If you’ve been a long time reader, you know that I’ve made my own baby food for all of my kids.
It’s ultra easy and saves a toooon of money.
Friends of ours were over one day and were feeding their babies from these new fangled squeeze pouches.
And basically, they were brilliant.
No mess? Kid can feed themselves? Love it.
But if I’m not willing to pay for traditional baby food jars, there is NO WAY I’m about to pay the premium for those little squeeze pouches. It’s just not gonna happen. No matter how cool they may be.
Enter Infantino’s new do it yourself squeeze pouch system
I follow them on Facebook and when I saw them announce this new product, I immediately emailed them asking if I could do a review. Because this was the perfect marriage of DIY and the latest trends.
The folks at Infantino were kind enough to oblige my request and sent me the full system: a Peppy Puree, a Squeeze Station, pouch refills, a set of reusable spoons, and even a little travel pack thing (not pictured…because I forgot. Lo siento.)
As an aside, and totally not important, I love their packaging.
They have nice fonts.
This can be make or break on if I buy something.
And I’m kinda not kidding.
Quit judging.
I can sense it from here.
Now, at a whopping 11 weeks old, Owen is obviously much too young to get started eating solids.
But I had an idea: Jilly.
Jilly’s Cerebral Palsy means that using a spoon to self-feed can be a frustrating and incredibly messy experience. She’s getting better at it every single day, but these pouches could make meal time and snacks a more pleasant experience. Not all the time (because she needs the spoon practice), but this mama could use a break from the Jill-needs-taken-out-back-and-hosed-down-after-every-meal.
So for you special needs mamas that read, this might be a great idea.
I decided to make carrots. Because that’s about as easy as it gets.
I have a giant 14 cup Cuisinart food processor
Now, if you’ve ever wondered if blogger reviews are honest, here you go: this mini puree thing was pretty awful. It was much too small to realistically make baby food (it only held enough carrots to fill 2 pouches) which would take forever if you wanted to make big batches at once (which I will forever contend is the only way to make your own baby food), and I fought with it trying to get the lid locked on to the point where I almost threw it across the room, and when I finally did get it snapped together, it didn’t really puree the carrots thin enough for younger babies. I would not recommend the Peppy Puree. Use a true food processor. (Sorry Infantino!)
But stick with me, because it gets better. Promise.
The rest of the system is pretty awesome.
And easy.
You simply slide your pouches into the Squeeze Station (which is just a fancy name for pouch holder thingamabob).
Then you screw on the plastic tube dealies, pour in your pureed food, and squish it down with the plunger gig.
Done.
And that is awesome.
Because it was easy and simple and yielded very little mess.
And that’s all I need in life folks.
Screw on the little orange tops and you are ready to go.
Boom.
Something else I really appreciated?
The system came with this little magnet that tells you how long the food can be stored.
It’s a simple thing, but I love the attention to detail.
Frazzled mamas can’t always be googling.
When they are ready to eat, you just screw on a little re-usable spoon thing.
My kids were completely enthralled with the pouches.
Henry BEGGED me to try one.
My five year old.
Who wouldn’t eat a carrot if I threatened his very life.
He ate TWO of these things.
And asked if I would pack them in his lunch for school.
I will never, ever understand kids.
Next it was Jilly’s turn.
She examined the pouch from every angle.
Like it was from outer space.
She tasted it.
And then she looked at me like I had just served her mud.
And then set it back down with no intention of ever eating such filth again.
Kid is picky. Carrots are apparently not her thing. But the pouches worked. She was able to use them without making a giant mess.
I’m gonna try apples or something next time. The pouches did their job. It was the food inside that was sub par.
Lucy wanted in on the action too.
And, like her brother, gobbled it all up.
MESS FREE.
SUCCESS!
This is Lucy saying “Mommy!!!! I LIKE IT!!!!”
Incidentally, I had a few leftover boiled carrots and gave them to the kids with their dinner.
In their God-given form, Lucy declared that she couldn’t eat them because they “were spicy”.
Calling something spicy is Lucy’s way of trying to get out of eating something.
Whole carrots are spicy. Pureed carrots are delicious.
And here are my Bigs chomping on carrots.
The non-spicy version of course.
It’s all about presentation.
Maybe my font thing is rubbing off on them?
All of that to say that I am super stoked on the Fresh Squeezed line.
I love that I can still make my own baby food, but take advantage of new innovations.
I highly recommend it. Not the Peppy Puree thing…but the rest of it is seriously awesome. I’m excited to keep trying things for Jill and for putting it to work when it’s Owen’s turn. kwCatId=&kw=infantino%20squeeze&origkw=infantino+squeeze&f=Taxonomy/TRUS/2254197&sr=1″ target=”_blank”>Babies R Us.
