Anytime we visit Walmart with all three children in tow, my husband and I have learned to go with a precise tactical battle plan in mind and bee-line it only to the specified aisle(s) of necessity. Any diversion from the plan and we’ve asked for whatever trouble ensues.
We made one such trip this past week on a mission to purchase Valentine’s party supplies needed to host a “Sweetheart Party” for our kiddos and their friends. It was quite the adventure to parade a trio of hungry children past thousands of colorful, shiny and luring bags of candy and chocolates right before dinner when they were according to themselves “seriously starving, Mom!” (note to self made after that monumental miscalculation).
Somehow, we made it out battered but alive with three varieties of Valentine’s cards to pass out, all kinds of lovey-dovey party supplies and enough sugary-sweet conversation hearts to open a dialogue between Adobe Flash and your iPad.
Now as I sit and type this article, my dining room table situated just behind me is piled high with the spoils of front-line combat in the Valentine’s aisle, the kids are happy and I have work to do this upcoming week decorating, baking and helping little hands write their names on the “From:” line of their Valentine’s cards. Sounds like I’m all set to enjoy the sweetest holiday of the calendar year, right?
Well, close to right — just one minor detail is missing. In all the hubbub of keeping my three cherubs from opening bags of candy just as fast as they were tossed into the buggy, we left without my one single Valentine’s Day guilty pleasure — a box of assorted chocolates.
Normally, I don’t keep chocolates around the house, but for some reason around Valentine’s Day they are all but irresistible. Whitman’s Samplers, Godiva, See’s Chocolates; you name it, and automatically I start daydreaming of the anticipation you feel right before biting into a chocolate to discover what yummy filling awaits your taste buds. Don’t ask me how I let myself forget the boxed chocolates even amidst the chaos of three uncooperative kids in a super center, but somehow it happened.
Now to focus my attention toward damage control without having to venture back to Wally World.
Where else better to turn when you have a dilemma but to seek help from the Internet? And wouldn’t you know, I just happened to stumble across some environmentally-friendly selections to satisfy even the most discerning taste buds of fellow seasonal chocoholics.
Following are a few of my favorite chocolate picks for your eco-friendly sweethearts (or for yourselves!) this Valentine’s Day:
• From www.ecoexpress.com — an organic dark chocolate sampler packaged in a beautiful handmade beaded fair trade basket. Available in two sizes with prices ranging from $26-$50.
• From Coco-Zen, http://stores.homestead.com/CocoZen/-strse-84/Green-Gift-Set-cln--Chocol... — a Green Gift Set: “Chocolate to Eat” package that includes fair trade chocolate truffles (regular or vegan) packaged in a keepsake four-tier Indian Tiffin and paired with a book entitled, “Celebrate Green!” all for $67.95
• And finally, a clearing house website for organic chocolate gift ideas, World Wide Chocolate, http://worldwidechocolate.com/organic_chocolate.html — which lists companies such as: Divine Organic Chocolates, Terra Nostra (Latin for Our Earth) Organic Chocolates, Green & Blacks Organic Chocolates and many other gourmet organic chocolatiers. Prices and gift options vary.
I guess it wasn’t all bad that the Whitman’s Sampler was accidentally omitted from our family shopping cart last week. I learned quite a bit poking around the Web for healthier organic chocolate options. And we all know that the following observation is truth; anytime one can justify chocolate as “healthy” you’ve done yourself a great service.