I began buying pouches all the time and the baby food in my cupboard was just sitting there. I thought hmm I wonder if I could make these things myself. I did a Pinterest search for inspiration and realized BAM I definitely could! Next was Amazon to see if they sold reusable pouches that wouldn't require me to purchase any baby food making gadgets and BEHOLD These pouches appeared! I have been using them now for about 3 months and they are perfect. AND come with a 1 year warranty. The bottom opens up quite large which is perfect and the zipper seal is crazy strong so they do not come open. Score! Here is the link in case you wanted to check them out... http://a.co/bkjLw6w
Pictured above are Pea Spinach Carrot Pear Oatmeal pouches. I have made all the usual flavors you find in the store and even tweaked some and added things like chia, flax meal, and baby cereals. I found a ratio of 2 vegetable jars to about 5 fruits work best. Mr. Little will go 50/50 or straight veg but his sister will not and so a 2/5 ratio works best for her. It still tastes like the veg with the fruit but no too veggie. If you add any baby cereal or chia you will want to add some water or juice to thin it out a bit. I typically just use water.
Basic Pouch Recipe Formula
makes about 8 pouches
2 4oz. jars of vegetable baby food
5-6 4oz. jars or fruit baby food
seasonings to taste like cinnamon (start with 1/4 tsp and adjust up)
1/4 cup rice or oatmeal baby cereal (optional)
water or juice to thin out to desired consistency (optional if adding chia, baby cereal or flax)
Pour all the pureed baby food and baby cereal if adding into a pour-able bowl whisk it all together making sure everything is well blended. Add some water or juice to thin out the puree if you need to whisking well again to make sure your puree isn't thick like mashed potatoes and then fill the reusable pouches.
Freeze the pouches until the day you are going to use them. They will keep 48hrs in the fridge.
To thaw sometimes I simply place them in a bowl of warm water or take them with me to the park if I am heading out and let them thaw on their own if I do not need them right away. You can always pull them out the day before and thaw in the fridge too. They work great for a cold pack in a picnic lunch.
**Handy Tip**
I do not like to write on the pouches and I keep several flavors in my freezer so I take a gallon ziplock and write the flavor of each batch on it with the date I made them and when it's empty I simply cross out the previous flavor/date with my sharpie and put the new one. It keeps my freezer tidy this way.
A few other flavor combos that my 2 littles enjoy are: (all are good with or without the cereal type add ins)
Banana pumpkin
Apple blackberry carrot
Sweet potato and pear
Pea pear and spinach
Apple pumpkin cinnamon
Mixed vegetables with apples
Apple and butternut squash (with cinnamon and with out)
Parsnip and apple cherry banana
Pear mango and spinach
Apple and carrot (with and without cinnamon)
Pea spinach carrot pear
Pea spinach Apple
Apple carrot butternut squash
Apple Blueberry carrot
Apple Blueberry butternut squash
Apple Blueberry sweet potato
Apple and Sweet Potato (with and without cinnamon)
Pear and butternut squash (with and without cinnamon)
Pear and sweet potato (with and without cinnamon)
Apple cherry banana with chia
Next I am going to try to add grains like quinoa or barley but I think after the grain is cooked they may need to be pulsed in the food processor so they aren't so chunky. It's on my list of pouch add ins to try.
Has anyone else tried a unique flavor combos? When Mr. Little is older I want to try making my own purees but for now the ease of using the pre-made packaged ones fits better with our busy life here.
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