March Bounty

Now that I'm dumpstering more often, I decided to start consolidating my dumpstering bounty entries by month instead of doing a separate entry every time I go...because I've been going quite a bit. Lately, instead of doing larger excursions I've been trying to just stop by (sometimes while I'm grocery shopping later at night even), peek in, see a few things I want, take them, and move on. I was averaging 1 huge dumpster bounty a month last year, and so far this year I've been averaging once a week, which has kept me pretty sustained with the addition of shopping for some staples that are hard to come by in the dumpster.

2/20

- 1 bag organic sugar
- 3 red onions
- 1 bag grapefruit
- 1 seedless watermelon
- 7 honeycrisp apples
- 2 bags pizza dough
- 1 pkg cooked chicken
- 2 bananas
- 2 zucchini
- 1 cucumber
- 1 eggplant
- 1 bag potatoes
- 1 orange bell pepper
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 bunch radishes
- 1 lemon
- 1 pkg white mushrooms
- 7 tomatoes
- 1 pkg vine ripened tomatoes
- 1 portabella mushroom
- 1 pkg sliced provalone
- 1 carton coconut milk
- 1 box creamy tomato soup
- 1 pkg boneless skinless chicken thigh
- 2 pkgs pita bread
- 1 bag dried fruit
- 1 bag oranges
- 3 pkgs strawberries
- 2 veggie hummus wraps

3/5

- 4 oranges
- 6 apples
- Lean cuisine spinach artichoke dip w/ pita bread
- 1 head broccoli
- 1 lime
- 1 red jalapeno
- 2 heads huge bok choy
- 7 yellow onions
- 1 cucumber
- 6 bananas
- 1 portabella mushroom cap
- 2 pkgs sliced baby portabella mushrooms
- A few white mushrooms
- 1 pkg extra-firm tofu
- 1 very small tomato
- 1 bunch radishes

3/15 Bounty

- 1 pkg beer brat sausages

- Pre-cooked pulled pork

- 1 vegetable tray w/ cherry tomatoes, celery, broccoli, & carrots

3/29
- 2 heads broccoli
- 1 bunch kale
- 3 tomatoes

January Bounty

So, I'm trying to "shop" more frequently at the dumpster, but not take quite as much as usual. On Sunday 1/15/12, I went with my usual dumpstering partner (Steve) to two spots, both briefly (especially since some police cars were chilling out at the Royal Farms pretty much in sight of both locations).

Here's what I came out with (Steve's bounty included the same but with the addition of broccoli and more fruit):

- 5 medium eggplants
- 1/2 pkg white mushrooms (whole)
- 1 pkg white mushrooms (sliced)
- 3 Belgian endives
- 2 green bell peppers
- 2 pears
- 6 potatoes
- 1 carrot
- 1 very large cucumber
- 2 large bunches kale
- 1 red onion
- 1 bunch radishes
- 2 kiwis
- 1/2 pkg apricots (fresh)
- 1 bouquet of flowers
- 1/2 pkg strawberries

Holy Groceries, Batman! (12/12)

So, my last haul was one of the best (if not the very best) dumpster experiences of my life. Very rarely will you have enough from one dumpster to fill the entire bed of a pick-up truck (don't worry, I'm not being greedy - literally no one dumpsters where I'm living right now except for me or people I've shown them to). So yeah, FULL PICK-UP TRUCK BED. With a ridiculous amount of variety (produce, packaged food, frozen food, MEAT, pasta, dairy, baked goods - EVERYTHING)! We divided the plunder amongst 3 households and grabbed 3 big bags of bread to bring to Occupy Baltimore's encampment (sadly, they were raided the morning I was going to bring the bread to them...so now I'm trying to figure out how to donate someplace else). I have a Christmas pot-luck coming up Sunday, so it may be perfect timing to make a bruscetta or bread pudding or something.

