whether it s the holidays a celebration or just a weeknight dinner leftovers can be a cause for both excitement and concern take a look at a few of our leftover storage tips store leftovers in airtight containers and add a piece of masking tape to the lid to mark the date this way you can be sure they re eaten or tossed out within the proper time frame open canned foods should be repackaged as well when properly refrigerated and stored you can save pizza for 3 4 days cooked seafood for 3 4 days rice pasta dishes without meat for 3 5 days cooked meats like steaks pork and chicken for 3 4 days soups and stews for 3 4 days cooked vegetables for 3 4 days shallow pans are the best way to cool warm food fast before storing them to refrigerate avoid overfilling your refrigerator because it prevents cool air from circulating around food and maintaining its proper temperature reheat leftovers on the stove in the oven or in the microwave until the food is nice and hot avoid reheating food in slow cookers it heats food too slowly and harmful bacteria can grow when in doubt throw it out you can t always tell or smell when food is contaminated with bacteria it doesn t necessarily look spoiled to the naked eye if even for a second you suspect your leftovers may have been sitting out or even in the fridge too long better to toss them in the trash than take the chance and get sick