Last week I was listening to my favorite radio show (hi Taylor and Colleen), and they were discussing a video clip they saw on Oprah’s show about Freeganism…yeah I never heard of it either, but this movement is surprisingly growing in the US.

“Freeganism is an anti-consumerism lifestyle whereby people employ alternative living strategies based on “limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources.

The lifestyle involves salvaging discarded, unspoiled food from supermarket dumpsters that have passed their sell by date, but are still edible and nutritious. They salvage the food not because they are poor or homeless, but as a political statement.

Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed.” ~ Wikipedia

I believe in their way of life, I love free stuff and not wasting what can be used, but freeganism pushes it beyond what I am personally willing to do, especially with food. I’m not above digging in the garbage, although I haven’t done it in years, on bulk day when my neighbors put out their big items, you could find some great stuff.

The most surprising thing about freegans is that they are not poor. I didn’t see the Oprah show, but one lady works for a Fortune 500 company and pulls down a six figure income, yet there she is, in the dumpster.

Is this a lifestyle you could adopt? Do you know any freegans? Is anyone up to the challenge of going to their supermarket dumpster at night to see what you can find? Not me, but I am a little curious. Have you ever garbage picked?

Thanks C for unknowingly naming this post.

I ‘m sure better use of this food could have been made, but I think these pictures are so cool. Uh, enjoy? EDIT: I made the pictures hyperlinks so you can view them in their original size. I did not take these photos.

5 Ways to Save Money in the Kitchen and on Groceries

Cooking. Supercook is a new recipe search engine that finds recipes you can make with the ingredients you have at home. Simply add the ingredients you have in your home and Supercook will find a recipe.

Groceries. Find your local flyer deals fast by entering in your zip code and save bundles in the store with My Grocery Deal. This is a great site, especially if you do not have the time to look through the flyers in your mailbox or newspaper.

Coupons. Coupons.com allows you to print coupons from your printer. I have not tried this site, but it looks like a good one. Just be sure to check with your local store to make sure that they accept web based coupons. If you prefer the old school method, clip out coupons from your Sunday paper. I know people that buy several papers just to get multiple coupons and increased savings. FYI: Wal-Mart, Target and K-Mart also accept manufacturer coupons.

Make A List. Making a list before you go to the store prevents overspending. Supermarkets position items in the store to increase impulse buying, just look around at the check out line. Did you really go to the supermarket to buy that pack of gum or those tic-tacs? “Every aspect of a store’s layout — from the produce display near the entrance to the dairy case in the back to the candy at the register — is designed to stimulate shopping serendipity” ~ Real Simple.
Don’t go to the store hungry, make a list and stick to it. Download a free grocery list here.

Buy Generic. Don’t be quick to overlook all generic foods and products. Often times you are really paying for the brand name while the generic product boasts the same ingredients at a lower price. I taste the difference between Tropicana Orange Juice and the store brand, so 99% of the time, I buy Tropicana. My motto on this is: If you can’t taste the difference, don’t pay the difference.

Bon Appétit!

Photo Credit: SwissMiss.

How many of you eat better at your job than you do at home? I don’t mean junk food either. There has been so much food and dessert at my job these last few weeks, I’m considering filing a class action suit against my current employer for my weight gain. Okay I’m kidding just in case they get wind of this post, but I used to weigh 140 lbs. I don’t any more. I’m 5′ 10″, so I know how to hide some weight, just put on higher heels and appear even taller, but truthfully, I can see the difference. I looked at some old photos of myself and some new photos and I don’t like my new double chin.

We are always surrounded by food left over from client meetings, staff meetings, dessert trays, home made goodies, fund raisers. It’s hard not to indulge, I can’t walk past a cookie! On Fridays we always get breakfast. I say they are feeding us well to fatten us up for the slaughter. The food is great, but at least take away our chair, make us stand. Don’t feed the cattle and then send us back to our desk to sit down! Give us an exercise ball to sit on. Move the copier out into the parking lot. Instead of fire drills, ring a bell so we can all run laps around the office. Buy us a pair of blinders to wear around the office so we can’t see the tray of food to the left, to the left.

How do you avoid office weight gain? Do you have any solutions? The Nancy Regan Diet: Just Say No? I already ran my idea past a few people and they seem to be willing to blame someone else for our extra weight gain…or maybe we could all just roll ourselves to the elevator and go to the gym downstairs.

Maybe I could just calm down and give the gym one more try before I call my lawyer.

One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong.  This is what I found in my egg carton one morning when I was making breakfast.  Now the egg on the left is supposed to be an extra large egg.  What is the egg on the right supposed to be, an eggscapee from Barry Bond’s egg carton?  I’m afraid to cook it!  I have never seen anything like it.  It doesn’t even jiggle like there’s a yoke inside, I’m expecting something to hatch any day now.