This was my first time visiting a co-op- so it was
an adventure for me! I thought I would travel to the The Wedge, which is located on Lyndale Ave. The Wedge was founded in 1974 and is named after its shape. The
Wedge has over
15, 000 members from all over the Metro Area. In 2002 it became the
first Certified Organic Retailer in MN. This local co-op continues to bring
organic and sustainable food to our community.
I fell
in love with all the produce and the variety of foods they offered there. Unfortunately
I was on a budget for this challenge recipe. Something that is usually
inexpensive to cook is a stir-fry, so I started finding vegetables- broccoli,
bell pepper and snow peas. The cauliflower was a little pricey so I waited until
the end to purchase it. I has an
assumption that chicken would be expensive as well, however there was chicken,
pre-cut made just for stir fry for $3.76 which definitely fulfilled the protein group. Then for the grain- we self-scooped our own brown rice. I decided to go back for cauliflower in the end-since it's one of my favorite ingredients for a stir-fry, and I thought we would be safe
under the $15 limit. We had tons of stir fry sauce at home, so I chose not to
purchase that. I consider it as a pantry item that I usually do not have to get
when I grocery shop. 
The total came to
15.07, however I had just enough peppers and broccoli to use in my scrambled
eggs the next day, and some left over cauliflower. Therefore in the end, it was still a well-balanced meal for under $15.
As a light snack while we were cooking, my boyfriend and I
shared a Greek yogurt with some fresh slices of orange- a really light snack
with good source of protein, calcium and Vitamin C- which fulfilled the fruits and dairy group!
Overall I did not think the co-op was a place where we spent more money, we spend money on groceries either way. What I liked about the experience, is that you can self scoop what ingredients you need. I estimated a cup of rice there, and was pretty much right on without having too much. Those peppers were probably the freshest peppers I’ve had and not all the produce was expensive.The orange was around 40 cents. With such a great experience, I will be visiting other local co-ops in my community this summer.
For more information regarding The Wedge Natural Foods Co-op, visit:
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