How to clean cheese

My new camera has arrived so I thought Id do a step by step how-to guide to keeping firm cheeses clean and fresh so that they last a lot longer. Most people are very scared of "bad food" and think that the tiniest speck of mold on a block of cheese means its beginning to rot or something. The truth is that mold can be simply washed off of the cheese, leaving it free of anything gross. Take this example:

I found this cheese the other night. It was obviously thrown out because of the big patches of mold growing on it, even though the cheese is still good and fresh.

Upon opening the package, you can see that there was some pretty gnarly mold on the whole side of this block. This is a good example because it doesn't really matter how much mold there is, as long as what you are trying to save is more cheese than mold..

Just run it under some cool water and wash it with a clean cloth or brush. You should obviously not use hot water for this, as you will have a terrible mess to deal with afterwards.

Once it is satisfactorily clean, put it in a clean, dry towel and pat it dry. It is important to make sure it is good and dry before wrapping back up, or it will just get moldy again in a couple days.

Voila! A fresh, clean block of cheese. This pepper jack was also pretty moldy, so I tried washing it too, and it worked just as well. Wrap it up tightly in plastic wrap or keep it in a well fitting tupperware container; the less air its exposed to, the longer it will keep before getting moldy again or drying out.

I grated some of both cheeses on top of these Swedish baked potatoes. They were delicious. I found out this time that Yukon Gold potatoes is the way to go for this recipe, which I posted earlier.

Fruit n' Veges

Bro and I went out and and got a bunch of stuff the other night. I didnt write it all down but I took pictures. Among the items were:

parsnips
apples
carrots
greens
pears
oranges
limes
bananas
squash
tomatoes
red onions
potatoes
fresh herbs
vegan cheese
roses

Small Run

Last night I got my sister to go to a couple places with me. We didnt find a whole lot but what we found was good. We found two small tables with broken legs so I took the leg off one to fix the other. My sister found a new metal shower caddy for her new apartment.

2 boxes Woven Wheats... great with the chicken salad
2 potatoes
2 red potatoes
1 sweet potato
2 bags lettuce mix
1 caesar salad kit
1 bag broccoli and carrots
small table
metal shower caddy

Recipes galore

Ive been cooking lots of stuff that I have been meaning to post recipes for but I always seem to forget.. Well here's a recipe for some chicken salad I made today that turned out really well. I based it off of my moms recipe that she used in her restaurant and changed it to suit what I had in the fridge. The results were tasty!

Curried Ginger Chicken Salad

Chicken
mayonaise
diced celery
diced green onion
minced red onion
minced roasted garlic
minced garlic
relish
dried cranberries
soy sauce
curry powder
toasted sesame dressing
basil
cilantro
salt
pepper
soy sauce

I mixed approximately equal parts celery, onion, cranberries, and mayo with about 2 tbsp garlic and ginger, tsp herbs, soy sauce, sesame dressing and curry powder, and salt & pepper to taste. You can add more or less of what you like and change it to suit your taste. I served it on a toasted English muffin with organic spinach leaves for lunch.

Ive also been talking about baking a pie for days but haven't gotten around to it.. so tonight I whipped one up with some stuff that needed to be used while I made big pot of soup stock with all the veggies that needed to be used.

Strawberry Ginger Lime Pie

2c strawberries
2 segmented limes
1c sugar
2tbsp flour
1tsp vanilla extract
~1tbsp minced ginger
frozen pie crust

Mix up ingredients and pour in the pie crust. Bake according to directions on pie crust package. Dare I say, easy as pie.. or following directions. As you all may have gathered from previous posts, I prefer to make my own pie crust because its much tastier and really easy, but I didn't have any flour.. Ill keep an eye out at the dumps next time.

New camera!

Im really excited about the new camera that I ordered last week. Its a gift to my self for being awesome last year and fulling commitments that I made to my self. Its supposed to get here on Wednesday..  I know I mentioned I recently got a new camera, but it has proven that it can't keep up with my demands.. 

Its pretty nice and would be good for taking to a party or to bring along on a fun night out, but its not very durable and im always afraid of destroying it when I take it to the dumps with me. It has been dropped twice and has a small crack and a dent above the screen.. its made in China, so its not built for durability.. After considering my needs I decided on this one:

This one is pretty much indestructible. Water proof, drop proof, crush proof, freeze proof.. Just what I need. I got an extraordinary deal on mine too which makes it all more satisfying. I cant wait to test it out!

