In the last couple of weeks I finished up nannying, cleaned my last house for a while, cleaned up my room to get it ready to sublet, cooked & dehydrated my last couple boxes of pasta, and hiked 57 miles through the Green Mountains!
My friend Judith drove me to Williamstown, MA last Wednesday and we dined at Noco Pastaria and camped at the Winston County Park. They had a nice pond to swim in, and a clean & quiet bath house to shower in. We started the trail on Thursday the 3rd and Judith hiked the first 3.3 miles with me until we reached the official start of the Long Trail, just over the Massachusetts border.
One reason for working is having money to buy food. And my, oh my, is food expensive. I remember all of the event flyers around the college campus trying to lure students to check out their clubs for promises of “Free pizza!” or “Free cookies and hot chocolate!” It was an effective tactic. I mean, there was the time freshman year when I went to Spanish club for only one meeting so as to get a free dinner at a Mexican restaurant. What??? I was young and naive.
Too true though. Kids want food. And free food is the best kind of food. So how does one score food for free? And in mass quantities?
Clean Houses for Free Food
This summer I’m working for a realty company on the weekends cleaning houses for them in between renters. People rent a house for usually a week, sometimes two or even four, and when they pack up and leave, many delicious scores are left behind for us cleaners. And free for the taking of course.
There are, of course, a few common sense-based guidelines to follow when deciding whether or not the food is acceptable:
Unacceptable
#1 Lunch meats & cheeses are never safe. — This one doesn’t even apply to me since I don’t eat meat or dairy, but if I did… The thought of reaching my hand into the same slimy bag that the previous person reached their hand into and could have soiled all the other slices of meat with their fece-covered hands is repulsive. Not trying to suggest that every tenant is a pig, but yanevaknow.
#2 Opened drinks are a no-go. Milk, juice, water or soda bottles. The people could have put their foul fish-lips all over the tops of those bottles and I want nothing to do with it.
#3 Ice cream (for dairy eaters) is tricky. Assuming the tenants are human beings, they perhaps shoved their spittle-speckled spoon back into the container a few times, licking in between, to relish a few more bites before clasping the container closed. Heck, they could have sneezed into it. Unlikely, but once again, who knows. It could be safe. Perhaps you’d like to scrape off the top layer and eat from there. Like my grandmother with molded cheese. Suit yourself.
Acceptable
#1 Unopened items. This one’s pretty obvious and for good reason. If and when the tenants eyes were bigger than their stomachs upon stocking the shelves, congratulations, you just scored.
#2 If the item(s) are individually frozen, and not ice cream. For example. Veggie burgers. Most people don’t stick their dirty spit covered fingers or spoons onto the rest of the burgers when taking them. Though it’s true, they could have. Discretion is advised. Though usually these items are safe bets.
#3 Produce. Whenya find produce, have a party. A produce party. Enjoy this glorious score! (make sure to wash though) 🙂
#4 Condiments. These are usually safe. People don’t usually do strange things with ketchup or mustard. Use ya best judgement if you’re so inclined!
My scores for this weekend:
FRIDAY 1 house
Food scores: None.
SATURDAY 3 houses
House one, 1.5 hours. Food scores: 4 frozen waffles, one bag of frozen sweet corn. One packet of instant decaf coffee. 😀
House three, 2 hours. Food scores: DING DING DING an unopened vitamin water, entire bag of apples, 1 large gala apple, 1 unopened bag of baby carrots, 1 head of iceberg lettuce, 1 jar of peanut butter, 70% filled bottle of olive oil, 80% full bag of local popcorn, 80% full bag of tostitos hint-of-lime chips (though I just learned these aren’t vegan much to my dismay!), 2 individually wrapped whole fruit popsicles and much, much more. The things listed above are just what I took. Along with a turquoise re-usable shopping bag to carry it all. Yusss.
