I've been told I'm disgusting. I am actually feeling quite smug! (Lighthearted)

[AuntMatilda]

My Mum manages some properties as a part time job, her boss is an old friend. One tenant had left and returned to his home country (Egypt) and I went to help her clear the flat

He had left LOADS of food. Mostly sealed, in packets, some dried food (lentils, grains, pasta etc) in jars or huge tupperware containers.

Lots of (sealed) huge bags of herbs and spices.

I've taken the lot.

My opinion is, I hate food waste, the stuff that has already been opened and decanted into another container is dried stuff that will need to be boiled before consumption anyway, and the other stuff is sealed.
So I'm feeling smug about having lots of free food (I love cooking)! and also happy to be 'recycling'.
My Brother and some of my friends I've told have told me things like this is disgusting having someones 'second hand food' and that I should have chucked it all.

My only issue is, I don't know what some of it is. I am currently making a 'risotto' with some grain type thing -looks a bit like a cross between rice and bulgar wheat! So a few surprise dinners to come I think.
Am I gross or economical?

I'd do the same pretty much (I'd have to avoid pasta and things I don't know what they are due to being GF but maybe OH would eat them). More disgusting to waste food I reckon.

Eating food that someone else bought isn't a problem.

But eating food someone else has manhandled and could have altered in some way and you don't know what it is could be a problem. There are things (like kidney beans for example) that if not cooled correctly could make you ill and without access to the exact brands instructions on the packet it could he a bit risky

There is a bag of Orzo Troels. But it isn't what I'm using for this. :)

I'll be careful with the herbs etc thank you for the warning original :)
sydney thank you for having faith that I can, I have had Egyptian dishes before and loved them but I will be careful :)

Crikey people are so strange! I'd have had the lot too. House looks clean, blokes a doctor.....

There are people who have nothing yet we turn our nose up at someone else's lentils?

How precious we've all become 😂

Good on you. The other day my DH suggested pasta for tea and I told him that I had poured the last packet of penne into a bowl for our ten month old DS to play with. This is a ten month old who crawls all over the floor and fondles his genitals during nappy changes. Some of the pasta had also been on the playroom floor.

DH said "yeah well it's going to be boiled anyway, let's just eat it." So we did.

I would totally do this, OP.

I agree with Natsku that wasting the food would be disgusting.

PMSL at "they could be medicine or hair dye" Wtf do you eat that you get these confused with food?

OP I'd have taken the stuff in sealed packaging.

Good grief, you can't take 'used' packages of sealed food?

I'd have done the same.

I would totally do this, and when I move out of my temporary accommodation here will make sure that the landlords know that any food I haven't eaten is available for their use.

Great idea!

Why not put a teaspoon or so of the unknowns on a white saucer, say one layer thick and photograph them, then post them on here, see if anyone else knows what they are.

Good grief, how do you think people cope when they buy things that don't come in a packet? Kidney beans from Asda are not inherently different from kidney beans from Waitrose which are not inherently different from kidney beans from a market. You don't need brand-specific cooking instructions, you just need to know how to cook kidney beans.

Endthenightmare - I'll send you some of the hair dye I've had sent over from Pakistan (looks like dark curry powder) or the teas I use for insomnia (looks very nice).

As it's homemade they are just in ziplock bags and look like the various herb, seasoning and spice mixes I also get sent over.

I got them mixed up once and tranquilised the rice (it was bloody awful and I will never live it down).

Jessie that is so funny! But yes boiled should kill any nasties.

I'm busy until later now but I will endeavour to post some photos asap! Good idea.
dietcoke thats my attitude too.

To add a cautionary tale, I should say that once I was sent a tea caddy containing powder without a label through the post from a friend who knows I like different types of teas and often sends me samples.

I tried a quarter teaspoon in a cup and had a tiny taste, but didn't drink the rest. Just as well as when I asked him, he was astounded that I'd even attempted to drink it and apparently I "should have known" it was incense.

without access to the exact brands instructions on the packet it could he a bit risky

Hahaha! If it's recognisably a kidney bean or a lentil and you cook it in the normal way of cooking kidney beans or lentils then nothing will go wrong. You do know that beans come from naturally plants without benefit of labels and plastic covers, don't you? Humankind has survived for millennia without the exact brand instructions to inform them how to cook. How sad that people in this country are scared to eat anything that hasn't been processed, packaged and branded.

I would do this, 100%. Food waste is detestable.

I used to run volunteer parties collecting unopened food from students moving out of halls of residence to give to food banks and homeless shelters. Unfortunately, students used to give us all their half used up spice jars, packs of grains, boxes of tea etc too. I turned a blind eye to the volunteers taking the opened stuff home as the charities we worked with couldn't take them. I'd also leave stuff visible and protected in bins I knew the local freegans frequented.

If anyone is interested, there's an app called Olio where you can advertise food you're not going to use up and give it away for free.

I used kidney beans as an example as I know that if not cooked properly they can make you ill. With this stuff that's unidentified she won't k ow what it is to look up the instructions to cook it properly. Shes just assuming it's soak/cook etc

I think it's fine. I'd have taken the things I recognised.

What like people never got sick mis identifying mushrooms and berries for example?

Economical, and the world would be a better place if more people had your attitude, OP. I would have taken the lot too.

Billions of people around the world manage to cook food perfectly safely with no written instructions.There is no issue with not having instructions on the packet about how to cook kidney beans. Kidney beans are kidney beans and the cooking instructions are the same the whole world over. You soak them in cold water for a good long time (12 hours minimum), washing first if you think they need it, then you pour away the soaking water, rinse the beans thoroughly in a colander or sieve and boil until soft in fresh water, without adding salt as it might slow down the softening process. They're not safe to eat if they're not thoroughly cooked, but fine if they are.

I suppose it's possible the herbs and spices might be more for medicinal purposes, but if you are a confident cook I should think that won't be difficult to work out. Good luck!

it might be hair dye

I'm pretty sure I can identify hair dye and red lentils!

Economical and very practical. I am impressed by your thriftiness.

The grain sounds like freekeh to me. It's smoked green wheat and it's delicious. You can do all the wanky Ottolenghi recipes now

I'd have done the same as you - waste not, want not!