Brilliant Baby Food, a review of Cutielunch Reusable Squeeze Pouch

Reusable Pouches might just be my new favorite thing!



Just starting with the legal bit: I received this product for free in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

Now for the fun part!  Ever thought to yourself it's so expensive to buy those baby food pouches at the store? And then, your baby turns into a toddler and wants the "fun" ones with the pudding which cost an extra dollar... well, solution found!   Cutielunch Reusable Squeeze Pouch to the rescue!

I always wanted to make my own baby food, but since we always qualified for WIC we got tons of baby food jars from them. I am very blessed to have received all this free baby food, trust me.  I always cry when the kids move up to "real" food!  It is great at home, but when we have to go anywhere it is such a mess taking the little container and trying to use a spoon with a wiggly kid.  Besides, I ALWAYS manage to spill on myself opening the foil top.. seriously, how hard does that have to be.

So, reusable pouches have been on my mind for quite a while.  They always scared me a little bit.  When I had the opportunity to review these and receive a set for free I jumped at the chance.  I wasn't going to spend hard earned money on something I just wasn't sure would work.  Boy, was I wrong.

First, cost.  This particular set of 4 pouches is normally $14.99 but right now is marked down to 10.99.  If you have amazon prime (which seriously is a lifesaver in our house) you get free shipping. That comes out to $3.75 a piece at full price or $2.75 a piece if you snatch them up on sale. You might be thinking "but the grocery store ones are only $1" .... and that brings me to the second point...

Second, YOU DON'T THROW THEM AWAY WHEN YOU ARE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is a huge issue, the pre-filled pouches at the grocery store get tossed when you are done.  Hello, landfill.  These are sturdy, and meant to be used over and over again.  I love that they are reusable, I will be saving so much more money than buying pouches at the grocery store every week.  Even if I still bought baby food at the store the savings just keep going up. The little glass jars are always cheaper than the new plastic ones, and can be used for neat projects afterwards.  Or, instead of buying 15 little plastic boxes of apples I can buy the big applesauce in the fruit section and save cost and trash.  Huge win. Want to have Apple/Squash mix? They don't sell that... you can just grab two single flavors, throw them in a pouch (I added cinnamon to mine) mix and eat!  So awesome..

Lets talk about the practicality, the logistics if you will.  Because we all know it's no good if the food just pops out of the seal and we're no better off than before... guess what?! DOUBLE SEAL! BAM. The bottom has two zip-lock like seals, they are deeply ridged so they catch the other side really well.  After I made my first batch I opened it to check and could see that the cinnamon had gotten between the innermost seal but the outer seal was there to make sure nothing spilled.  It was my fault for using the shaker instead of a spoon to put the cinnamon into the pouch. Learn from my mistakes! Use a spoon if adding spices! But still, there was no leak.

Only for babies? NO WAY! Lucy thought the picture was so cute. She is very picky about which pouches she will get from the store (they have to be purple or pink lately) but with the fun fruits on these she is happily asking for them!  I can up the flavor level when making pouches for Lucy or keep it bland for the baby.  I am tempted to make some for myself!  I'm thinking a little peach and cinnamon with a splash of vanilla might taste just like cobbler!  Cutielunch Reusable Squeeze Pouch has changed the way I look at snacks on the go.  Want your own set? Click here!  (this is not an affiliate link, I'm not cool enough for one of those yet): Reusable Baby Food Pouch (4-pack) for Homemade Baby Food. Squeeze Pouch Is Great As a Food Container and for Food Storage.

I received this product for free in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

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Friday Quick Takes #3

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It has been a while since I blogged in general, even longer since posting a quick take! Sorry about that. The last month or two of pregnancy really drained me and I basically spent my evenings horizontal on the couch!

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Baby Lucy arrived one day after her due date.  I spent the whole day in labor (starting at 4am) and at 10:30 pm the doctor said a c-section was in order. at 11:08pm on 2/28/12 Lucy Amelia Faber entered the world.  Yes, 52 minutes shy of Leap Day! Yes, we finally picked a middle name!

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The one thing I have learned in my short 3 weeks of being a new mother is: Don't beat yourself up if you change your mind. I went into parenthood with all kinds of ideas about what I would and wouldn't do with my baby... Then the baby came, and cried, and got jaundice, and wouldn't eat right, and has congestion.  Basically there is no choice but to reevaluate priorities-  Changing your mind about how you are going to do things doesn't make you any less of a parent. 

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Breastfeeding is HARD in the beginning.  It really does get easier, but it sucks in the beginning (three weeks in and it still kinda sucks.)  I never though I would discuss my sore nipples with so many people in such a short amount of time.  Some tips for you ladies who want to be mothers one day: Nipple Shields are glorious, without it I don't think we would still be breastfeeding.  There is a difference between sucking and chewing.  A pacifier is NOT the devil. A solid two hours of sleep in a row at night is not enough, but you will make due (cue pacifier).  WAKE up your husband for anything that makes you get out of bed, especially if you had a c-section.

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My husband sleeps like a rock.  A snoring rock, but a rock none the less.  He said he'd change every diaper and at first I figured why wake him- I am already up feeding her, what sense did it make for both of us to be up. Turns out, it makes a difference, if I had him change her when she is done eating he can rock her back to sleep and I can already be in dreamland. Sure it takes a minute to wake him up, but taking care of a newborn while recovering from delivery takes a toll on your body. That extra 3 minutes of sleep is totally worth it.

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My baby is adorable.

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Sorry about all the Mommy stuff. I hope my future posts are a bit more balanced. I'm just getting used to this new "job" and had lots of stuff to get off my chest this week.  I'm very pleased I could get out a Quick Take this week, and super happy I could spend some time on the internet the last few days-it made me feel like a human again (and now Human Again from Beauty and the Beast is playing in my head)

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

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Useless or Brilliant?

If you are anything like me you take a million pictures.  Years ago we all got negatives back with our photos (when we used film back in the dinosaur age) and never had anything to do with them.

Now, when we get photos from online services like shutterfly they send an index of all your prints.  These are tiny copies of your photos so you know what is in that pile of photos.  

Throwing them away is the usual though, but i offer a better idea... follow along below as I blow your mind with an easy project that will put an end to the question "What in the world are you to do with these teensy little photos?"

 

exibit A: Tiny copies of your photo prints you can never find a real use for

now, any good Mom or Crafter should have a stash of sticky magnets, whether they be full sheets, business card sized or the strip size.  These come in handy for so many things (my favorite being kiddy thank you cards.)  Today's adventure can be used with any size magnets with an adhesive backing on one side.

Step 1: cut magnets to fit the back of your photos... If using magnet strips you can skip this step

Step 2: remove adhesive on magnet and attach sticky side to the BACK SIDE of your photo index (you won't want to use the part of the index that has shipping info or blank areas just cut that off ahead of time)

Step 3:  cut along the outside border of each index photo. This will create tiny photo magnets much like the refrigerator poetry collections you can arrange and create on any metal surface. 

Ta-Da!

 

 I now have tiny sized fridge magnets that are perfect for holding notices tight to the fridge. I've even placed a collection of them alone on the Wine Fridge in the dining room and it it adorable!

Have fun!

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