A great day

The next day was very full and productive. I got the wardrobe armoire that I had been keeping my eye on at the furniture consignment store, got it moved in, cleaned up and situated in my room. I went to work for a meeting and then came back home to get ready for the belated Christmas dinner. It was so much fun! All the food was delicious; it was great to attend a dinner party as a guest and not have to worry about cooking anything for a change! So we had good food and good wine with good friends. At the end of the evening, I was quite pleased with the day's accomplishments. To top it off, I decided to stop again at the near by grocery store. I haven't made a list, but here's most of what I found:

~70 various frozen Lean Cuisine and Stauffers frozen dinners
several organic potatoes
~15 limes
a few lemons
some tomatoes
lettuce
baby organic carrots with tdip
a few other miscellaneous veggies

Not a really long list, but a very large load. Since there's no room left in my fridge or freezer, I just left them in a box on the back porch. Its so damn cold that they'll be fine out there for a while, at least until it snows or rains again..
The other day I responded to an ad on craigslist from a woman asking for food. She told me about her five children and husband who recently lost his work, so I was obliged to offer her a big box of food. Unfortunately for both of us, she never responded the next day to set up a time to come get it.. Im not sure why she never made it or even responded, but it was kind of disappointing. I was excited about being able to help. So I invited my lovely neighbor over to do some shopping, who was very thankful and appreciative, although she brought something to my attention. When people are over at my house and I offer them food from my packed fridge and full table, they are timid to take what they want, afraid that they are taking all my food. I try to reassure them that I have a seemingly endless supply and will never run out, but they are still reluctant to take a lot of stuff. Something else for me to think about...

Dinner preparations

Yesterday one of my friends hosted a belated Christmas dinner to which I was invited along with several of her other friends. She called me the day before asking if she could come over to borrow a dish. Since she lives near one of the better grocery stores that I go to, I offered to bring the dish by her house and invited her to join me on my dive since she had previously shown a lot of interest in one day joining me. She accepted my offer, so later that night we went to several places for her first time dumpster diving. I kind of wanted to get it over with because it had started snowing earlier and had since started turning into rain. After we finished up at the grocery store, we went to a pharmacy but didn't find anything. We stopped at her house to unload the stuff and she convinced me to make another trip out to a different grocery store and pharmacy. She was pretty excited about how well it went and I had a lingering spark of adventure left over so it really didn't take that much convincing at all.. We were much more successful on our second run and were able to fill the trunk with lots of stuff from the pharmacy; stuff that would've been wasted if I hadn't salvaged it, as I am now starting to think of it. One of the dumpsters we came across was completely filled with plastic hangers. I took a few to hang in my new armoire. In the end, we got another huge load of stuff; lots of good stuff for the christmas dinner, too! I didn't count anything my friend kept, but here's what I ended up with:

4 boxes Cheeseits
12 boxes instant oatmeal
whole roast chicken
8pc fried chicken
2 8oz chicken alfredo pasta dishes
3 8oz boxes dried cranberries
1 bag turnip and mustard greens
2 heads romaine lettuce
1 head organic cauliflower
5 pre-made chef salad bowls
3 bell peppers
3 poblano peppers
2 jalapanos
2 cherry peppers
3 yellow squash
1 cucumber
4 potatoes
1 sweet potato
10 tomatoes
3 loaves Italian bread
1 bag sub rolls
2 boxes croissants
whole lemon pound cake
2 apple pies
35 bottles assorted flavors sparkling water
5 loaves honey wheat bread
2 loaves white bread
3 bags rolls
32oz jar grape jelly

Why?

Last night I had dinner with my friend who lives in Hawaii,where she goes to school and where I have applied to. I brought over a dumpstered brussel sprout casserole that my mother cooked and brought over to our house. We were talking about how recycling, reusing and composting is much more a part of the lifestyle on the islands than it is on the mainland, and it became clear when I stopped at the grocery store on the way home. Not-that-much to my surprise, I found several boxes of leftover holiday merchandise: wine gift bags, holiday paper plates, paper napkins, paper cups and plastic table cloths, all intact and pristine. I cant find any logical reason for these items to be thrown in the dumpster to be buried in a landfill that makes the least bit of sense at all to me. Why wouldn't the company want to keep it for next year or return it to the distributor for credit or even sell it for a reduced price.... The other night I found a really nice iron at a retail store. It was $80 new, but had been factory serviced and reduced to $29.99 but still, no one wanted to purchase it because it's not their idea of perfect, not acceptable, not valuable; so, although it works perfectly fine, it ended up in the dumpster.  It is beyond me why this is the decision that ends up getting made, to throw perfectly good merchandise away when there are so many much better alternative solutions. It vexes me completely and I cant stop thinking about it.
Besides the holiday merch, I fould lots of great stuff. Heres the list:

