Baby Food Pouches

Yes, it has been dangerously close to a year since my last blog post.  I know, #worstbloggerever.

Let's just say Miss Naya has kept us all quite busy these past months.  I promise I will update you on all of her milestones, our international separation for nine days and everything in between...#bestsummerever

So, I'm back because I just tried something new and I wanted to tell you all about it! I don't know what to call them so I'm going to just say...Baby Food Pouches!

Naya has been getting a little feisty when it comes to being spoon fed.  So, we started buying the Meijer brand pouches of baby food that she can (sort of) do herself.  I found lots of ideas on Pinterest about making my own at home, and I wanted to try them out.

First, I bought these Tiny Peeps brand reusable pouches off Amazon. They are freezer and dishwasher safe and they came in packs of 8 for $9.99.

Second, I bought lots of fruits and veggies on sale.  I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to include, but I knew I wanted a variety.

Third, I experimented!  I ended up with four veggie blend pouches and four fruit smoothie pouches.  Here I will walk you through the fruit ones I did this afternoon:

1. Wash all your pouches and lay them out so they are easily accessible.
   
2. Add 1 banana, 1/2 mango, 2 cups blueberries, 1/2 cup raspberries, and 1 diced apple (skin on) to the blender.
   
3. Blend the fruit & periodically use a rubber spatula to mix the ingredients to ensure all chunks get blended well.
4. Carefully hold one pouch open (from the bottom) to make it easier to pour in. I suggest using a large spoon to slowly fill it.
   
5. These pouches appear to hold a LOT of liquid, but when you zip them close, you push some out, so be careful not to fill them too full!
6. Once sealed, these pouches must be frozen or consumed within 24 hours.  I stacked all mine in the freezer.
   
   
   
7. If frozen, these pouches cannot be microwaved, so treat them like breastmilk (if you did that like we did) and warm them in a cup of hot water.
   

I will admit, my baby girl did NOT like them at first.  I think the pouches were (1) much bigger to hold than the ones I had introduced to her from the store and (2) recipes that had textures she wasn't used to.  After trying/wasting the first veggie and first fruit pouch, she has really loved them the second and third time around. 

My veggie recipe included 1 ripe avocado, 1 ripe banana, 1 handful organic baby spinach leaves, 1/2 baked butternut squash, 1 jar carrot puree, & a few squeezes of lemon juice.  I have used these in the car, at the ball field, or any other time we need a snack or lunch on the go.  Enjoy!  Please share YOUR recipes, too.  

And, p.s., I read many reviews about how horrible these can be to clean.  All I have to say is spray them with your kitchen hose and they are SO EASY.  Love them already!