Great River Milling, Red Lentils, Non-Organic, 27 Ounces (Pack of 4)

Being a very busy mom of five, dinner can be a challenge! Trying to make something quick, healthy, and inexpensive between doing the laundry, running errands, and child’s activities can get overwhelming . Every Wednesday, I open a bag of these beans, throw them into the instant pot covered with several inches of water, set the pressure gauge, and come back from my activities to a nice pot of dinner. I quickly season with salt, garlic powder, and onion powder, add some chipotle, then serve over rice . Black beans and rice is a staple in our house these days, and a comfort food that we all look forward to in the middle of a busy week .

So, the Great River Milling Co. scotch-taped a printed note to my black beans packages explaining that this product is one of 43 (really?!) that they have newly launched on Amazon, and that the plastic bags in which they are packaged were erroneously produced too large, and asking the buyer please to be kind to them in any review on Amazon as they are just starting and aware of the packaging issue. I do appreciate the up-front acknowledgement of the problem, and I do have sympathy for merchants who are forced by current market pressures to sell through the Amazon behemoth, but...-The loose packaging is definitely weird; at least 2x too large (see pic1).-Which would not be a problem except, as mentioned by another reviewer, more of the beans are cracked than say, Goya beans or Bob's Red Mill beans (see pic2), and I wonder whether the loose packaging is the cause of that.-However, cracked beans are perfectly edible and won't stop me from eating them.-Also, despite the half-empty bags, the beans' weight is spot on: 4 x 26 oz of beans (total weight 6.5#)-On the other hand, the expiration date is April 10, 2019 (see pic3) -- for an order delivered March 12, 2019. Yes, I am aware that dried beans last virtually forever and I do in fact regularly use dried legumes, pasta, canned goods, and even dairy products well past their labelled "best by" dates. And of course I will eat these beans and won't hesitate to eat them a year or three from now if I haven't managed to finish them by then.-BUT... this company does not inspire great confidence in its "new" line of products by shipping a food commodity that is very non-perishable yet with an expiration date that is less than a month away. What does it mean? They weren't able to sell them elsewhere so this is their last-ditch attempt to offload before they expire and can't legally sell them any more? Or... what other explanation? How old must these beans be to have an expiration in one month??-Another issue: no Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) -- I searched my own packaging multiple times. Same as the pictures in the Amazon product description - no COOL. One "Answered question" says from North American farms, but that could be Canada, US, or Mexico, *and* that respondent was not the producer, just some Amazon customer. Great River Milling says on the packaging that they feel lucky to "offer products from this area" in Wisconsin, but there is specifically no promise of the food origin. I am always looking for food produced in the United States, so I am disappointed about this.-And, the price was right for me to experiment when I purchased these late February, 2019: eighteen dollars and eighty-nine cents for 6.5# (plus discount for "Subscribe and Save" and plus a one-time coupon ). As of today, 17 March 2019, the price is up to twenty-five dollars and eighty-six cents, before discounts ...I'm hoping Amazon doesn't strip costs and dates from this review, as the price was an important part of my purchase decision to try this product.-And lastly, a note about non-organic. The Amazon title does specifically say non-organic. However, at least at the time I was researching these, the company's literature on-line prominently touted the benefits and quality of their organic products... which (at the time) definitely left the impression that they only sell organic products... which was confusing since the title does say non-organic and the packaging does not have any mention of organic. So, just a note for anyone else who is confused: these are definitely not organic. (which for me is fine)-And I am trying to "be kind" -as the company implored me- by not giving these a lower rating than 3 stars, because I haven't yet cooked them up. I am figuring / hoping! / that it's hard to screw up dried black beans too much.

As a family of 7 we go though a ton of food, beans are a nutrient rich, protein packed powerhouse that we all enjoy. The bags are packaged a bit oddly, however there was a note included that explained the bags were mis-sized, I did weigh the product just to be sure and each bag is indeed 27 oz. The beans themselves were good quality, after soaking, rinsing and sorting I tossed out maybe 6 or 7 beans. The flavor was great! I would buy from Great River Milling again!

Can't beat the price for organic beans. Only a few cracked beans in the mix. Everything is delicious and high quality, and I look forward to eating through all of these.

I cooked a pot of these beans as soon as we received them. They were great! I'm using the leftovers to make Hummus... yum.

Small size lentils, very dusty and lots of debris making it quite unpalatable.

Manufacturer sent wrong thing but quickly sent right product at no charge and did not request return. Fast shipping and a great product

Great flavor