Hi, I'm Cupcake, and I Eat Baby Food

Not too long ago I was visiting my best friends and as we were talking about how it can be difficult to stay nourished when you're active my friend showed me an awesome addition to her daughter's lunch box. At the time, I wasn't so sure how awesome it would be though, even though the daughter is six, it was still by a company that makes baby food, Ella's Kitchen.


While I think whole fruit is always a great option it was getting hard to eat pears and other sticky fruits on the go. They were messy or after a day in my bag cut, battered, and bruised. So the fruit pouch was appealing.

In the UK, Ella's Kitchen has a huge variety of snacks and meals for babies and toddlers. In the US, we get the Stage One Baby Foods and the Smoothie Fruits, the latter being my favorite.

Available in four varieties, the Smoothie Fruits are organic mashed-up fruit in a portable pouch. Averaging around 50 calories each they're a nice light snack on their own or great paired with some nuts or cheese. The fruit can be enjoyed at room temperature but I like mine refrigerated. For longer days I freeze the pouch the night before and by mid-afternoon it's ready to eat.

Once while shopping I couldn't find Ella's so I opted for the Earth's Best, Yogurt Smoothie instead. Since these have a bit of yogurt in them they are creamier and have more calories, around 70 per pouch. A little more sustainable for a snack on their own.
Also available in four varieties, the Earth's Best pouches freeze well and taste yummy.

The only drawback for me was the packaging. In the US, the pouch may or may not be recyclable based on your local practices. One excellent resource is TerraCycle, specializing in hard to recycle items. They currently recycle items like Capri Sun pouches and have a great selection of products made from recycled material.

However, if you're crafty there is another option. You can use the cleaned and dismantled pouches as material to sew a tote bag or hand bag. These instructions are based on Capri Sun pouches but with a little reconfiguration the fruit pouches will work too. I always love crafting from reclaimed material and these bags are cute for the summer and would be great for the pool or beach.

Enjoy the fun and innovating pureed fruit on your next long work day or day trip hiking and climbing. Maybe you'll love them so much you'll be inspired to get crafty and find a great new use for their pouches. If you do let me know!