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You've been told stories about students eating leftovers and then needing to go to the hospital from getting sick. With rising food costs, everyone is trying to save money, but you don't want to eat something that will make you sick. So if you're trying to use everything you have right now, you should follow these steps from the USDA and you should be safe to consume the leftovers:
-Leftovers must be refrigerated within two hours of cooking and all perishable foods that have been left at room temperature for more than two hours should be discarded. You can brag on that iron stomach of yours, but this really is a good practice to follow
-Cold perishable food should be kept at 40 F or below.
-Food should be cooled rapidly to reach the safe refrigerator-storage temperature of 40 F or below and leftovers should be covered and wrapped in airtight packaging.
-Leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for three to four days, or frozen for three to four months.
-Frozen leftovers are safe indefinitely, but can lose moisture and flavor when stored.
-It is safe to reheat leftovers without thawing in a saucepan, the microwave or the oven, and food should be used within three to four days after thawing.
-Leftovers should be heated in the microwave until reaching an internal temperature of 165 F, and people should rotate the food for even heating.
Follow these few rules, and you'll be fine eating leftovers from here on out.