sorry if i'm in the wrong board, but as we discuss food here i think it should be alright. i wonder for how long you can refrigerate your food. when you buy something chilled from a supermarket it expires after a week or two or even a month, but i don't think that applies to something you cook yourself. does anyone know how long you can keep your cooked food like pasta, rice, vegetables etc in the fridge? i'm vegetarian so none of my food contain any meat or fish. i normaly keep it for 2 days, if longer i freeze it so it's good even after a few months. however it's much easier to use it out of fridge and some foods like pasta get quite mushy when frozen so i wonder if it could last refrigerated for more than 2 days and how time affects it.
any advice will be appreciated.

I freeze my food too if I know I won't be using it. As for pasta, rice, soup..things like that, I believe it can stay in the fridge for about 3 days, maybe 4 tops. But if you left it any longer you would be able to tell if it's gone bad by the smell or the color. When I have left overs, I make sure it gets eaten in the next few days, unless I want to freeze it, like meat and such which is a great way to save. I've never frozen pasta before though. I've heard that the colder your fridge is, the longer it will last.

Something that is boiled through and through (sterilized) can be kept for longer than something lightly cooked.
But I'm almost with Peg Bracken (I HATE TO COOK BOOK):
"When In doubt, throw it OUT!"

She also says to notice there's never any leftover veal in wild mushrooms, just a tired old potato, some wilted broccoli, wrinkled peas or a half cup of rice. That food that nobody wanted when it was fresh doesn't get more apealing as it languors in the fridge day after day. Toss it and your life gets simpler...AND no guilt feelings every time you open the fridge and have to look at it laying there.


Measure pasta carefully and there is no waste.
Birds LOVE leftover pasta...I think they think spaghetti = worms! :D

thanks for interesting answer :) but the thing is not measuring for me. i always cook a lot at a time because i have no time. i usually work up to 15 hours a day so there's no time left for cooking. still i prefer my food to ready meals so whenver i have a chance i cook a lot so i can just microwave it on the following days. however it's not too exciting to eat for example pasta 4 days in a row so i wonder if i could keep it longer.
i wonder why shop bough ready meals are usually good for up to 2 weeks, when sometimes they don't even contain any preservatives or anything like that.

TWO WEEKS?????

You might get by aging a steak for 2 weeks in the fridge but that's an anomaly, and it must be done carefully...and still most people don't care for the slightly fermented flavor. (I do)

But try that with fish, hamburger, or poultry and you'll need a gas mask and a pitchfork just to throw the putrid smelly mass out. It would be impossible for even a starving person to eat.

have no idea how long steak or fish can be kept in fridge cause like i mentioned i'm vegetarian and as far as i know meat products are quickest to get bad. however still shop bought ready meals expire after up to two weeks, including ones with meat (like lasagne, curries etc). haven't tried them but i'm sure they taste alright. at least the meatless ones definitely do. so i still wonder why i can't keep food i cook myself for that long?

wonder why shop bough ready meals are usually good for up to 2 weeks

I guess what I am saying is that I've never experienced any such shelf life from prepared foods unless frozen.

do you have ready meals in the us? those that are refrigerated in plastic containers and you just microwave them? like lasagne, pasta dishes, chicken & other meats with rice, curries, baked potatoes etc. also quiches, pies and things like that. all of them last for up to 2 weeks here.