An aside - winter is one of my favorite times to dumpster. It's really cold outside, which sucks for your fingers...but the cold also acts as a natural refrigerator. This means you can dumpster meat, frozen food, or dairy more safely than in the summer months, adding a lot more to your haul. I always still do a smell-check, visual check for signs of it going bad, and take a gander at the sell-by date. If it passes all those, then I'll take it. If I'm even remotely on the fence, I leave it to the dumpster. Also, the colder refrigeration temps means you can afford to come in the morning instead of the wee hours of the night, depending on the trash pick-up times or load-in times for your grocery store. This can save you some sleep. Also, some grocery stores throw out certain foods in the morning instead of at night. I'd urge you to experiment with daytime dumpstering (but be INCREDIBLY careful about getting caught).

As for me, here's what I picked up this haul:
- 1 loaf whole wheat bread
- 2 baking potatoes
- 2 avocados
- 6 large sweet potatoes
- 2 white onions
- 5 pears
- 1 pomegranate
- 3 persian (small) cucumbers
- 1 bag lemons
- 3 limes
- 1 pkg "Mediterranean feast" (hummus, tabbouleh, pita, etc)
- 1 pkg sour cream
- 1 premium black angus grass-fed beef top sirloin filet!!!
- 1 pkg Chile Spiced dried mangos
- 3 gourmet chocolate bars
- At least 2 boxes worth of whole wheat spaghetti
- 15 oz. extra firm tofu!!!!
- 4 vine-ripened roma tomatoes
- 1 pkg dates
- 11 eggs (one was broken)
- 1 bag spring greens
- 1 pkg asparagus
- 3 heads baby bok choy
- 1 pkg cherry tomatoes
- 1 pkg green beans
- 1 loaf ciabatta
- 6 ciabatta rolls
- 2 brie cheese logs
- 2 orange bell peppers
- 3-layer hummus (regular, cilantro, and red pepper)

(Holy crap, right?!)

So stoked on the beef and tofu! I haven't cooked a real steak in ages and have hardly ever cooked with tofu (although I've eaten a lot of it in college and when I was a vegan). The amount of cooking/good eating I'm going to need to do to keep up with all of this is exciting and astounding. Viva la Dumpster!

October Bounty

First of all, sorry for the big gap in postings - I was on vacation (yes it was fun).

On a whim, I decided to stop by the Trader Joe's and Food Lion dumpsters on a Friday back-to-back. I went later than the last time, since my run-in at Trader Joe's with the large, angry pit bull lady had kept me away for a while, leaving only the poorer quality of the Food Lion dumpster for the last month or so (which had NOT been cutting it).

Trader Joe's and Food Lion are on two completely different ends of the dumpster spectrum. Trader Joe's employees (sometimes) care, but their dumpster is immaculate and easy to sift through, with high-quality food. Food Lion doesn't even notice when I'm dumpstering in broad daylight, and when the employees do see me, they say nothing because they all aren't paid well enough to care. Unfortunately, the dumpster is a disaster: no bags, boxes of random gross butchered fat, it smells like death, and the produce is often very sad (on the shelf or off).

Regardless, the dumpster provides, so I can't really complain. I just have to be extra careful about food safety with stuff from the Food Lion dumpster. I ended up sharing my plunder with my friend Stephen, but here's what I came out with:

10/21/11

- 3 large heads of broccoli
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (incidentally, the expiration date was labeled Feb. 27th, 2012 and there was no visible tear in the packaging or quality of the cheese #ftw)
- 1 white onion
- 2 red onions
- 1 package whole wheat penne pasta
- 1 avocado
- 1 bunch celery
- 7 gala apples (get ready for fall - apples are SO prevalent in the dumpster as the season continues - expect some recipes to come!)
- 2 baking potatoes
- 4 small roma tomatoes
- 2 pkgs organic raspberries
- 2 bags organic baby spring greens mix
- 1 pear
- 1 red pepper
- 1 bag organic all-purpose flour
- 12 ciabbatini dinner rolls

August Bounty and Spicy Street Cantaloupe

The other night, my friend Steve texted asking if I wanted to dumpster. He's generally a n00b, but really wants to learn the tricks of the trade. He's gone out with me once before, so the more experience he can get, the better!

Steve, my friend Keith, and I ventured out later that week to make our dumpster rounds.

