Do reusable baby food pouches live up to the hype that seems to be swirling around them?
Yes. The answer to your question is yes. HECK. YES. I thought I had an obsession with making baby food before. It has increased TEN FOLDS now that I know I can put it in my own pouches and take it on the go.
I love a food pouch just as much as any other modern day mama, but there were a few things that just didn’t sit well. The biggest one was the cost. A stage 1 Plum Organics puree goes for about $1.25-$1.50 at my local grocery store. You may think that isn’t too bad for a whole baby meal. Yet I can buy a 1 lb. page of organic carrots for $1.79. It would take me about 15 minutes to steam and puree them at home. That one bag would make enough for 6-8 servings for Emmy. Secondly, there has always been alot of talk about what is really in the baby food pouches. Good Morning America did some investigating a while back and found that many times, the number one ingredient in pouches was not even listed on the front label. But did I still use the store bought pouches? You bet. The convenience just can not be beat. However, that constant uneasy feeling I felt every time Emmy started sucking on one led me to search for a way to transport my homemade baby food in a package as convenient as a store bought pouch.
I felt like I had discovered the holy grail when I found reusable baby food pouches. I seriously could not wait to get to makin’ some baby food for them! I ordered the Wee Sprout 5 oz. Reusable Pouches. You can find them on Amazon here and they are available for Prime (double win!). This brand comes HIGHLY recommended by mamas (as in almost 2,200 reviews and FIVE STARS!) I used my Baby Bullet to make the usual food combos that Emmy has been enjoying lately… pears + carrots (or parrots as Jay calls them), peas and pears and banana and yogurt.
I put 3 pouches in the fridge and two in the freezer. Just a heads up for the bananas and yogurt… I ALWAYS freeze my bananas as soon as I am done making them. It’s the only way I know how to keep them from browning. When we were ready for some morning yogurt, I would run the bananas under warm water in the pouch to thaw, then I added the yogurt into the bottom of the pouch and just kind of squeezed it around to mix it up. All of the combinations worked great and I didn’t see any browning. One issue I did run into was I kept putting too much into the pouch! I didn’t realize until my third one that there is a clearly labeled ‘max fill” line that I obviously didn’t see. Blame it on mom brain. So things were messy there in the beginning but I eventually got the hang of it!
We took the pouches everywhere with us. Emmy went to a friend’s birthday party last weekend and as soon as all the other babies started eating, Emmy got food envy and was immediately hungry. Reusable pouch to the rescue!
Obviously the biggest question I had when it came to the pouches was cleaning them. I had read prior to picking this brand that the reason they were able to stay clean is because there are no corners in the pouch. There are no little crevices for the food to get stuck in! I think this is also why the pouches appear so large compared to the ones you but at the store. The store bought are thicker and able to stand up right with an expandable bottom. These are not designed like that in order to make them reusable. So while the pouches we got only hold 1.5 ounces more than your average stage 1 store bought pouch, they are much bigger. To clean then, I opened the bottom, did a quick rinse, then added some baby dish soap and used a Munchkin Bottle Brush to clean it. I also like that the pouches are pretty see through, so if there was something in there that you missed, you can see if from the outside pretty well.
Overall, I’d say I’m hooked on making my own baby food pouches and a HUGE fan of Wee Sprout. You know who I am also a fan of? YOU GUYS! So I contacted Wee Spout and asked if we could partner up for a giveaway and they said YES! We are going to give away 1 set (6 pouches) in your choice of size!
We’re trying out a nifty new way to do contests! All you have to do is click the photo below, which will take you to our FB page. Once you are there, tag a friend in pinned post at the top of our page with the same Wee Sprout photo as below! That’s all you have to do to enter! Contest ends 2.18.17! YAY!
