chocolate lentils
okay, so i've heard tales of these wondrous candies that are supposed to be the vegan equivalent (basically) of m&ms, but until today, they had evaded me. i have never seen them in a store, so the only way i knew to get ahold of them was to order from economy candy, which, let's just say it didn't turn out to be very heavy on "economy." last summer i finally broke down and decided to place an order with them, because i REALLY wanted to try these little candies, and after coming to terms with the fact that i'd be paying just as much for shipping as for the actual candy, i clicked submit. later i received an email telling me that they wouldn't mail them to me (because it was summer) unless i paid even outrageously MORE for overnight shipping. *rolls eyes* i said 'no thank you' and canceled my order.
well, i remembered the other day that now it's winter (heh), so i decided to go for it once again. i ordered 2lbs of the plain variety and 1lb of the chocolate mint variety, and once again braced myself for the shipping charges. in the end, i paid $18 for 3lbs of candy and then $11 for shipping plus a $3 handling charge. ouch. i mean, seriously, give me a break. but whatever.
they arrived today, and i honestly had forgotten that i'd ordered them (it took a week). my husband said, "you got a box," but the return address didn't say "economy candy" and i was totally clueless. imagine my delight when i opened the box! hee. i immediately opened the bag of plain lentils and ate a handful. they're delicious!! next i opened the mint chocolate and ate a handful of those. also delicious!! plus, they had been on the porch for awhile, so they were cold, which is my favorite way to eat chocolate. yummers.
the entire time i was chomping on those first few bites, i kept saying, "oh em gee i can't believe i'm eating m&ms! i can't believe i'm eating m&ms! i paid a billion dollars in shipping but it's So Worth It!!" but now that the shine is off, i have to be honest: it's a little completely frickin' ridiculous to pay $14 to ship the equivalent of a big ol' bag of m&ms to my house. so, my plan is two-fold: (a) figure out a way to make these 3lbs last as long as possible, so that i feel i get my money's worth, and (b) figure out how to get these suckers locally. there's GOT to be someplace that carries them, right? wish me luck!
chocolate lentils?! i am not convinced. but i'm also not going to pay that money to be convinced. plus, the last thing i need is access to more sweets. i'm having a hard enough time avoiding the crap already.
still...for holidays and special occasions...hmmm. i wonder if i could get them locally too.
Posted by: river selkie | 09 January 2008 at 12:36 AM
Oh man... I want to try those things SO badly. But I can't find them locally and I refuse to sell my soul to pay for them.
They're delicious, you say? Sigh...
Posted by: Amanda | 09 January 2008 at 04:43 PM
they ARE pretty darn good, although i think i prefer the mint to the plain. however, i REALLY want to find a local place to buy them because that shipping is insane. they are kosher/parve, so i'm thinking maybe i'll go to a kosher/parve bakery in town and ask the nice people there if they can hook me up. it's worth a shot, anyway!
Posted by: girl least likely to | 17 January 2008 at 06:33 PM
I believe that the It's Delish kosher brand of chocolate lentils (I know they have mint flavor, but I'm not so sure if they have plain chocolate) is vegan. I've read the labels (though not recently) and I've e-mailed the company to be sure. I haven't bought or tried any yet as I'm waiting to hear back from the company, but it's a brand that they sell in all my local grocery stores. So, if they turn out to be vegan, you should be able to save on shipping by buying them at your grocery store. :)
Posted by: Vegyogini | 14 February 2008 at 02:25 PM