Aiden's a pretty good eater and would definitely eat fruit all day if I let him but I was feeling like he wasn't eating enough veggies. I bought a few of those Ella's Kitchen and Plum Organics veggie pouches the other day and holy crap, he sucked them down. He'll eat two at dinner plus whatever else I'm feeding him like meatballs, pasta, fruit, etc.
So here's my question: should I not give these to him often because he may not ever want to EAT veggies (rather than drink them) or should I not worry about that and let him get his veggies however I can?
Re: Who feeds those fruit/veggie pouches?
They make veggies like this?!
Ryan loves the applesauce pouches but we have such a tough time getting veggies in his diet!
I give both. Sometimes just the pouch, sometimes just veggies on her tray and sometime both. Or I will give one at lunch and the other at dinner. At this point how ever she will eat veggies is fine with me.
This was what I was thinking of doing. I want him to remember and be willing to try veggies that come in actual veggie form but he loves the pouches so much that I know I can get a lot of necessary nutrients in him with them.
To the other poster -YES! They're blends and a lot of time (not always) have a fruit component too. Like yesterday he ate the spinach, peas and pear one. Sounds barfy to me but I have seriously never seen him inhale anything else that quickly.
IMO it's a hell of a lot better to give a kid an organic veggie/fruit pouch than it is to "sneak" spinach into their diet by slathering it with pasta and cheese.
They'll eat real food as they get older. Pure veggies and fruit that are pureed and in a pouch nutritionally beat what a lot of people do, which is the hiding food in fat and sugar game. I am pro-pouch.
Oh I agree 100%. The veggies he does eat he gets in "true" form
I've never tried the beets one mainly b/c I've never eaten a beet! Ha! DD also loves the banana and pumpkin one, and I like that it has 110 calories so DD is getting some much needed calories and good nutrition. Besides the few times around the holidays I make pumpkin bread DD would never get pumpkin.
I'll have to try that one! The first time I ever had beets was in this recipe I made: Savory Roasted Root Vegetables. They were so good, even DH loved them. I found it's better to chop the veggies with a small dice so you don't get a huge piece that can be overwhelming for someone not crazy about it.
I love the pouches---they saved us when we were on vacation and it was hard to have fruits and veggies for DD when we were eating out. Usually she just gets them as occasional snacks though.
I would still offer your DS veggies in other forms--for texture purposes.
BF help & support * My Charts
I think you're overthinking it. For us, those pouches are my out & about snacks because they're so darned easy to keep one or two of in my purse at all times. I put them in a separate category than the veggies I cook up for meals at home. I don't think eating one = not wanting to eat the other. And if there is a veggie that DD is particularly reluctant to eat whole, like spinach, then I don't see how giving it to her in a pouch mixed with mango is that different than when I puree spinach with other veggies to pour over pasta.
Get the veggies in however you can.
But Fred, beets are AMAZING! Seriously, I am obsessed. I am tempted to post my recipe for pureed beets over pasta, but I just posted my asparagus-spinach pesto for you earlier.
That said, if you or your kid don't like beets, no need to push it. A close friend of mine who is a biologist says you can be physically disposed to like or hate beets. It has to do with some receptors on your tongue. People who don't like beets will never like them because the receptors on their tongues will never change. There's some kind of actual lab test you can take to see if you have these receptors or not. Or you could just accept that you simply don't like them.
I think I need that recipe - Riley is obsessed with beets!
Eleanor Noelle - 18/05/12 Claire Elisabeth - 16/-5/10
We use them and Liam loves them! I mostly use Happy Tots because of the added omega-3's but he likes them all. He's on a green veggie strike so it definitely makes me feel better when he eats one of those. Last night we had Chinese take-out so he ate a green beans, peas, and pears pouch and had a PBJ sandwich for dinner. Much healthier than what we were eating!
I offer the pouches mostly as a snack (between meals) and only occasionally as a part of an meal. I offer actual veggies at the meal and if he eats them, great, if he doesn't then I am okay because he had some in the pouch earlier. It helps me not worry about his veggie intake and I can avoid feeling like I need to force veggies on him.
This is what I do. He freakin' loves those things. I always give him a veggie with lunch and dinner. That way he's getting both and he thinks the pouches are the greatest thing in the world! I always have a few in the diaper bag.