by Angie Glotstien, Founder of Little Pumpkins
A few years ago I watched a “baby food eat-off.” The team that ate the most jars of baby food won money for their team’s charity. Sounds easy, right? You should have seen the look on these adults’ faces! How could little jars with such cute names cause the looks of disgust that we were witnessing?
At first it would seem that jarred baby foods make much more sense. They are fairly inexpensive, easy to find and you can store them on your shelves for a really long time. So what makes them so yucky?
Jarred baby foods are cooked at very high temperatures so that they can be shelf stable for so long. The problem with cooking at high temperatures is that some of the vitamins and minerals are cooked right out of the foods. In addition to robbing the foods of their nutrients, high heats leach away the bright colors and flavors that nature intended. That is why jarred peas and green beans are such a dark sludgy color and the carrots taste like the squash. No wonder babies (and the guys in the “baby food eat-off”) spit most of their food out!
Jarred foods also commonly use fillers. Take a peek at the ingredients on the jar. You might be surprised to find flour listed. It is important to pay attention to the order of the ingredients as well. Ingredients are listed from most prevalent to least prevalent. It is not surprising that the most common ingredients in the jar of breakfast food may be oatmeal instead of the fruit mixed with it.
These are just a few of the reasons I started Little Pumpkins when my son was ready to eat solid foods. Little Pumpkins gently steams organic fruits and vegetables to get them to the perfect texture. Extra care is taken to remove fibrous skins from the purees to aid little tummies with digestion. Water from the cooking process is added during pureeing, but only if it is needed to achieve the perfect consistency. Using water from the cooking process replaces vitamins or nutrients that may have been lost during steaming. Finally, Little Pumpkins foods are quickly frozen to capture the natural flavors, colors, vitamins and minerals that nature intended.
Using Little Pumpkins foods is simple. Just remove the desired serving size from the zip-lock bag and pop the rest back in the freezer. The foods thaw quickly in the fridge overnight, on the stove or in the microwave. A quick stir and baby is ready to eat!
When your little eater is taking a spoonful of Little Pumpkins Baby Foods, he is actually going to learn the look and taste of that food. Moving to the next steps of eating won’t be as challenging because he will actually have tasted what fresh green beans taste like. That’s just one way that Little Pumpkins is supporting healthy nutrition from the very first bite!
About the Author
Angie Glotstein’s son experienced colic, acid reflux, lactose intolerernce, eczema, recurrent ear infections, RSV, ear tubes, an allergic reaction to antibiotics, allergy testing, possible asthma, and on and on over the majority of his first year. As a mommy she wanted to protect him from all the yucky stuff and just help him feel better. And she was scared. As a nurse she was driven to endless research. As a result of both, she learned that one of the most effective ways she could help him was through his nutrition and now she’s excited to share the same healthy start with your baby!
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