Thursday, June 22, 2006

A lesson in freeganism

Here is a quick lesson in freeganism:
1. Have your sister work at a health food store and bring home all the food they would throw away
2. If you are so inclined, instead of your sister working at a health food store, you can get a job at one
3. If neither of these are an option, resort to dumpster diving (ain't nothing wrong with that, you can get a lot of good stuff in dumpsters)

Now sit down, have a cup of coffee that was hopefully rescued from the coffee hut down the street, and enjoy reading this blog, which today is dedicated to freeganism.

First off, we have yesterday's dinner. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it, so you'll just have to imagine it. Our friend came over yesterday and after we ate (more on the grub in a minute), we watched a movie called The Day The Earth Stood Still. It was hilarious! The only problem with that is it wasn't supposed to be funny. It dragged on and on and nothing really happened, and the end was not what we were expecting. Anyway, I don't want to give anything away in case anyone ever watches it.

The grub: This was a special kick off the first day of summer dinner. Remember when you see this (*), it means Rachel took it home.

I took a picture of the table (Rachel set it), but then I forgot about the food.
We had eggplant cakes (from The Passionate Vegetarian; besides other ingredients there's tvp* in them) with sprouted hamburger buns, red onion*, spinach*, tomato*, and ketchup*; frozen tater tots; frozen corn; cucumber wedges*; sauteed shredded carrots and baby arugala* drizzled with balsamic-flax dressing; and iced tea*. For dessert we had watermelon*, and sorbet*. Naturally I didn't eat any, but there was also free non-vegan cookies from my mom's friend who owns a bakery. The sorbet had a little dent in the container, which is why we got it. Everyone really loved the eggplant cakes. My mom and sister both thought they were the best vegan burgers I've made yet, so I'd say they were a success.


Today's dinner: wild rice pilaf (wild rice*; parsley*, oregano*, rosemary*, scallions*, chives*; and dried cranberries); tomato walnut-crusted fried "chicken" (from La Dolce Vegan); frozen (defrosted) steamed kale* drizzled with agave-balsamic vinaigrette (using agave R brought home); frozen corn; and sauteed shredded carrots.


Last but not least is veggie dip. I used a dip recipe but added more vegetables. I haven't had any yet but my mom really liked it. In it there's frozen (defrosted) spinach, onion, garlic, canola mayo*, carrot, cucumber*, celery*, green pepper*, cumin, and salt and pepper.

The Daily Roundup Of Food Rachel Brought Home:
banana's, celery, snow peas, red pepper & orange peppers, cucumber, scallions, ayellow onion, collards, plums, a head of frisee, and broccoli. She also brought home a package of silken tofu that expired, and( not vegan per se, just trying to make a point here), pecan cranberry crunch granola, yogurt covered cranberries, sesame peanut crunchies, coconut water-blech (sorry if anybody likes this coconut water, but we all find it nasty), gluten free double chocolate sandwhich cookies, goji berries, Amy's organic chili (vegan), crystallized ginger, a three-pack of apple juice, and 40 packs of hair dye. As soon as I muster up the courage my hair will be red.

Anyhoo, that was a lesson in freeganism.

I'm trying to use up food in the freezer and in the pantry, so I'm going to be planning meals around what we have to use up.

Bye!

10 comments:

Freedom said...

Wow Rachel bought a lot home today... I'm sure you'll look great as a red head. Lucky you getting free Goji berries - they're soooo expensive!

Anonymous said...

Hi--I love your blog! I have been reading it for a while, but this is my first "comment." I was wondering if you could make and post a list of all of the cookbooks you use? Every time you mention one, I mean to write it down so I can look for it, but I never do (or if I do it is on a little scrap of paper that always seems to disappear!). I LOVE vegan/vegetarian cookbooks, and have been wanting to get some new ones--I would love to see a list of the ones you use regularly!

Thanks
Courtney

primaryconsumer said...

Freedom-I know, I am so excited about the goji berries! I can't wait to use them.

Courtney-Thank you so much! I love it when people leave comments on my blog, so don't be shy. A while back I posted about the cookbooks I use, but I will do another one soon because I've added more to my collection.

t. said...

Can I add a few things to your freeganism lesson? Both me and Seitan MC of Toda's Food are aspiring freegans.
-use cloth towels instead of kitchen paper
-use hankerchiefs instead than paper napkings
-limite the usage of toilet paper to the max
-no more plastic bags: they are not very useful anyhow
-no disposable plastic plates and cutlery ever!

KleoPatra said...

Nice freeganism post.

Are you really goin' redhead? Good for you!!

Love your post today (yesterday, you know what i mean). Very cool!

And what a gorgeous pink table. That's stunning!

Kuntal Joisher said...

hey i got my first free produce today!! yayy!! I had a coupla friends working at nearby co-op store and they kept some stuff that was supposed to be thrown away aside for me.. :-)

Anonymous said...

You sister shoudl come visit me! Wow - what a haul.

The food sounds amazing.

jenny said...

Such a cute place setting!!

funwithyourfood said...

hahahaha
Thanks for the lesson

I'm home from SF.. Just got in about 1 hour ago and i've already posted some pics!

Teddy

Dori said...

LOL! Not at your concept, which I love, but the fact that I live in the rural part of rural USA. The closest thing to a dumpster I can dig into is my own at the bakehouse'

I wantched a show about 5 years ago about a group of kids in a city really making a lifestyle of freeganism (only they didn;t call it that then). I remember when I saw the show that I wish I could have went out on a night with this group.

Good luck to you and freeganism!