We started at the Trader Joe's I normally go to. The dumpster was OVERFLOWING (like, I haven't seen it that full since Thanksgiving). It was a goldmine! We started rifling through when, to our dismay, a lady I hadn't seen before came out. She looked weathered, the years of produce-wrangling finally taking their toll.

"You can't do that."
This was contrary to what every other Trader Joe's employee at this particular branch had told me. I informed her that others had told me it was alright before and that we would not leave any sort of mess.
"No, I don't want y'all in the dumpster."
We politely packed up the precious little we had and left the TONS of discarded food behind us. I made a mental note not to dumpster as early in the evening next time (we had gone around 10:30pm, which was earlier than I normally arrive to pillage). I really hope this isn't an evening that causes them to start locking their dumpsters.

The hearts in the car were heavy as we proceeded to the next, less-bountiful Food Lion dumpster The store technically wasn't even closed yet (which some might deem reckless), but their dumpster is far enough back in the parking lot that no one notices you. The only downside of going before closing is that there isn't the usual haul of trash. The dumpster still came up with bread (an item we hadn't gotten to at Trader Joe's) and various other produce.

Hungry for more bread, we ran over to Panera, but their dumpster sadly mixed loaves in the same bag as leftover coffee, making all the good stuff spongy and gross. This isn't always the case at this dumpster, so I guess it's really a crapshoot.

Anyway, we all returned home and divided the till. In victory, we butchered the one cantaloupe we found and Keith introduced us to a recipe he'd often get from street vendors when he lived in San Fransisco:

SPICY STREET CANTALOUPE


Ingredients:
- 1 cantaloupe, cut up (small)
- Juice from 2 limes
- A blanket of cayenne pepper & salt

Mix them up. Serve. This recipe can also be used with mangoes or similarly sweet tropical fruits. Apparently, in San Fransisco, the Hispanic vendors would ask "con limon y con pimente y con sal?" Then add all the ingredients in a ziploc bag, shake up the contents, and sell it in the very bag it was prepared in. Pretty cool, huh? We enjoyed the cantaloupe on my porch, and I saved a bit for work the next day!

Items not dumpstered or donated: Cayenne pepper, salt

Also, my share of the dumpster bounty:

- 1 cantaloupe (duh)
- 1 small bag of assorted potatoes
- 3 beets
- 3 sweet potatoes
- 2 papayas
- 2 mangoes
- 1 bag baby arugula blend
- 1 bag celery
- 2 pkgs cherry heirloom tomatoes
- 9 roma tomatoes (tomatoes dived for a special project!)
- 1 pkg mushrooms
- 1 pkg strawberries
- 1 lemon
- 1 kiwi
- 4 limes
- 1 squash
- 3 zucchini
- 1 eggplant
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 4 bananas (frozen immediately)
- 1 loaf honey wheat bread (frozen immediately)
- 1 pkg roasted and cut turkey breast (frozen)
- 6 pkgs cherries (one given away to my Stepmom)

Encounters with THE ENEMY and new friends

It's been a big few weeks on the dumpster front.

Recently, I've made a habit of stepping into Trader Joe's (ENEMY TERRITORY) instead of just their dumpster, which has proved to be informative. It's always good to scope out the stores that you are scavenging from so you can get an idea of sell-by dates and what's available. Plus, you can give back to the stores that "give" you so much for free!

Things I have learned about THE ENEMY after infiltrating:

1) It's smaller than it looks on the outside. There's far less of everything than a bigger grocery store, which makes sense as to why my plunder is usually so varied or unreliable. Granted, I've been to a few other Trader Joe's recently and they seem bigger than the one closest to me.
2) I don't dumpster much meat (other than frozen stuff) from Trader Joe's ever - it's because they sell about 3 packages of meat and fish - their meat section is TIIIINY.
3) All the cashiers at Trader Joe's (minions of THE ENEMY) look way cooler and more interesting than anyone else I've really met in my area. Where have they been hiding? I need cool new friends now that I've uprooted from Baltimore! Maybe enemies can be friends too - if any Trader Joe's cashiers ever read this - let's be frenemies!

