Taste testing baby food purees

Continuing with the food by spoon theme, I thought we should taste test some baby food purees. I have a small assortment of store-bought jarred baby food from the baby shower that we might as well use as research. Since Henry eats what we eat, I figured that the opposite applies too. Daddy and I would taste test the food along with Henry. Since I already know what plain peas taste like, I picked out a few of the combo purees to try.

Our first jar was Spinach & Potatoes from Earth’s Best Organic. It seemed like a promising flavor with spinach, potatoes, carrots, barley flour and brown rice. Unfortunately, Daddy and I agreed that this mixture was completely bland and tasteless. It had a strong spinach smell, but the flavor was quite plain and unappealing. Henry did not seem impressed either. He made a very disagreeable face when we gave him a preloaded spoonful. Someone in the company’s test kitchen should rethink this blend, as this is exactly why jarred baby food gets a bad reputation. I appreciate that it is organic and has no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. This flavorless combination, however, needs something else to make it palatable. Herbs like basil or thyme might help.

Really, you want me to eat this?

Next, we sampled Apple Apricot from Naturally Preferred Organic Baby Food. Daddy and I thought this blend was actually pleasant due to the natural sweetness of the fruit. Henry enjoyed slurping down several spoons full of this puree.

Apple Apricot is sweet.

Finally, we gave the Earth’s Best Organic brand another try with Plum Banana Brown Rice. This combination was much better than their vegetable mixture. Daddy even suggested it could rival the homemade applesauce, but I’m not so sure about that. After Henry had a taste of it, he did not want to give up his spoon. He’s enjoying the spoon so much that he’s happy to hold it in one hand while he picks up finger foods with the other.

Henry is not giving up his spoon.

The baby food in all of these jars was very finely pureed compared with the homemade applesauce we tried earlier this week. They contained no lumps or small chunks of food. As an adult, these purees felt more like tasting a sauce or condiment than a side dish to our meal.

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