If I had to pick one food item that has made my life with a picky and active toddler infinitely better, it would be the smoothies from Ella’s Kitchen. My friend Lauren, who works for Ella’s Kitchen, introduced me to these little wonders a couple of months ago and Wito has been hooked ever since. (THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THESE INTO MY LIFE, LAUREN.)
I’m not sure if I have properly conveyed to you how much my child detests vegetables, but let me bring you up to speed. Wito will not touch any vegetable known to man. (Not even potatoes! Or sweet corn! Or carrots! Even if I soak them in Ranch dressing! Kill me now.)
However, he’s a fruitaholic, so I was pretty sure he would love these 100% organic and totally portable fruit smoothies. I was not wrong in my assumption. In fact, I have to hide these in my closet to keep him from sucking down 2 or 3 at a time. (Just imagine…my Frye boots and J. Crew flats sharing space with a box of organic fruit smoothies. Good thing they don’t need to be refrigerated until opened, right?)
The true test, however, was to see how he reacted to the smoothies with vegetables. A couple of weeks ago, I introduced the green smoothie pouch. He was super excited to try a new color, so he twisted off the top and took a big swig from the built-in straw. And guess what?
He hated it.
Oh, COME ON. Did you really think I was going to tell you that my vegetable hater actually ENJOYED a puree of broccoli, peas and pears? Right.
But! He loves his orange and purple smoothie pouches, which contain carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes and pumpkins. MY CHILD WILLINGLY EATS PARSNIPS. Take a look for yourself.
Ella’s Kitchen, I salute you.
If you are looking for a simple way to get more organic fruits and vegetables into your little one’s diet, you must try Ella’s Kitchen. Their Stage 1 baby food range (4+ months and up, but I serve these as smoothies to Wito) is a completely different concept in baby food, bringing together minimally processed, carefully chosen organic natural fruits and vegetables and extremely convenient and easy packaging. Both the baby food and smoothies are simply 100% organic fruit and vegetables, with nothing to dilute their goodness – not even water. All of the flavors come in squeezy packs that are super easy for toddlers to enjoy with making a mess. (Love that part.)
Ella’s Kitchen products are sold at Babies R Us and Toys R Us, and you can read more about the company and products at their website.
Now for the best part. Ella’s Kitchen is giving away a sample box of these little wonders to one lucky reader. The sample box contains one full-sized pouch of each flavor shown above, for a total of 8 stage 1 foods/smoothies. Just leave a comment on this post before Friday, December 11th at 6pm PST and I’ll randomly choose one winner. Good luck!
samantha jo campen
December 7, 2009 at 10:44 amI’d love to try these for my son because they are so portable! Better than juice boxes that squirt all over the place, especially in the car!
samanthajocampen at gmail
Jessica
December 7, 2009 at 10:47 amI think I need these… for MYSELF.
.-= Jessica´s last blog ..Two Months! =-.
birdie
December 7, 2009 at 10:47 ammy kid would effing love these.
Abby
December 7, 2009 at 10:50 amWe’d love to give them a try in our house and are excited to hear about the baby food as well!
Jennifer
December 7, 2009 at 11:05 amMy little one would be all over these!
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Socially Awkward =-.
Elena
December 7, 2009 at 11:10 amoooh, these sound fabulous! I can’t wait to give them a try.
susan
December 7, 2009 at 11:14 amI need these, badly. Sounds like my wee one has the same anit-veggie aversion as your son. But put them in a little pouch and all is good. I have a feeling once we try these, I will love the person who came up with this idea and want to make out with them.
Racher
December 7, 2009 at 11:16 amMore veggies in toddler: YES PLEASE
.-= Racher´s last blog ..Fried-day =-.
Darcey
December 7, 2009 at 11:17 amThese are awesome! Even though I don’t have a kid, I have a very special baby to give these to (my bff’s adorable tot)!
.-= Darcey´s last blog ..Solar Panel Fun =-.
Mary
December 7, 2009 at 11:21 amI will definitely be trying these out. My toddler is obsessed with those applesauce pouches that I recently realized are loaded with sugar. Plus my almost 1 year old is probably ready to handle something like this too. Yum!
.-= Mary´s last blog ..11 months old =-.
Megan Minotas
December 7, 2009 at 11:22 amI love the variety of vegetables that are in the smoothies.
CarrieO
December 7, 2009 at 11:24 amI’ve seen these & wondered about them. Thanks for the review!
Elyse
December 7, 2009 at 11:28 amI will try anything at this point…ANYTHING! Hope I win!
Elizabeth
December 7, 2009 at 11:35 amWe have the opposite problem as Wito – my 3 year old will eat pretty much any vegetable but hates all fruit except apples. This would be a great way to try to get some fruit into him.
Julie
December 7, 2009 at 11:35 amJust to be able to say I got my kid to eat parsnips – worth their weight in gold.
.-= Julie´s last blog ..20 Plus 2 =-.