Saturday, October 24, 2009

Some Co-op Love

In honor of National Co-op Month, I've visited 2 other co-ops besides my own in the past week. Okay, that's not true.

I just happened to visit these other co-ops as part of my job and thought, "Hey, that'd make a good blog post". We're SUPER lucky in the Twin Cities of MN to have 12 natural foods co-op stores we can go to any time. We have more co-ops in Minnesota than anywhere else in the country! But even though they're all close by, I tend to just shop at Mississippi Market, because that's my co-op. This week I visited River Market in Stillwater and Linden Hills in Minneapolis.

After finishing my work at these sister co-ops, I found time to shop, of course! I try to limit myself to only buying products that I can't get at my co-op because I get my staff discount there. Here's what I found:
Linden Hills

Vanilla coconut milk kefir: We will carry at MM soon! Super probiotic and tasty without being overly sweet like most non-dairy yogurts.
Fenniman's Sodas: One of our favorites! Fermented like old-fashioned sodas and no preservatives. I bought one of every flavor and 4 packs of the Shandy and Burdock-Dandelion Brew.
Clem's Hot Pepper Mustard: It won 1st place in a mustard contest and it's local. Sold!
Pickled Beets from the deli: These rival my buddy Morgen's recipe. Sorry, Mo.
Organic Black Chickpeas: I can't wait to use these!!!
Organic Purple Barley: I hope the color stays after cooking. Imagine how crazy a barley soup would look!
Liz Lovely Chocolate Covered Sandwich Cookies: Enough said.
Lunch Bots Stainless steel lunch containers: Sandwich sized, with room for a cookie! The kids get these.

River Market

Coconut Bliss ice cream bars: Maybe we carry these at MM? I haven't tried them yet, but probably will tonight!
Everyday Shea body wash: I have the lotion and love it. Totally unscented and loaded with fair trade shea butter so it's super moisturizing. Plus, this giant bottle is only about $12.
Bulk dark chocolate covered bananas and cherries: The bananas are a little weird and I'm not sure why. Too banana-y? The cherries are the bomb and I can eat way too many. They're organic, too!
Pure Fun Organic Root Beer Barrels: Mike's favorite co-op memory from his childhood is of buying bulk root beer barrels everytime he walked down to MM. These are packaged, but help bring back the memories.
Gluten Free Primal Strips: I totally missed the gluten free change until Kittee pointed it out.

Yay Co-ops!

5 comments:

Unplanned Cooking said...

Linden Hills is my favorite. I always get great service, plus they have puzzles my kids can do while I check out.

snugglebunny said...

There is a coop in Lawrence, KS I used to go to. It is really well supported in the town, since they are literally the only whole foods store in the city. I miss that place because we have nothing like it in Florida.

Anonymous said...

Oooh, I love So Delicious Coconut Milk Kefir! So tasty!

Anonymous said...

Oh man, I'm glad you posted this... I've been wondering if the Coconut Milk Kefir was available in the Cities (since it ain't at my co-op). It's my new quest to try it.

The Kuntrageous Vegan said...

i loooooooove the Dandelion-Burdock soda. i can't find those here.
i'm also reaaaaaally jealous of your 12 co-ops. there isn't even one IN town in Nashville!
i keep hearing wonderful things about Coconut Bliss..maybe soon i'll have access to more than just coconut sorbet.