’ve never been a person to bring leftovers home from restaurants.  My general plan has always been to stuff myself and leave the leftovers on the plate.  Obviously that wasn’t good, both from a health point and a wallet point.

Last week, Hubs and I went to Chipotle for our normal weekly lunch out.  I was hungry, or I thought I was, but I ate less than half of my burrito bowl before deciding I was completely and totally full.  Normally I would have tossed it.  Instead I looked at it with new eyes, thinking “How can I not create waste with this?”  Honestly my first thought wasn’t about saving money with it, my first thought was about not sending that food needlessly to a landfill where it will release unneeded methane gas.  That thought was followed immediately by “Hey!  That’s enough for dinner later!”

For the first time in my life, I walked up to the counter and asked for a lid for my Chipotle container, sealed it up, and brought my leftovers home.  And when I found myself hungry later that night, I was very happy I had saved my Chipotle and brought it home.  If I like it enough to eat it once, then why not twice?  I was just as full after eating the leftovers as I was eating it the first time, so I think I can make it a rule that Chipotle is a 2-meal restaurant for me. {Hubs, on the other hand, eats every single grain of rice in his bowl!}  Two for the price of one, can’t beat that!

I got to practice my new found doggy-baggery today.  Hubs birthday is tomorrow, but since he is off work tonight, we decided to out for his birthday dinner tonight.  His dad always gives us a giftcard to Texas Roadhouse as part of our Christmas gift, and we always save it for Hubs birthday dinner.  We had a fabulous dinner, but ended up with some rolls left in our basket.  Our waitress asked if we’d like a box for them, and I nearly reflexively said no.  Then I caught myself and said we would appreciate it.  So I loaded up those two rolls, then Hubs asked for a box for the rest of the ribs he couldn’t stuff in.

We finished our errands and came home so I could call my Mom and Hubs could walk the dog and random things, and after a few hours I was hungry again.  What did I do?

I took one of the leftover rolls and topped it with half a slice of cheddar and a slice of deli style turkey.  Voila, a small sandwich to fill a somewhat hungry belly, while being frugal and using up food so that it isn’t wasted.  You better bet that samich tasted dang good!