Easter Candy

This post is mainly for my Feingold friends. Eliminating artificial colors and flavors from our diet really isn't all that difficult - until you start looking at candy. And let's face it, we don't consume candy on a daily basis. But when it comes to the Holidays - certain ones seem to be centered around candy. And this past year it has become increasingly difficult to find candy that meets our requirements. So this week I've been on a bit of a scavenger hunt.

First stop CVS. In years past CVS has carried Palmers Premium Milk Chocolate Eggs - made with pure vanilla, not the dreaded vanillin like so many others. CVS no longer carries this product. Palmers still makes many of their premium products, I guess we need to launch a campaign to get the drugstores to carry the products again. There was nothing acceptable in CVS. Yet another holiday where they won't be getting any of my consumer dollars.

Next stop Wal-Greens. I don't typically shop Wal-greens, but there was a particular special they were running this week, so I took the time to check out their candy aisle. Score! They carry cards with small milk chocolate crosses made by Palmers. This week the cards are 2 for $1. I didn't buy any, I was holding out for bunnies.

My hunt continued at Target. Score again! Target carried a small 6 pack of eggs pre-filled with Florida Naturals (stage 2). They also carried large eggs pre-filled with several packages of Florida Naturals. But I have lots of plastic eggs at home, so I checked out their regular aisles. Score! A 24 pouch package of Florida Naturals Nuggets (variety flavors) which I'll use to fill my own eggs. Still no chocolate.

My next stop was Trader Joe's. Now Trader Joe's sells a wide variety of products, but the store is mostly their own name brand, and they aren't too good about filling out forms for PIC (FG's Product Information Committee), so I can't buy most of their stuff. We tried their all natural lollipops once - big mistake. So while they had some interesting candy (although not very Eastery), I was only able to purchase Glee Gum.

Up the road I stopped at Whole Foods (a huge health food grocery store). I got some Sundrops from the bulk bins (all natural M&Ms). They only had the plain, not peanut, and they did not have any in individual packages. They no longer carry Jolly Beans in the bulk bins, so I paid an exorbitant amount for all natural Jelly Bellys (stage 2). They have chocolates that are made with vanilla, but the price is beyond my reach, especially when I need stuff for 4DC. This was the point that I decided I could melt chocolate chips and make my own if I never found anything affordable. I did buy the Annie's Bunny Fruit (gummies). Not sure if they're approved (and they'd be stage 2 if they are), but Annie's is a company with a good reputation and I trust them.

Wal-Mart was my next hunt. Major score! Palmers chocolate bunnies, $1 each. And they had 5 different colors to choose from! I did not purchase the blue. I also snagged a bag of Great Value Peanut butter cups.

My grocery store, Shop-Rite was my last stop. There I got a bag of Ghiradelli Milk Chocolate Squares. (Yum! Let's hope they make it until Easter!) They also had the Annies Bunny Fruit for 2 cents less than Whole Foods. Live and learn. So I now have enough to fill Easter baskets. It wasn't as easy as it has been in previous years, but I persevered.