It's only Natuur Winkel

Since arriving in the Netherlands I have been enjoying the local cuisine. I have to say that the open air weekly market is perfect, the bakery beside us makes amazing spelt bread and crackers, the dairy is amazing (especially kwark), the coffee is the best I've ever had but the vegetarian options leave much to be desired. At our local grocery there are limited beans, no tofu, a very limited grains section (rice and couscous) and no quinoa. These are the staples in this vegetarians diet and I am missing them. Relying on dairy for my protein leaves me feeling less then amazing. They seem to add ham to everything which is very frustrating when you just want some soup! I have been dropping in on the health food stores that are in the city centre but they seem mostly to be like the Nutrition Hut or Popeyes in Canada....you know, the not so healthy health food stores. I am starting to get desperate and sent a message to my long time friend Katie Weststrate, a fabulous Naturopath, in Toronto to see if she had any recommendations http://www.headtotoehealthcentre.com/katie.html. Katie had been to Amsterdam and quickly provided me with the name of a natural food store here in the Netherlands, Natuur Winkel. Nick and I looked it up and there is one about 15-minutes from our house. We decided to check it out on one of our walks. It was closed but I peered in the window and observed the extensive grains section :) If Katie hadn't given me the name I would have never found it. The roads here make very little sense to this Canadian girl who is accustomed to blocks in the shape of rectangles/ squares. Everything here winds around the river and given that Maastricht was built in the time of the Romans it is definitely not built for easy access. There are tons of nooks and crannies to explore. I'm headed there today and will report back on my findings.