Friday, April 12, 2013

A Dumpster Diver's Dream

Back in 2011, we came home to a refrigerator full of rotting food.  We had to throw away everything.  It was a disgusting task, one that had to be done in the dark because we had no power in the truck, which meant no air-conditioning either, which meant....I was a miserable bitch.

This week, I had to throw away food again.  Our fridge was leaking water but we weren't sure what it was until we realized the ice in the freezer was slowly melting and trickling out.  Everything in the freezer was cool, but thawed.  The stuff in the fridge wasn't as bad, but I didn't trust it, so I ditched it.

In this first picture, I had to throw away a pork loin I just bought, fifteen boneless chicken breasts, scallops, Italian sausage, frozen vegetables, cheese, milk, eggs, ham, frozen waffles... 
The rest of the stuff had to go to, I just didn't trust it, especially the jars that had already been opened.  Pickles, olives, soy sauce, teriakyi sauce, ketchup, cheese, mayo, sun dried tomatoes, sour cream, salad dressings, fromage blanc, capers, jelly, mustard...
There were items that I probably could have saved - like the carrots, tomatoes, scallions - and I thought about cooking the pork loin for lunch since it was still cold, but then I remembered the second problem.

The fuel pump on the generator wasn't working (our fifth one!), which meant I had no generator to cook with, and even if I could cook something, I didn't have a fridge for the leftovers. 

I was so annoyed at having to throw away this food - worth at least two hundred dollars - but what else could I do?  It's not like I could have given it to anyone, I was in a truckstop.  Ed made a good point though, it's about what we'd spend going out to dinner two or three times.  Still.

The only thing I was able to salvage was the cottage cheese I covet and buy in Columbus, OH.  I had just stopped in the wee hours of the morning to get more, so it was still cold.  I bought two coolers, filled them with ice and saved the twenty-five dollars' worth of cottage cheese. 

Now we have to go without a fridge or generator until we get up to Indiana to have them both replaced.  This weekend we're going to stay in a hotel so we don't have to run the truck continuously.

I can't wait to traipse into the hotel lobby with a duffel bag full of clothes and two coolers full of food. 

Could be worse - I could be showing up redneck style, with a cooler full of beer.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

2012: Reigning Over Sitting 300 Days A Year
2011: Raining In Baltimore
2010: Back That Ass Up
2009: Shaved, Slivered, Sliced, Grated, Chunked, And Best Of All, In Meatballs
2008: Too Small For America?
2007: Waiting For A Beautiful Balsamic Splash
2006: Other Weird Things In Utah
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thats more food than in my fridge

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