Visiting any natural food or health store is a dangerously tempting place for me. Here in Ottawa, I am particularly fond of The Natural Food Pantry because the store has reasonable prices and offers a wide range of health and beauty care products, environmentally-sound and eco-friendly products for home living and organic cooking products for the kitchen, undoubtably my favourite room at home!
At the NFP, the store staff doesn’t coddle you or follow you around, intent on selling this or that newfangled product. I like to wander around, see what’s new, read labels and food ingredients fully, and if I have a question, I’ll usually ask if I can’t find something after extensive browsing. I prefer stores that let you explore on your own terms; that’s half the fun!
I admit that I spent more than 8 times what I originally intended to spend on 4 boxes of Stash tea, on sale for a mere $10. I know, I KNOW I don’t need any more teas but, but, but they were on sale and I needed a few new flavours to add to the 3 or 4 dozen teas I already have for my ongoing tea exchange with a friend at work. I can’t help it if I like lots and lots variety 
Today’s shopping list:
For the kitchen:
454 g x Artisana Raw Organic Coconut Butter (A whole food that is positively nutritious, creamy, and delectable!)
500 ml x Filsinger’s Organic Apple Butter (A thick spread with the ripe flavour of apples and spices locally made in Ayton, ON!)
454 g x Heartland Gold’s Certified Organic Coconut Oil (this links to a .pdf info sheet)
In the way of teas, I did splurge, I suppose, with:
- A 20-bag box of the innovative, and very cool Northern Delights, Fine Inuit Herbal Tea with 4 pungent bags each of Labrador, Crowberry, Cloudberry, Ground Juniper, Arctic Blend
- A 25-box of Valerian tea bags (for stress/tension/insomnia)
– 18-bag box of Premium Tea Sampler with Chai Spice, Earl Grey, Double Earl Grey, Decaf Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Lemon Spice, Orange Spice, Peach, Premum Green
- 18-bag box of Chai Tea Sampler: Chai Spice, Double Chai Spice, Decaf Chai Spice, Holiday Chai, Decaf Vanilla Chai, Green Chai
- 18-bag box of Decaf Vanilla Chai (absolute heaven with soy milk — You cannot beat the smooth creamy and spicy flavour of this combination!)
- 18-bag box of Red and White Tea (an antioxidant powerhouse of white and rooiboos teas)
- and a 2-blossom box of Mystic Temple Blossoming Teas in Magic Peach (I have yet to try it out, but apparently the tea is an actual flower blossom that unfolds and blooms, flavouring the tea with an exotic flower flourishing right in your cup!)
For the bathroom:
226 g x Sudz/Kiss My Face Rough Seas Organic soap with lemon and verbena, and exfoliating lichen – It’s about the size of a small brick, but nonetheless manages to fit comfortably in your hand, with a subtle, refreshing scent that will probably invigorate me most mornings!
350 ml x Nature’s Gate Organics Shampoo, Victorian Empress Cypress for energizing thinning hair with the herbs rosemary, saw palmetto, and nettle, used to maintain and stimulate hair rejuvenation and growth
125 g x Papoutsanis’ Olivia Pure Olive with lavender oil
Needless to say, it was a productive day and I’m just pleased I managed to leave without maxing out my credit cards!
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