This One Is My Favourite!

Although I am an advocate for Baby Led Weaning, I have made no secret about my love for Ella's Kitchen products. I used the baby food and fruit pouches from time to time when I was travelling with JC or as a standby in the cupboard.

They recently got in touch with me and asked if we would like to try their new range of Big Tastes dairy products. Here is a picture of Ella's Dad driving the worlds smallest milk float delivering delicious dairy delights to children in the London area.

I decided that we would try the yoghurts as we have already reviewed the fromage frais in a previous post and JC is not overly keen on rice pudding. 

The Taste Test

Here is what I liked about it

• Great size - some yoghurts are far too small that JC often eats 2 or 3 at a time!
• Pot shape - the pot is quite wide so it's easy for little hands to get the spoon in and manipulate the yoghurt onto the spoon. 
• The taste - I had a sneaky taste and I liked the tangy flavour. It is a thick and creamy texture.
• The Ingredients - 20% real fruit, no added sugar, organic milk and fruit.

What's not so great

• Price - the only downside is the price which is £1.79 for 4 pots. The yoghurts that I normally buy are £1 for 6 small pots. This might not actually be a great deal considering he would eat 3 in one go as there is hardly anything in them and the ones at this price are usually full of refined sugar. 

This is not a sponsored post. I received a free sample of the yoghurt but all opinions are my own. 

Big Taste Face with Ella's Kitchen

I loved taking photos of JC when he was weaning. It was really where the idea for the name of my blog came from (The Wean Machine part anyway).

Ella's Kitchen have recently launched a competition to celebrate their 'Big Taste' menu. You can enter your favourite messy eater photo here for a chance to win a years supply of Ella's Kitchen products. Enter by midnight tonight to be in with a chance of winning (terms and conditions apply).

Ella's Kitchen have been working with a taste psychologist (which to me seems like the best job title in the world, ever!) who has discovered through scientific trials that there is a reason that babies and toddlers dislike brussels sprouts and like banana. Babies experience a much stronger taste than adults and the 'Big Taste' has given parents the opportunity to taste test these extreme flavours for themselves to try and enrich their understanding about weaning. It may be that your little one isn't simply being fussy after all! According to the research, babies are much more fond of sweet flavours like strawberry and banana and dislike the bitter tastes of some foods. I have to say that my JC must break with tradition as he is a big lover of sprouts and really can't stand things that are too sweet!

Ella's Kitchen are committed to understanding little taste buds so that they can create the best and most appealing food possible. Even as a avid baby led weaner, when I have had to use baby food to supplement a meal, for travel or as a standby, this is always the brand I turn to. I trust their ingredients and the love and attention that is poured into every product.
This was my entry . . .

Dairy Delights

Grumpinator has been a little fussy with his food recently. It's not that he won't eat, it's just that being nearly two years old, he has decided which foods he prefers and equally which foods he really doesn't like.

Yoghurt has always been a firm favourite in our house though, even through the fussy times. He doesn't really care what flavours they come in either. He can open the fridge himself now and the first thing he reaches for is the yoghurt! Luckily, he hasn't worked out how to take the lids off himself yet because that could be messy!

We had a playdate with one of Grumpinator's little friends this week. Her name is Ella, which is really quite apt because I have a selection of Ella's Kitchen dairy products to review. So I enlisted the taste buds of both Ella and Grumpinator for the taste test. As a brand, I love Ella's Kitchen. It's a brand you know you can trust to produce food using the best quality organic  ingredients, in interesting flavours and in a size perfect for little tummies. Although I am in the Baby Led Weaning camp, I did use Ella's Kitchen fruit and food pouches to complement my meals and I still use them when we travel.


The Products

Fromage Frais - Mango and Banana
£1.89 for 6 pots
These ones were a big hit with JC he loved them! They had a really thick and creamy texture. They were a nice portion size, perfect for lunch or an after dinner dessert. He actually ate three in one sitting so I think these ones were his favourites!

Yoghurt - Pineapple and Mango, Strawberry and pear
£1.79 for 4 pots
Strangely, despite his love of Yoghurt, he hates milk. He drinks soya milk but doesn't like whole milk. These are made with 100% whole milk, real fruit puree and some honey to sweeten. JC loved them, especially the strawberry one. They are a little bit bigger than the fromage frais which suits JC better as he is a big eater. I had a taste of the pineapple and mango one and I thought it tasted really scrummy.

Rice Pudding - with a hint of vanilla
£1.09 for 2 pots
JC is not a huge rice pudding fan. I don't think he likes the texture of it. So I asked two of JC's little friends to try it, Ella and Callum.

