baby, mealtime

Photo by BusyBee908

Curious about the frozen baby foods in the supermarket freezer aisle? Well, today we welcome Alison Neumer Lara, Ideal Bite's Mama Bite Editor to share what she knows about healthy and convenient benefits of serving frozen baby foods.

In the Fro Zone
By Ideal Bite's Mama Bite Editor Alison Neumer Lara

Making homemade baby food isn't hard, but it can be time consuming. When I don't have a moment to spare, I reach for frozen baby foods.

Because frozen baby foods are flash frozen, they don't need preservatives and retain more nutrients than even the jarred stuff. Plus, whether you zap it for 30 seconds in the microwave or let it thaw on its own, the stuff looks and tastes like fresh corn, sweet potato, pears... (Also, the organic varieties use organic fruits and veggies, natch, so you can forget about pesticide residues.)

But the bottom line? They're tasty. I tested out a bunch of organic brands—or rather my resident taster, my 8-month-old daughter Roxie, did while I snagged the occasional bite—and found some great picks that we both liked.

Our fave: Jack's Harvest. If the adorable frozen heart shapes don't win you over (packaged simply in a freezer-safe bag), the flavors and supervivid colors will (no additives; fresh food holds its hue when you freeze it). Roxie gobbled up the peas with mint and mango and a squirt of lime. 

Close second: Tasty Baby. With individual reusable containers, these are convenient on the go. I just toss one, still frozen, in the diaper bag and it's thawed by the time we need it.

Frozen organic baby foods price out to about $0.50 to $0.90 per ounce—more than conventional frozen brands and certainly more than jarred. So I like to think of it as "take-out" or the occasional treat. DIY meals are the cheapest and always will be (just one of the reasons I like ‘em).

Have you tried frozen baby foods?