Infantino provided me with the Fresh Squeezed system for review purposes, but all content and opinions are my own. Obvs.
*UPDATE: Infantino now has a reusable squeeze pouch
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That is pure genius. I wish they had those things around when my kids where babies. Well, at least if we do ever have another one, I know what I’ll be putting on my registry.
Love. It. Especially the “spicy” part. We have lots of spicy things at our house too. Like dora toothpaste. And children’s chewable ibuprofen. Spicy.
I want squeeze pouches too!
I, too, make my own baby food for my girls. Aside from ease, clean up is a huge factor in how I do things. I just started using an immersion blender which allows me to cook and blend in one pot, saving me from cleaning the blender. Anywho….how is the cleanup with this system? Are the pouches reusable?
Clean up was a breeze. I simply rinsed out the pieces in hot water, but they are all dishwasher safe as well. Infantino is coming out with a reusable silicone pouch if that is a concern. The only issue with that is that unless you purchased A LOT of the reusable pouches, you can’t make food in big batches…which is the only way I will make my own baby food.
Ditto on the pouch reuse thing.
Soooo with you on the packaging. Second career option once the kids are gone – package design.
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What a great product! We are just switching to the squeeze pouches and we are getting Little Miss who is almost 2 years old, who isn’t yet 20 lbs, to eat way more veggies than she will any other way. And the spoons that attach….not necessarily needed. She squeezes and sucks straight from the end of the pouch and then I don’t have anything to clean!!
All small blender things blow. And I mean that.
In my PPD moment(s), I would have thrown that thing across the room. Oh wait. Maybe I did. Explains the dent in my table.
Amelia didn’t like the pureed stuff for long, like maybe a month? She wanted pizza right out of the womb (no lie, no exaggeration, swear and there are witnesses!) and once she got her hands on solids, it was on and cracking. Right now, she says she ‘doesn’t like’ certain foods because she is too distracted to eat. I love the pouch ideas for little ones, as well as kids who are still working on coordination, it makes life easier for mom and easier for the kids (frustration can be so… frustrating). I have a friend who is preggo, I’ll have to tell her about your review and send her the link to your blog =0)
Cheers,
Caryl
I , too, am wondering if the pouches are reusable. With twins, those could get pricy very quickly!
The box and instructions say not to reuse the pouches… :(
Have you checked out the Sili Squeeze Pouches? (http://thesilico.com/products.html) Similar concept, but they might hold more for those bigger kids. My Kiddo Combo LOVE them (they’re 1 and 3) and I fill them with all kinds of veggies (without calling them veggies) or smoothies or fruit purees, and they squeeze them down. They’re pretty awesome (and no, I’m not on they’re payroll. ;) )
Oh, and we have the same “spicy” issues in our house too. Even toothpaste can be spicy. *sigh*
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Thanks for the review! Your writing style is great! I think I’m going to get the squeeze station and try it out on my toddler so I get the hang of it before my next baby makes his entrance!
Oh and my husband totally agrees with you on the font thing. :)
A note on the little food processor thing: I bought one just like it at Aldi for like $5 when my first son was born 2 years ago. It doesn’t do a good job at all. Can’t believe Infantino decided to use that company for such a vital part of the food process!
What about the cleanup of those little pouches? How did that go? I’m assuming thy are reusable. That would be my one concern but they look awesome!
so since the infantino pouches aren’t reusable, can you use any pouches? I know Walmart sells reusable pouches, but I don’t want to buy it if I can only use their pouches with it one time because that will get slightly spendy. my daughter is almost 6 months and absolutely loves baby food!! the spoon thing is awesome since she isn’t big enough to use just the pouch we have to put it in a spoon anyway.
Hi! I just bought this yesterday and I am in LOVE with the squeeze station! My son is almost 19 months, loves the pouches but wouldn’t touch a veggie or fruit (besides bananas) w/o it. I have already filled smoothies, oatmeal with apples, and applesauce. He sucks them down.
Found the Squooishi reusable pouches on Amazon. 4 for $19.99. Expensive, but so worth it! I have 8 reusable pouches and cleaning is easy.
I realize you wrote this review a year ago, but I was wondering how you liked the travel thing. I’m looking in to getting this since the store bought ones are so doggone expensive. We’ve started our little one on table food and I’m looking for snacks to hold him over between meals. So if keeping them cool is an issue, I’m not sure I want to go there :) Thanks!
I actually never really used the bag. It’s really just a small insulated bag…so any will do (and to be honest, it’s kinda ugly…)
Love it! But please let me know how you clean the pouches?!!