In my mind, a local co-op should be a staple in your grocery shopping repertoire. Better yet, become an owner in a co-op! Not only will you get amazing deals by being an owner, but you’ll play an integral part in supporting local farmers and purveyors of locally sourced foods. It’s the next best thing to being able to shake hands with the farmer who feeds you – a luxury we don’t always have in the metropolitan area.
The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have a large offering of co-ops smattered amongst them and I love stopping at each on of them as often as possible. When two great ones in Minneapolis reached out to partner, I immediately jumped at the chance to help promote their offerings.
Wedge and Linden Hills both believe that access to healthy foods promotes strong communities. Not only that, but they work tirelessly to engage in the community, supporting the people who live there with various activities and CSA programs. I absolutely love their goal to encourage education and activism on sustainability, health and nutrition related issues. This is speaking my love language, right here!
One of their partners is Local Crate, which are chef inspired meal kits with as many locally sourced and sustainable ingredients as possible. The kits these co-ops offer change seasonally and meals can be viewed on their site.
(click here for a list of their summer offerings.)
What you’ll find inside the crate are easy to follow step by step directions and
pre-portioned ingredients. From start to finish, you can expect to create a chef
inspired meal for two in under 30 minutes.
As much as I adore creating nutritious meals for my family, having little to think about with meal prep or ingredients every now and again is a welcomed retreat in the kitchen. The meal highlighted below was a Roasted Chicken Shawarma Bowl with Tzatziki, of which my husband and I devoured during a mid-week date night at home.
What I really love (as much as the beautiful ingredients and easy to follow instructions) is that you can create a meal at home with ingredients you may not feel comfortable buying in a large quantity at the store before tasting.
The meal kits are also perfect for the novice or advanced home chef alike.
If you’ve never made Chicken Shawarma – buying the various seasonings in bulk for a dish may feel intimidating. Yet with these meal kits, it’s all included inside and allows you to create a dish that may feel completely outside your comfort zone worry free.
On the other hand, the well seasoned at home cook can also enjoy a night where they can “take a night off” and simply enjoy the ease and comfort of preparing a meal without all the planning and shopping beforehand.
co-ops, pick up a Local Crate meal and some other locally sourced goodies, pour yourself a glass of wine…and let the fun begin!
Cheers, from my kitchen dinner table (via Wedge, Linden Hills and Local Crate) to yours!