Speaking of cool new friends, I recently had the pleasure of dumpstering the other night with my climbing buddy's brother, Daniel. We had all just climbed our butts off and Daniel (being a reader of my blog) suggested we go get some groceries.

Upon arriving, there was a big, ominous van by the dumpster...I was initially skeptical...scared even. But, Daniel and I braved through and started looking around. There were two ladies putting bags from the carts into the back of the van. Had we just encountered other elusive non-city dumpster divers?

I made the usually great decision of using my social awkwardness to my advantage, and went over to say hello (generally, when you maybe shouldn't be someplace, the best thing is to pretend that you're oblivious to that fact and to act non-threatening).

After chatting for a bit, the ladies explained they were from a Seventh Day Adventist charity collecting donations for a homeless shelter. My previous tip-off had been wrong! The shopping carts I would sometimes find outside were in fact not for the taking. I felt horrible. Then, they asked what charity we were from...

"Uhm...we don't work for a charity. We're just poor college graduates trying to save grocery money to pay off loans."

The women got concerned about whether or not we were breaking the law (we weren't), and then more concerned about us going hungry - they even offered us a bag of ciabatta rolls (which we graciously took), but something about the encounter left me feeling kind of like a sham, like I was taking something that someone else deserves more.*

After finding out that the carts are off-limits, both Daniel and I respectfully went through the dumpster instead, and even spoke to an ENEMY manager. He said he didn't have a problem with dumpstering as long as we cleaned up. Apparently, dumpstering is rampant at the Silver Spring Trader Joe's - so rampant that the staff started writing the contents of the bags in sharpie so that divers didn't have to look so fervently or for as long. Super-cool!

I guess corporate enemies can secretly be friends after all...

Daniel made out with some cranberry juice, spaghetti, chicken tenders, onions, and about the same stuff as I did...

(He had the resourcefulness to already have a bag in the car. I did not, and it was cumbersome. Bags or crates plus a headlamp are must-haves for the night plunder!)

2/28/11 Bounty:

- 1 pkg tahini-free hummus
- 1 pkg Cajun-style chicken fettucine alfredo (frozen)
- 2 roma tomatoes
- 7 on the vine cherry tomatoes
- 3 gala apples
- 1 bag of granny smiths
- 2 ciabatta rolls
- 1 pkg whole wheat pizza dough
- 1 dispenser of French Hand Soap (seriously my favorite-smelling liquid soap ever)
- 1 pkg whole wheat flour tortillas
- 1 pkg pre-cut carrots & celery
- 2 individually wrapped "thin" chocolates

I enjoyed the chocolate after washing all the food off at home - serious nomz! The carrots & celery have already been made into a big batch of Jeremy's Soup.

*Shameless plug: This is why volunteering for homeless shelters collecting food donations or (even better) advocating for Food Not Bombs is so important as a dumpster diver. There are so many people who are hungrier and more destitute than most of us, and so much food gets wasted every day. The injustice is ridiculous and heart breaking.

January Bounty

After work one night (1/12), I went to Trader Joe's again with Mark (my co-worker and friend). It was freeeeeezing! It's hard to untie bags with gloves on, so I'm pretty sure we got frostbite in the process of looting. Afterward, we went to my house to divide the plunder.

This particular evening, we lucked out and got shopping carts outside the dumpster again (this happens a lot in the winter when the grocery staff are too cold/tired to throw bags in the dumpster at night).

It turned out to be a bread night - every kind of bakery goods imaginable were ripe for the picking - ciabatta, sourdough, french baguette, cakes, tarts, dinner rolls - you name it. There was also a pretty healthy selection of other types of food as well, but the amount of baked goods was unfathomable. Bread is great, because it keeps for a VERY long time if you freeze it. You just need to pop it in the toaster oven or microwave, et voila - perfectly good bread. (a note about larger loafs/bagels/etc. - you need to cut them prior to freezing, or else the defrosting process takes forever and you'll have a cold center to your bread, which is gross).

