Yesterday I turned “dirty thirty.” In an attempt to add a little “dirty” to my big 3-0, my husband and I took our seven-and-a-half month old son and our dog for a nice long walk to Wal-Mart to pick up some über healthy ingredients for my “lifestyle change” approved birthday dessert. If you’re wondering how a walk to Wally World could be considered dirty, let me tell you; walking with my extra sixty pounds of pregnancy weight and pushing a stroller up a huge hill makes this Mama Bear a sweaty mess!
I’d recently seen a mom friend post on Facebook that she’s gotten an interesting little gadget. It was a contraption that’s used to make homemade baby food pouches that were transparent. I was instantly sold and I knew I had to try it so I asked her what it was called. It was the Infantino Fresh Squeezed Squeeze Station.
As soon as we got into the store I headed straight for the kitchen appliance department. I searched the packed aisles for about twenty minutes in pursuit of the magical pouch maker but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I assumed that it was right in front of my eyes but my “Mom brain” was causing temporary blindness and I was unable to see it, then it hit me, “aha! It must be in the baby section!” I pushed my little guy to the baby aisle and alas, there it was! I picked up the contraption and one box of extra pouches and continued with my shopping and the long, sweaty walk home.
When I finally got a spare minute to look the box over I checked for a few things that are important to me as a mom. I was happy to read that the plastic pouches are BPA and PVC free and that its dishwasher safe because let’s face it washing dishes by hand; “ain’t nobody got time for that!”
I plunked my son down in his high hair, gave him a few toys to play with and opened up my new toy. My first impression: it has very few parts, looks easy to clean and came with ten pouches and lids which means you don’t have to buy a separate package of the pouches to get started. Another bonus: no cords. This bad boy is 100% manual which means I can throw the whole shebang in the dishwasher!
I started to prepare a few different kind of baby food as I normally do. Generally I prepare fresh food for Eli every day or two and I’ve been storing it in tiny plastic containers. Because there is so much air in the containers I only keep the food I’ve made for two days max before tossing the rest. I HATE wasting so this little gadget could be a game changer for us.I decided to make sweet potatoes, organic strawberries, a strawberry/ blueberry combo, pears and prunes mixed with pears and a splash of prune juice for the times when Eli needs a little help in the diaper filling department.
I normally squish the food I make for him by hand but because I made so many different types this time I caved and used the food processor. My husband was right, it saves a lot of time! I try to make his food small enough that he can chew it with his gums and two teeth but chunky enough so that it retains its natural texture. Feeding babies food that’s puréed is proven to make picky eater later in life. Texture is a part of the eating experience so it’s important to me that his food has some semblance of its normal texture and that it’s not all just different colored mush.
Now that the food was prepared it was time to put this bad boy to the test! I slid the empty plastic packets into place, screwed the empty chambers on them and loaded them up. I put the plunger in, pressed down and voila, success!
Easy, peasy baby food squeezy! I continued to fill the plastic squeeze packets with my homemade baby food and my mind was blown; this thing rocks!!!
It barely took anytime at all to package the food. It does take time to make homemade baby food; especially because I’m clumsy and dropped an entire bowl of stewed prunes on the floor. Time is of the essence for moms so the fact that filling the pouches is quick is a huge plus for me.
After filling each pouch I rinsed the top off under the tap before twisting on the lid. Then I quickly rinsed the whole pouch because I can’t stand stickiness! I laid them on a tea towel and got out my licorice Mr. Scent marker and labeled them all with the contents and date. Then I stored some in the fridge and some in the freezer.
Now for the ultimate test I took a pouch of prunes and pears to feed to Eli. We didn’t have any of the little spoons that screw onto the pouches because we’ve never had packaged food before now so I decided to just squeeze some right into his mouth. He loved it and opened his cute little mouth for more! Yesssss! That’s a win for this Mama!!!
So here are my thoughts:
It’s useful for all moms. Wether you feed jars of preserved baby food, make your own or feed baby what you’re eating, these pouches are a great storage solution. They don’t have to be filled to the top which will make it super easy to store leftovers. There is minimal air in the packets so food won’t go bad as quickly which creates less waste!
Making baby food in bulk will also save money because you can buy the whole food in bulk! Cha ching$$$!
The pouches are transparent so you can see that you’re feeding your baby. One major turn off from the store bought pre filled pouches is you can’t see the food inside. It could have mold or bugs inside any you wouldn’t see it. Gross.
I can feed my son a variety of foods in a single meal. As adults we eat more than one thing per meal so I try to incorporate a varied diet at each mealtime for Eli. With the pouches I can give him a squeeze of this and a squeeze of that without making a huge mess. I can simply open 3 different pouches, give him some of each, screw the tops back on and throw them back into the fridge!The squeeze pouches work for older kids too. They can be filled with healthy yogurt to replace those sugar filled store bought tubes, applesauce or heck even pudding! If it’s squishy, you can pouch it!
The opening to the pouches is large enough that I can fit food with a bit of texture in them. No future picky eater for me!
They save time. Having ready to go pouches of homemade food sure beats making it from scratch every day! What will I possible do with my newfound spare time!? Oh yeah, I’m a mom… laundry. Hahaha
They’re handy. It will be so nice to be able to feed Eli on the go! I can bring them for play dates, on walks, to appointments; wherever! It will also be amazing to have some prunes ready to go for when Eli needs a little “help.” There’s nothing worse that trying to comfort a constipated baby while cutting and stewing prunes for him.
The Station is quite compact so it’s easy to store. If you’re anything like me, you know that countertop space is prime real estate so being able to store it in a drawer is ideal.
The downfalls:
The box says that the pouches aren’t microwave safe and can not be boiled in water. While I NEVER use a microwave to heat food or drink (I think they’re secretly killing us all despite what scientific research says,) I assume that a lot of parents who aren’t paranoid and crazy use them to save time. To heat Eli’s food I put it into a ziplock bag, fill a mug with hot water and place the bag in the mug for a few minutes. These pouches will eliminate the need for the bags! Another win!
The pouches aren’t reusable or recyclable. The reusable part I don’t mind. I mean, I don’t reuse the ziplock bags I’ve been heating his food in. Bacteria and babies don’t mix in my books. The recyclable part on the other hand is a hard pill for me to swallow. I am the queen of recycling and it breaks my heart a little to know that these pouches will end up in a landfill someday. Luckily for me Infantino makes reusable pouches too! There a bit of an investment ($7.97 CAD/ $6.17 USD a piece at Walmart) but in the long run they’ll cost way less than continuing to but the single use pouches. Plus, they eliminate my concerns for the environment!
The universal screw on spoons don’t fit the pouches. For the sake of this review I went out and bought some of the screw on spoon attachments. The universal ones don’t fit but Infantino makes their own specifically for these pouches. So if you’ve been feeding your baby with the universal spoons you’ll have to buy some of the spoons made for the Fresh Squeezed pouches but on the bright side you’ll be saving plenty of cash by making your own fresh baby food!
It’s a little messy. Making baby food is messy but if you’re just using the unit to store your left over store bought baby food you’ll have a little mess to clean up. No big deal though, a wipe of the counter top, a rinse of the station and in to the dishwasher it goes! A tip: only fill the loading tube halfway so you don’t squish food out of them when you press the plunger down. Another tip: don’t spill a bowl of prunes on the floor!
Our Fresh Squeezed Station is definitely going to get a lot of use in our house! It’s going to save me time and money while continuing to give me the peace of mind and sense of pride knowing that Eli’s food was prepared with love and a few choice words (damn prunes!) by his Mommy!
