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I've been making up all my own food for DS's solids so far, but was looking at the baby foods in the supermarket the other day and noticed the Rafferty's Garden premium baby foods, that claim to have nothing else in them but fruit/vegetables. Anyone tried these? Are they are a good, quick alternative?
I found them to be a good alternative for when I'd run out of DS's food/was sick/etc etc. And they seem to be popular with babies/kids too! Not a cheap way of feeding, but great to have in the nappy bag with a spoon in case of emergency ;). Which I did use once when I drove DH to hospital, and we had to wait alot longer than we'd anticipated!
We have used these and DS loves them. Very handy in nappy bag and cupboard
Charlotte loved them - they were/are the ONLY pre made baby food she has ever actually eaten.
I still keep the sqeezey packs of veg in the fridge - she loves to snack on them and it is a great way to get another serve of fruit or veg into her ;)
I loved them because they didnt have anything in them but what the label was - the Sweet potato and carrot is JUST sweet potato and carrot! Love it!
And they are pretty good value to, easy to take a round and they can hold and use them themselves.
I use them to bulk up my own food sometimes, like as a sauce with pasta, rice or couscous & veges just to know she's getting sufficient :) We loooove their chocolate custard though, way nicer than any of the others!
Oh yeah Sarah, how good is that choc custard??????? YUMMO! I could eat it myself. It's very sad that we can't have dairy here anymore, we miss that custard :(
Limey, LOL it was the only packet food my DS would eat too ;)
So it really is just what it says on the packaging??? I can't help be skeptical, lol. Sounds like a good idea to try some then :).
its the only commercial baby food we use here- love it!
they are what they say as well
DH worked with a company that was making the food for them at one stage!
It is all made in Australia too- but NZ owned!
so better for the economy that other commercial brands as well!
Awesome! :D:
I was skeptical too and emailed to ask how they manage to get a long shelf life without all the junk. The reply was something along the lines of "it's is related to the food combinations, and heating/packaging processes."
A naturapath once told me food companies can get away with not including preservatives on their ingredients list if they coat the interior of the packaging with it instead of putting it in the food itself. I don't know if that's true, or if it's the case with Raffery's, but we chose to take it at face value and buy them all the time. DD loves them and calls them 'squeezies'.
We used them quite a bit, either out and about or to add to some of my own vegies, I did note that they have a lot of apple in them in comparrison to other vegies, but we didn't have trouble with DD switching it around and we also went through stages of adding apple to her vegies to get her to eat them, just not as much as the RG :)
Another fan here. DD loved them and they were so handy to have floating around. DS will be given only these as well when he is on solids.
I used them. At first he'd just have them on their own. Later on I would add them to cooked pasta to make it go a bit further.
I found them very handy for when I was introducing food as I could just squeeze a bit out & close it up til the next meal.
They are great to have in the nappy bag as you can just squeeze the food straight onto the spoon.
Yep, a fan here too!! :D DD loves the Rafferty's range... we haven't bought any other commercial baby foods other than these one's... I'm a bit skeptical about the Heinz range...
Toys R Us recently had a sale on them... buy 2 get 3rd one free.
DD has just started on 3 meals a day so for lunch time if we're out the last couple of days we've just put a Rafferty's in the nappy bag with a spoon (and bib!!!) and it's easy..... and I don't feel guilty giving it to her. She has home made stuff for breaky and dinner anyway.
Like Beema said, they do have a fair bit of apple in them to sweeten them up which is good as sometimes adding apple to my veges is the only way DD will eat more of it too!
Sweet potato and apple or pumpkin and apple is yummm
Another alternative is the Holle organic brand. It is a lot harder to find and imported, but tastes like my homemade food. It is expensive, but I only used it when we went away, so that wasn't too bad considering the money you save if you usually cook your own.:D
Also you can order online (cheaper than the shop)...
I was skeptical too having made all baby food myself! We've tried a few when on sale they are handy when you're rushed or out and about or have run out of your own when they're hungry hippos going through a growth spurt!! But as my partner said when he tasted one...'you make better baby food!' Made me feel good so now only keep a few in pantry....have only looked at the choc custard...will buy it now :) Don't buy the apple crumble one though...yuck!! Too many spices!
Another fan here too. I have a few pouches in the cupboard for those just in case moments. They are also excellent for travelling as they don't weigh as much as the jars. I also get a few of the fruit squeezy ones and squeeze them into our porridge for breakfast or with some natural yoghurt for snacks.
love these, didn't use the earlier simpler ingredient ones but we use those for ten months plus, particuarly DS likes the lamb and sweet potato casserole. I use them for dinners out when there isn't anything suitable available or for a dinner at home when DH and I are having a curry and I cant be bothered cooking seperately for bub.
I particularly love that I can heat them in a few minutes in boiling water as I dont have a microwave.
We were big fans for awhile - much nicer tasting and looking that jar foods. I did find some batches had more or less pasta/vegies than others but overall they are great. They are often on special at Safeway too.
We use them a lot for Charli's dinner mainly because of convenience because i work FT. Charli loves them! Especially the butternut spinach & chicken one and the bolognaise one.