As a disclaimer, I wouldn’t typically buy baby carrots, iceberg lettuce or the other processed stuff, but when it’s free, any produce is better than none, and processed food once in a while is A-okay.
SUNDAY 1 house, 2.5 hours. Food scores: 1 box of organic sweet pea soup. Delicious.
So as you can see, sometimes you score, sometimes not. Cleaning houses is definitely a wonderful summer job and has great perks!
Have any tips on where to score free food? Comment below!! 😉
You know, there’s something extremely pleasant about being acknowledged for existing. Haha honestly, when I saw that veganneeds nominated me for this “award” my heart skipped a beat! Folks, life is about the little things. Actions speak louder than words. Thanks chica for putting my name out there! <3
THE RULES
Answer questions set by the person who nominates you.
Nominate and notify 10 other bloggers (I’m guessing it has to be ladies based on award title? Sorry gents :/)
Ask them 10 new questions.
MY RESPONSES:
what is your favorite food?
oh geez that’s a hard one!! right now… probably pasta. i’ve been eating a LOT of pasta lately. or any fruit. love my fruits. don’t get me started on last frutas c;
what’s your favorite movie?
umm well there’s always the Harry Potter series. my class was definitely the year of HP fanatics. what can I say. there’s something appealing about scrawny boys with magical powers. orrr Devil Wears Prada? that’s a pretty great one. and then LOTR. im sounding like some sort of… nerd… but all in all I’m not a big movie person. perhaps I should say Forks Over Knives. that movie’s more relevant. :p
Why or How did you start blogging?
wheeeeeel I’ve always been a writer. and always enjoyed writing. and I love spreading news to people. I’m an activist and have a lot of passion inside of me that needs to be channelled through a medium. words are my medium. a blog was a great place to start ;~)
what is your favorite subject to write about?
probablyy…. food. or philosophy. food philosophy. nah. but recipes… and just sorta inspirational posts and posts that inspire introspection
If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be?
the love of money
Name one figure you would like to meet and why>
this is actually a really difficult question. first I thought, the owner of Monsanto or big oil or big pharma companies, just to see and understand their perspective… why they do the things they do. then I thought, someone positive. that’s working against the digressive movements and trying to forward health and equality. but I know if I tried hard enough I could meet anyone I wanted. so maybe I should aim for somebody dead. like Ghandi. someone who lived in a different time and tried to stop things from going badly before they got real bad. yeah, how about Ghandi. for being one of the ultimate activists of all time.
name 2 objects you can’t live without?
(1) my brown hairbrush that my mom gave to me when I was old enough to brush my own hair. five? that was hers growing up, passed from her mother. either a really grimy hairbrush, or a timeless well-made heirloom c; and (2) my wristwatch! I have a pretty sick watch–tan that I’ll have to upload a picture of soon. :p
what is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
check the time. drink some water. use the bathroom. start dream journalling! how about the first four things? :}
Cats or dogs?
dogs. never had cats growing up because my dad’s allergic. though the only dog I ever liked was our dog, Marshmallow. a white Jack Russell Terrier with a toasted brown ear. we got her when I was five. she just passed a few days ago! love you Marsh! haha but it’s all good everyone, she was 18. PLUS I like other dogs now. I’m a dog walker, so. Let’s hope I like dogs.
Thanks again to veganneeds for da nomination!! Now it’s my turn to nominate. Though I’m SO brand new I don’t quite have ten ladies! How about five?! ;~)
This morning I woke up 4:49 AM, decided it was too soon, and woke up again at 6:00 on the dot. Last night I went to bed a tad later than I have been (at 10:15ish instead of 9:30) and think I felt it a little this morning. Or it could’ve had something to do with the fact that I was sea kayaking all yesterday morning for the first time this season, walked two dogs for an hour right beforehand, biked home, showered, changed, bike back to the ferry & ran like hell to get there, am 90% sure a ton of people saw my bare buttocks as I ran to the boat because Continue reading “breaking da fast”→