Usually grocery stores will throw out certain items on certain days. If you watch/pillage their dumpster regularly and start making a list of what you get on certain days of the week, you'll start to notice trends. Then, when you're low on a certain type of item (bread, veggies, dry goods), you'll know what days you're more likely to come out a winner. I'm in the process of making a really pretty monthly calendar to track my trends.

The plunder was a little more modest in scope compared to my last dive, since I was a little more discerning this go-round:

- 2 avocados
- 1 bag of sweet "kid-friendly" apples
- 1 red pepper
- 1 orange pepper
- 1 bag of mixed greens
- 3 red onions (yes, more onions. I thought red onions would make it better. But I still have a million onions).
- 1 loaf ciabatta (I froze this)
- 6 individual, small ciabattas (I also froze these - they're perfect for sandwiches)
- 3 limes

Mark came out with a little more than I did this time (his plunder included lemons, oranges, ONIONS, potatoes, hot peppers, etc). He ended up making a potato stew with it that sounded delicious. I asked him to take a picture so I could put it up on the blog as part of soup month, but apparently he ate it too quickly!

Herb + Mushroom Risotto

I dumpstered two crumpled (but unopened) boxes of Trader Joe's Mushroom & Herb Risotto around June last year and hadn't used them yet (because dry goods pretty much last forever). This isn't unusual in the dumpstering world; stores throw out food with "ugly" packaging all the time, even when the contents are still good.

Plus, I have a soft spot in my heart for rejects. This package looks like a kitten at the SPCA, begging to be given a home.

I followed the instructions on the box, using chicken stock to cook the risotto. If you use veggie stock or water, then the dish is vegetarian. I also added a previously dumpstered portabello mushroom (sauteed in olive oil) that was about to go bad and basil from my window garden.

It was super-yummy and fed me at work for a few days.


An advantage to dumpstering dry or frozen goods is that they require significantly less preparation time and have a long shelf life. So, when I only have 30 min. to cook before I need to run out the door, dry goods are a nice option.

Items not dumpstered or donated: Olive oil, chicken stock, basil (from garden)

December Bounty

On December 4th, I went out to dinner with my good friend Kendall at Great Sage, a vegan restaurant near my house (highly recommended). Afterward, we went dumpstering at Trader Joe's (my preferred dumpstering spot in Baltimore and Ellicott City). There was still a LOT of food leftover from Thanksgiving. We didn't even need to touch the dumpster, since there was so much food in carts next to it with a LOT of variety.

We opened bags to figure out what we wanted to take, and then just took whole bags (sometimes I'll open bags and put individual items in milk crates if I'm by myself). We spent about 6 minutes behind Trader Joe's, then went back to my house to divide the plunder after checking out a few more dumpsters in the shopping complex. Kendall went home with food for her household (plus food for a few Baltimore buddies). Here's what I ended up with:

- 7 Orange bell peppers

- 8 Granny smith apples

- 1 pkg blueberries

- ½ pkg cranberries

- 10 bags of lemons (5 per bag)

- 5 bags of limes (5 per bag)

- 2 pkgs ravioli

- 5 pkgs Chicken parmesean

- 2 loaves sesame bread

- 1 pkg naan

- 1 lemon tart

- 3 kiwis

- 1 pre-made greek salad

- 2 bags oranges (11 per bag)

- 8 everything bagels

- Sundried totato pesto torta

- 1 pkg swiss cheese

- 5 pkgs delice de Bourgogne triple crème cheese

- 3 pkgs spinach dip

- A billion potatoes (russet, gold, and small red)

- A billion bags of onions

- 1 pineapple

- 1 guava

- 1 package vanana (vanilla/banana) yogurt (yes, it's really weird)

- 1 bouquet of flowers

- 1 picture frame

This amount of food proved to be a little extravagant compared to what I usually dumpster. I ended up giving away a few bags of potatoes, onions, and 1 bag of lemons to people at work (since I knew I wouldn't be able to use them all in time).

I also immediately cut up and froze the guava, pineapple, blueberries, and kiwis to use for breakfast smoothies.

The bread, naan, ravioli, and chicken parmesans also went in the freezer.

Stay tuned to see how I used it all!