Ella tried a couple of spoonfuls but wouldn't finish it. She said she didn't like it. Callum took a spoonful but didn't appear to like it either. Both myself and the mums had a taste and we all agreed that it was a little too bland for our wee ones. I think that it would be perfect for a baby who has just recently started weaning. I think because our little ones are 2+ their taste buds are more developed and they prefer stronger flavours.  Adding a spoonful of honey or jam to the rice would probably be best for older children.

Overall, the diary products went down a storm. I will certainly buy the fromage frais and the yoghurt again. These products are available from Tesco, Ocado or Waitrose stores.

I received these products free to review but this post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own! 

Super Snacks For Toddlers On The Go!

JC can have sudden hunger pangs when we are out and about so snacks that are easy to carry around in his change bag are a must. His latest favourite are these Nibbly Fingers from Ella's Kitchen.

His favourite flavour is the banana and raisins one. He had been eating these for a while when Ella's Kitchen contacted me to review them. I was delighted to review them on the blog as he already loves them so a taste test wouldn't be necessary! What I like about them is that they are a perfect size for an in-between meal snack, individually wrapped for easy transportation and they are full of healthy ingredients without any rubbish added in.

They did send me a multi-bag packet of their other new product, Munchy Biccies. The flavours they come in are cinnamon and oranges, cheese and apples or bananas. When I received the product through the post, it was the cinnamon and oranges one and I wasn't sure what JC would make of them because he isn't keen on cinnamon. I've tried to get him to eat cinnamon in his porridge and he won't touch it! I gave him a packet and he tried his best, he ate about 3 biscuits before admitting defeat. I gave the remaining packet to a friend whose child was less fussy about flavouring and her comment on them was that they must have been good as they didn't last long!

To give the product a fair test I went out and bought the banana one (as this would be the flavour I would buy for him normally). He loved them! He wasn't content to have one biscuit at a time. He had to have one in each hand and one in his mouth, whilst keeping a close eye on me to make sure I wasn't stealing any! I would recommend Ella's tasty snacks and I have nothing negative to say about them. Other than JC not loving the cinnamon flavour, the other products with different flavourings were a big hit. It's also comforting to know that these products are organic and are made with the best of ingredients for a healthy snack to feed your toddler.

This was a review post but that doesn't mean it wasn't fun to read! I received a free sample of the Munchy Biccies but all opinions are honest and are my own. 

Ella's Kitchen - The Orange One

JC loves his grub, especially his fruit! Sometimes when he is teething he won't eat much of anything but especially solid foods. To make sure he gets his 5 a day in even when he is teething, I often give him fruit packs straight from the fridge. Ella's Kitchen have released a new fruit smoothies which are available from Sainsburys. They sent JC an Orange One sample to try out. The ingredients in The Orange One smoothie are bananas, oranges, mangoes, guava and a dash of lemon juice.

Here is JC enjoying his

I trust the quality of ingredients in Ella's Kitchen products, they comes in handy packaging, each pack contains 1 of your 5 a day and they are a great way of getting children to eat fruit.

JC's only complaint would probably be that there isn't enough of it. This was his reaction when he finished eating it . . .

Ella's Kitchen Single Fruit Purées

We were lucky enough to be asked by Ella's Kitchen to sample and review their new single fruit purées. We were given 2 free samples, pear flavour and mango flavour. They are smaller packs of 70g for tiny tummies and being a single fruit makes them perfect for first tastes.

JC follows a baby led weaning approach and didn't eat many purées when he first started weaning but we have always used fruit packs as a top up for him to accompany his breakfast cereal or as a dessert after dinner. I really like the Ella's Kitchen packs compared to jars as they are much more convenient, you don't even need a bowl, just pop it straight onto a spoon or older children can enjoy it straight from the pack. I recently took fruit puree packs abroad with me to get me through the first few days and the Ella's Kitchen packaging was perfect as it was so light, I didn't have to worry about my luggage allowance!

Here is a video of JC trying out the fruit packs. You can tell by his face that he approves!

The Lowdown

Ella's Kitchen First Taste fruit pouches are 100% organic and contain just 1 single fruit, nothing else. They come in 4 flavours (pear, banana, mango and apple). The 70g packs are available from Sainsbury's, Boots, Ocado and Tesco stores and they cost 69p per pouch.

Advantages 

• Convenient packaging
• Single fruit ideal for first tastes, allergies or fussy fruit eaters
•  100% organic puts your mind at ease that the best available ingredients have been used
• The price is reasonable, not cheaper that puréeing the fruit yourself but much less effort and time

Disadvantages 

• I don't really see any disadvantages but I think that the 70g packs are more suitable for younger children. JC would need 2 of them really or a bigger pouch. However, I do like this size for his breakfast cereal. 

Disclaimer - I was not paid to write this review and although I received 2 pouches to sample, this did not taint my opinion of the product.