8 pks paper plates
13 pks paper napkins
2 sleeves paper cups
3 plastic party table cloths
~25 holiday wine gift bags w/ tissue paper
2 6.3oz blocks extra sharp cheddar
2 8oz blocks sharp cheddar
16pk cheese slice singles
16oz bin mexican cheese dip
5lb bag french fries
32oz bottle coffee creamer
1qt Simply Lemonade
1/2gal vanilla Almond Breeze
4 bags bagles
4 pkgs Toll House caramel filled cookies
1 mystery can... some vegetable  or soup?
2 14oz pkg extra firm tofu
2 8oz pkgs cubed extra firm tofu
3lb bag clementines
1 box organic baby spring mix
3pk organic baby carrots w/ ranch dip
3 bunches organic spinach
3 organic lemons, 2 regular
7 limes
1 white onion
1 sweet onion
2 yellow squash
3 potatoes
8 tomatoes
1 artichoke
~30 bottles flavored vitamin drink

Since I had all this on my mind, I was thrilled today to hear from a friend about an organization in the UK called Re-Plenish. They are a non profit group of volunteers who collect food from supermarkets that is still good but can't be sold and redistribute it to other groups and charities that provide food and meals for people. I was super excited to read all about it because it is very similar to a project that I have been brainstorming about for months. I hope to contact them and learn a little more about how they work and what other things they are involved in. You can learn all about them at http://www.re-plenish.org/
With all the depressing heaps of stuff that I've been finding lately, it's a relief to hear that people out there who are working toward solutions and trying to solve issues like excessive waste and hunger in their communities. It often seems that with my level of awareness comes the obligation to carry the burden of solving these problems and bringing them out in to the open where people can see it so they can talk about them, learn about them and understand them; not ignore them.

Another day, another dive

I got a call from my friends the other night asking if I wanted to go diving with them again. Since I'd hardly gotten out of bed all day, I thought it would be good to get out and do something. Im glad I did, because we recovered an insane amount of food again. I was quite excited about all the frozen berries and the yogurt. I can make lots of pies with the fruit and I enjoy yogurt in the mornings. When we got back to their place we sorted, washed and divided everything up. I only inventoried what I took home so we collected more than twice this list. Here's what I brought home:

3lbs. margerine
4 individual blueberry yogurt cups
32oz tub vanilla yogurt
1 bag cranberries
4 Jello mousse cups
1 bag frozen broccoli spears
 1 tub Ranch veggie dip
1 tub yogurt fruit dip
2 containers salsa
1 container french onion dip
8oz block sharp cheddar
8oz block European style butter
8oz pepper jack cheese
fresh ginger
8 potatoes
16oz bag parsnips
4 avocados
2 heads cauliflower
jar caesar dressing
Stauffers flatbread
Pilsbury xmas cookies
64oz bottle mystery juice.. maybe cranberry?
3lb bag clementines
4ct bag pita
3 bags dried mango/pineapple
1 butternut squash
frozen cheese pizza
3 bags Chiquita apple bites
2 loaves Natures Own bread
11-1lb bags assorted frozen berries
1 bag english muffins
bag BBQ buns
bag hot dog buns
2 bags hamburger buns

A friend of my brother's gave us their old refrigerator. Its much newer, bigger and nicer than our old one so its pretty exciting and its already packed full of new stuff from the past few nights.

Breaking in the new year

Last night I had a couple friends who had been traveling over for dinner. It was great to see them again and they had some wonderful dive stores from their travels. After dinner we decided to take a little trip to the dumps to see what we could find. We were pretty excited with our findings from the first stop so we decided to make a night out of it and check out a few other places too. In the spirit of a new year we decided to try a few new spots, and its a good thing we did; we found a couple great new spots! We went to grocery stores, pharmacies, the pet store and a couple retail stores. Petsmart has the only dumpsters I've ever encountered where the dumpsters are chained up and locked. If you want to get in them you have to climb up on top and get all the way in. I was appalled by how much food was in there. There were several large bags of dog and cat food, but each one appeared to have been ripped all the way open and poured out into the dumpster. This is most unfortunate because the county animal shelter has euthanization rate of nearly 50% and there are many other rescue centers and organizations that could make good use of the wasted pet food.
So far, this year seems to be starting off much better than the last.. At the end of the night we ended up with:

