Greek Yogurt Freegan Haul

It's been a while since I've found yogurt so getting Greek Yogurt as even better.  I got 8 of the Chobani Flip can you believe the store sold them for $1.99 each.  And the the big tub is Artisan Yogurt lol only in NYC right.  Well I took as much as I could carry because yogurt you can freeze and use to eat or for smoothies.  Retail value on Yogurts alone $35 at least crazy right?  

Actually its sounds weird but the main reason, I went out for this haul was I needed Banana's.  I was really happy to find the yogurt with banana flavors and happy to leave after I got this one super new banana.  I honestly can't believe they threw it out.

There was just so much stuff and we'd only gone through a 1/3 of the bags.  Lots of crab meat salad, grapes, a mango, green beens, and boxed turkey avocado salad along with boxed kale red cabbage. This stuff alone estimate is about $80.

And I got ten of these Crabmeat Salads that sell for about $5 each!

It was a great seafood night for me.  I actually got 2 Cajun boxed Shrimp Salads that sold for over $7 each and had a sell by date of June crazy. Either way food storage wise I cooked those "fresh baby shrimps" immediately when I got home.

In total this one spot had a haul worth $120!!!! That I got for free!

And I went one more spot as well...

I got lots of bread, and 3 sandwiches, along with 2 more wraps, estimate $25 worth of stuff!

The other reason, I went on this haul was my monthly metrocard ran out today, so I wanted to get the most bang for my buck.  After today, I will take a break to eat all this stuff because my fridge is packed!

Freegan Epic Hale and Hearty Soups

So I've pretty much been diving at the same spot lately its so much easier to do because I just got and there's always stuff.  What I did realize is that it can be a competitive spot, like last week I got there 20 minutes later than usually and there as a mini fight going on.  Apparently, one diver brought a car to haul a bunch of stuff and a meaner local diver was yelling go back to your own neighborhood.  Pretty much her and her buddy, had a ton of stuff that was amazing from the quick glance I got of her bags.  It just goes to show there is a huge abundance of stuff.  I definately am not getting first dibs but even still look what I got yesterday!  And that day I got the tail wind, everything was super super clean,  which means I must literally be one of the last divers at that spot. They throw stuff out in clear bags super organized and neat.  I remember the packages that night were super clean.

So tonight, was dairy and chicken breast night.  I mean there was so much and it was all in a separate super clean bags, no liquids dripping and nothing smushed (aka it must have just been brought out).  I'm super excited to grab 2 half gallons of Organic milk.  They even had the Moo vanilla milk but honestly this was my heaviest haul ever.  And I am so pysched about the sour cream because I was just debating buying it at the grocery store the other day and now I got it for free!

The other great score was all the chicken breast I picked up the Purdue one's were the kind they pre slice thinly for grilling (something I'd never shell out extra money for) and a bunch of vacuum sealed split breast. The other batch was fancy vegetarian feed chickens, 99% fat free crazy fancy.  I literally got at least 7 packages of chicken breast in this haul.  Food safety tip, smell it look at it (that night it was so so fresh and I good still feel it being cold, and there was no liquids running)  which happens even at the grocery store when they aren't selling super fresh stuff.

And the other super cool thing especially since were were talking about Hale and Hearty all week and how great but expensive their soups are was the 6 pints of Soup I got.  They are also plastic sealed in side, so no safety issue there!

This night I got tons of bread, which I totally needed... now that I know my spot a bit more and someone had already grabbed the pastry bag.

At the very least this haul was over $100 !! I freakin love this Freegan practice!

Freegan Haul over $100 with of Groceries rescued

I've been pretty swamped lately so I hadn't had time to go to any of the Freegan Meetups lately.  So finally I went with just a buddy and boy did we hit Gold!! Just one NYC supermarket and we were not the first ones there, maybe an 1 hr of my time and over $100 worth of groceries rescued!!!

My buddy got hard packed Chicken like the boxed kind, lamb, spare ribs, Perfect condition boxed Parsley, Orange Juice, more Coconut Juice, Onions etc.  I feel bad because there were tons of breads, packaged Hamburger meat, and stuff left!  I only have so much fridge room.

But seriously, everything is already bagged and packaged pretty much that I took home.  But if your really a germ freak you can dunk the berries or stuff in a vinegar water solution.  It also helps preserve berries longer.   I still can't believe how much stuff is just thrown away! Seriously, its so tragic.  

I'm going to pretty much being eating super healthy salads all week!  And I'm really going to try to post the meals I make from my haul.

NYC Freegan Haul High End Grocer

I picked up 7 packages of Hummus retail price $5 each for total value of $35 in my last Freegan Haul, again the store had put it in a clear plastic garbage bag and there had to be like 30 packs at least.  Either way these hadn't even past their sell by date yet and are also sealed inside as well.  For those that think this is dirty, its not at all and most of the things I've gotten in past tours from Grocers are usually packaged goods. Anyways, super excited because this will go great with all the breads I got from the bakery haul. 

I also picked up this packaged Masala meal regularly priced at $7 as well.  One dinner off my check list.  One thing, I've really enjoyed about these Freegan tours is that everything is free and so any meal I replace with something I find, is basically a free meal!!! 

NYC Freegan Haul

This place is hands down becoming my favorite NYC Freegan spot.  I seriously am loving it.  I've read some really disparaging things about Freegans while researching and it's so mean minded.  But one thing I wanted to clarify, is that New York City is a whole different world when it comes to waste. Stores typically, throw out their salvageable foods in separate bags all on the curbside. This store specifically had individually sorted and bagged their goods inside their store bags inside a clear garbage bag inside another clear garbage bag, almost as if they were expecting the Freegans to come by.

It's an Organic bakery and its great that their bags are Biodegradable as well but they are dedicated to freshness so they toss out their goods every day to bake new ones.  I got about 6 Croissants, a ton of whole wheat bread, walnut bread, raisin bread, and french bread.  I'd estimate I got at least $50 worth of goods are for free, since their stuff is expensive!

http://www.lepainquotidien.com/

Crumbs Bakery : Freegan Haul

http://www.crumbs.com/colossal-cupcakes

So I love Crumbs Cupcakes there so decadent but they cost $4.50 a pop, which is kind of ridiculous but hey its NYC and people are more than willing to pay that much for a single cupcake.  So I was really excited when I got a Clossal Red Velvet Cupcake Cake regularly priced at $42 in my last haul! It got squished because in my bag but its so huge, so I divided it up and put some in my freezer for when I have a craving.

On top of that, I got the below yummi croissants and walnut brownie great for 4 days of breakfast.

I'd easily estimate my freegan haul from this one stop to be $50.