On to the next cooking challenge!
This is what happened when I discovered an app called “Toogoodtogo”.
Disclaimer: the products, creators, authors and locations mentioned are sincere consumer opinions, from my point of view as a plant based enthusiast, meditation and yoga newbie, always mindful of our plant, seeking to improve life... my way. None are paid advertisements.
Since going plant based, it has been the most fun I´ve ever had cooking at home. My journey has been all about reinvention and it has fueled me ever since.
Why reinvention? When you don´t make an animal product the center of plate, you really need to unlearn how you feed yourself on a daily basis. Think about it: it is the usual steak, chicken part, pork chop, even an omelette! while the vegetables have always been the side dish, rather than the main act.
Once animal products are banned from your plate and you choose to allocate some of your time to wholesome home cooking, there are several “arts” to master next: back label reading for those accidentally vegan finds, having a well stocked pantry, knowing your supermarket landscape for those treasured ingredients, your go-to weekday recipes, your over-the-top signature dishes and perhaps a weekly meal prep.
After almost two years in this rodeo, I can proudly say I am a patron of them arts. So, naturally I became hungry for the next vegan activity to set me a challenge.
In came the app, for me it is “toogoodtogo.de” as I live in Germany. It seems to be running in several countries and there are many variations of the same concepts. Reduce food waste! It resonated with me very strongly. I am not going to go into statistics and numbers of how much food is wasted daily as there are many sources out there from people that are very good at that. Let´s just leave it to the fact that I just hate to waste in any shape or form, be it food, time, water, energy or peace of mind.
This particular app (available for free), shows you which food establishments are nearby-ish where for a few euros you pre-pay and collect a “mystery bag” (or magic bag, depending on translation) filled with food at a certain location and a specific time frame. Many wins I discovered: free app, a surprise element embedded in the experience, a vegan filter, geographical convenience and decent collection times for full time working people.
The food you rescue is supposed to be meant for the trash. Every restaurant or supermarket upon doubt, prefers to throw away food items that are in fact absolutely fine. Most of said food establishments, every day, at different times of day, are listing their mystery bags filled with perfectly good food that just because of that one-day-past-expiry, gets thrown away. Me being an ex of the industrial food processing world, am painfully familiar that expiry dates are roughly calculated and are not an exact science. I wonder how these industry miscalculations are affecting processed food waste in our suffering planet…
For fruits and veggies, the expiry date is mostly “built in” as appearance indicators that mother nature so wisely developed. Think of those brown spots, wrinkles and crinkles, wilted yellowish leaves. None of them necessarily mean that the unit is rotten, it is merely the first sign of fading freshness of “modern times” sometimes unattainable standards.
Link here to my Instagram post.
At my first rescue attempt, I played it safe and went for prepared foods. Twice I landed on the vegetarian arena, not ideal for me, but it did yield a beautiful wholewheat loaf that made for the most generous french toast breakfast for my beloved slow weekend mornings filled with indulgence and self-care.
I tweaked the filter. Not many vegan options in Düsseldorf, except for supermarkets offering fruits and veggies. I was surprised to find a ultracapitalist supermarket listed amongst its “Bio” smaller counterparts that have the environment as its highest priority. I sometimes wonder who is the employee who signs up to sort through their produce stock before disposal. I am sure it is extra work as it is much easier to just throw away stuff without thinking too much about it. I hope it is someone that willingly takes on this task and realizes their contribution to a lower waste planet, one bag at a time. So to them, I send a little thank you.
A mystery bag of fruits and veggies, for a handful of euros.
I was excited and intrigued about the contents of such a mystery bag. What will I get? What can I cook with it? I set off to the ultimate challenge and attempted to feed myself out of that bag, for as long as possible with the least possible additional pantry ingredients.
Important to mention that the app does not specify how big nor heavy the bag might be. Words of advice if you are like me and get around with public transport: be prepared and bring a large sturdy bag for your haul. XXL Ikea bags do the trick. You might consider to skip the gym that day since the transport itself will be a full workout.
Link here to my Instagram post.
I remember my first reaction: “this is not fresh enough!”. Then I got reminded of all those times where I had stocked up my fridge with excess and had to consume not-so-fresh food out of sheer guilt. So my freshness standards got self calibrated to more realistic expectations.
For several weeks now, I am actively scouting the app to rescue more and more food.
The most notable thing about unexpected abundance, is what reactions it triggers in oneself otherwise frugal brain. It unlocks areas of creativity that frugality does not touch. Upon a glut you cook differently, more experimental, probably more indulgent as well.
Here some examples from my experience from the past weeks:
Having kilos of carrots made me try the most awesome moreish soup with different ingredient combinations: fresh ginger and coconut, that so far I have never tried before.
Link here to my Instagram post.
After days of consecutive roasted broccoli florets and thinking to myself “I do not want to eat broccoli again”, I was faced with half a dozen broccoli stems that beckoned a higher purpose other than the bottom of my own garbage bin. I came up with the best recipe ever for the cheesiest creamiest vegan cream of broccoli (top tip: add white miso paste and some tahini and… boom!).
Link here to my Instagram post.
Having kilos of citrus I wondered if the valuable terpenoids (essential oils) found in their peels could somehow be extracted and I ended up following one of those grandma recipes where you steep the peels with white vinegar for a few days in a glass jar. The yellowish liquid makes for the best non-toxic all-purpose kitchen and bathroom cleaner, because of its combination of acetic acid and a powerful natural solvent. It works wonderfully! Bonus tip: it should also help to ward off ants! I will try this one come spring…
Link here to my Instagram post.
Last but not least, one of my favourite craft beer stores post their expired items for collection at one third the price. I was lucky enough to rescue three beautiful bottles of a hoppy lager, a powerful stout and a refreshing Radler.
Imagine throwing beer to the trash because of two days past expiry!!
All these are photos of products that would have been thrown away! But instead they provided me days and days of nourishing meals and quenched my need for the next challenge. Also, it represents only a fraction of what I got in my rescue bags, this post does not honour the magnitude of the rescue exercise.
I know that at one point I will slow down on the food rescue, as to gain some balance, to move from glut to scarcity. I will follow my intuition and as always, doing my best to reduce waste.
Too good to go? Damn right!