6 russet potatoes
6 red potatoes
4 sweet potatoes
2 organic cucumbers
6 assorted peppers
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
10 organic green bell peppers
6 jars Spanish olives
1 bag green apples
1 bag red apples
6 zucchini
4 red onions
4 yellow onions
3 white onions
3 boxes brussel sprouts
4 3pk. baby carrot w/ ranch dip
4 bunches green onions
1 bunch celery
8 tomatoes
3 bags rolls
9 pears
2 bags apple bites
2 heads romaine lettuce
3 yellow squash
2 bags raddishes
5 bags broccoli and carrots
6 cartons assorted mushrooms
head iceberg lettuce
organic pineapple
avocado
5 tangelos
2 grapefruit
3 oranges
8 ears corn
3 beets
6 12oz bottles milk
2 1/2gal. chocolate milk
whole Virgina ham
22 48oz bottles Sunny D
2 Naked drinks
2 cans orange shasta
2 dozen red roses

Round one

Round two.. Thats just the food..

2 mason jars with lids
pepper mill
tart pan
spring form baking pan
scrabble apple
stationery
garbage bag full of cards; thank you, birthday, christmas, hanukkah, new year, etc.
wine bottle outfit
scented candle
shinguard
ziplock bags
plastic food basket
3 phone chargers
2 phone cases
pocket guide to prescription drugs
Declaration of Independence and Constitution book
keychain laser pointer/LED flashight
2 packs energizer hearing aid batteries
~20 pairs reading glasses
3 scoop set
wooden spatula
steel dog food bowl
small fleece blanket
cat toy
remote control air plane
2 new toilet seats
throw pillow
fingernail clippers
gallon water jug
4 storage bins
computer parts

 

I sent my friends home with several bags full of stuff. Good thing, since they are broke from traveling and haven't found any work yet.. They said that in their travels on the west coast, dumpster diving was difficult because everyone has their turf and everything good gets gone real quick. I feel pretty fortunate to be able to pick from this tree that no one else seems to care about. I can pick all I need, whenever I need. Im excited to see how this year takes shape.

Wrapping things up

Its been great the past few weeks, having loads of holiday treats and leftovers to eat without having to brave the cold nights in search of food; however, the cupboards started getting a little bare and I was getting tired of potatoes, pasta and bread.. Since I had hardly left the house in previous days I decided that it would be good to get out for a bit and pick up some food. I also wanted to test out the new loot bag I made for diving. I like to go really late at night so I dont have to worry about running in to anyone. That way, I can take my time sorting through stuff and I dont have to worry about being too loud. I found a bunch of good stuff but was disappointed that I didn't find any good veggies. Heres what I did find:

5 boxes mini croissants
3 boxes blueberry and banana nut muffins
3 boxes assorted doughnuts
5 bags assorted bagles
3 loaves bread
4 containers roasted red pepper hummus
64oz bottle cran-grape juice
fruitcake
2 boxes pop tarts
2 containers apple sauce
3 fruit cups
3 bags tortilla chips
box mac&cheese
3 boxes Little Debbie snacks
12 honey buns
3 boxes cereal
can of peas
mystery can.. maybe cream of something soup?
wooden serving spoons
tulip and anemone bulbs
portable CD player w/ headphones
bottle mouthwash
scented candle
5 fiesta themed small candles
Excedrin for tension headache
neck pillow
bottle CLR
small apron
electric toothbrush

I started this grand experiment in February of this year. Its been a full 10 months now and I have spent (a rough estimate of) $300 on food, health/hygiene products, clothes, cat supplies, and other random stuff. This excludes gas, vet bills, beer and all the other stuff I still have to purchase.
I was telling my grandmother about my blog the other day and how I've been dumpster diving. She told me that my uncle used to go to Hardee's to get hamburgers at the end of the day when he was in college. I think that is what she thinks I do. I don't think that she realizes that I can go out and get $100 dollars of groceries andother stuff any night I feel like going to the dumps. Today my aunt asked me "Are you going to spend you whole life like this?" To that I say, "Why the hell wouldn't I!?" I like to keep the money I earn, instead of wasting it on things I can have for free. I want to be able to give back the money Ive borrowed for student loans instead of giving it away in exchange for food when there is so much waste occurring. I can never again turn back to how I used to live. I have already seen what is happening behind the pretty store fronts and I can't un-learn what Ive discovered. It would be foolish to ignore it. It is wrong to ignore it.

Xmas Gift Wrapping Extravaganza

Tonight I was supposed to host a holiday party but I think last nights out-of-the-blue 5 inches of snow scared everyone away.. So it will now be a Come-eat-the-food-i-cooked-and-lets-wrap-presents-while-boozin-it-up party. Ive got loads of stuff to wrap and Im going to enlist the help of my lady friends for it. Since I made something new tonight that I've been itching to try out, I guess Ill post it since it turned out so well.

Swedish Potatoes

Preheat your oven to 425F. Cut a potato almost all the way through in really thin slices, about 1/8 of an inch. I put the potato in a large serving spoon to help steady it and keep from chopping all the way through it. Fan it out a bit so that the slices have a little space in between and drizzle butter or olive oil, or whatever you prefer/ have available on top so it gets between the layers, then sprinkle some salt, pepper and any other spices or herbs you like on top and in between. Bake them for about 20 minutes or until they are mostly done. Sprinkle some grated parmesean cheese on top and put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes or until the desired cheese meltyness has been achieved.

Winter Dorm Dumps

I went with a friend to the dorms this week to see what was getting thrown away at the end of this semester and was surprised with what I found. I had never been at the end of  a fall semester so I didnt really know what to expect, but I was surprised by the amount of food that I found. Won't the kids want this food when they get back from winter break? I dunno... In addition to the all the food, I found several great Christmas presents. It was interesting going before break when there are still people living in the dorms; at 2am there were still people out and about and walking around, some watching us digging through the bags of garbage. We must have surprised the guy who came out to throw some stuff away..
Tomorrow I am hosting a holiday party for my friends and co-workers. Its given me a good excuse to clean the house, re-arrange and organize the furniture and other stuff I've brought home. The home is looking pretty good, now that I've put my mark on it.  I'll also be cooking some stuff for the party so Ill post recipes, as it's been a while since I shared any with you.
From the dorms I was able to salvage:

13 freeze pops.. my favorite!
11 assorted packs of crackers, granola bars, etc.
box of pop tarts
4 mini boxes cereal
box Lucky Charms
large bag Frosted Flakes
pkg Oreos
12oz jar peanutbutter
bag of pastel mints
2 vanilla latte mix packs
2 easy squeeze icing bags
2 bags soup mix
4 bottles Ensure
3 bags microwave popcorn
3 bags baked ruffle chips
1 tube thin mint girl scout cookies
1 jar Prego pasta sauce
can Monster energy drink
bar Lever 200 soap
double sided magnifying mirror
large umbrella
dust buster
chain license plate frame
collapsible tote bag
music note tote bag
wristwatch
Brookestone travel blow dryer
Pampered Chef can opener
2 tupperware bins
3 ring binder
purse
halloween beach ball
several disposable coffee cups
book of Psalms
3 issues of the schools art and literature magazine
girls sweater
girls H&M shirt
mens jeans 28x30
sm. brown collared tee
white tank

Some of these things will be gifts, some I will keep and the rest will probably end up in care packages or donation boxes for local charities. I guess I could even send things to my readers if they wanted anything...

Changes

As I said a long time ago, I want to spruce things up a bit, so im making a few minor changes in the template and such. stay tuned for details and let me know what you think about it!

My Cup Flowith Over

Either I haven't been going out as often and forgot how much wealth is available to those who want to take it, or there is a significant increase in the availability of discarded wealth at the end of the year; I have been finding great stuff every day and wouldn't know what to do with it all if Christmas wasn't just around the bend.. I cant just keep hoarding all this stuff once the giving season has passed. I need a warehouse.. a place to keep all the salvaged stuff, or a venue to disperse it to those who need it...
So this is a short list from a stop on the way to a friend's last night, and a list of stuff from salvaged from the dorms today after exams. 

a pair of microterry slippers
tube of arthritis cream
bottle of extra strong hair spray
box of iron supplement
3 boxes healthy skin cream
1 box chocolate cereal straws
1 container french onion dip
1 reveal light bulb
100 xmas light strand

full length mirror
trash can
2 tote bags.. excellent for diving!
wallett
3 pairs fruit of the loom boxer briefs (brand new, never worn, in my size)
tumbler
Jazz history text book
compact florescent light bulb
set of colored permanent pens
3 outlet receptacle plug
1/2 bottle Biore face wash
some laundry detergent
bottle of French suncreen ($36 price tag)

Some may be repulsed by the fact that I am excited to have found used hygiene products and undergarments in the trash. I understand that it sounds nasty and how it could seem dirty and disgusting. They don't understand that it is clean, safe and perfectly good. Just because it was put inside a bag that spent a few hours inside a metal box with other discarded items that may not be clean, doesn't mean that it is automatically contaminated or unsafe to use as soon as it enters that metal box.

Consider this: If you have never been to Chicago or New York City, you can read books about it, look at pictures and hear what people who have visited have to say about it; but you can never, ever have a good understand of what it is like to visit that city until you have been there and seen it for yourself.