Ella's Kitchen Stage 1 Baby Food and Smoothie Fruits Review and Giveaway

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If you've read some of my previous reviews and posts, you will know that I am a fan of whole foods and a fan of organic products. When Erika, from Ella's Kitchen, contacted me about a review and giveaway for Ella's Kitchen stage one baby food and smoothie fruits, I was very interested. I was interested in trying the smoothie fruits and little did my five-year-old know, he was going to be part of this review.

(A little about Ryan- his love of sugary junk food is cause for an intervention! I envisioned these no-sugar added smoothies as a fine place to start!)

From Ella's Kitchen: Ella's kitchen was created by Ella's Dad, Paul Lindley in the UK just a few years ago. Ella's Kitchen baby food is the fastest growing brand of baby food in the UK and is now available in the US. Ella's kitchen products are 100% organic fruits and vegetables. There is nothing else added, not even water. All products are gluten free, wheat free and egg free. Products are 100% pure organic goodness. The re-screwable pouches make them easy to use for babies 4 months and up at home or on the go. This is great for a busy mom who wants to feed their kids healthy food anyplace. Ella's Kitchen fruit smoothies are healthy and convenient snacks- great for kid's lunchboxes.

The Review: I received six pouches of stage 1 baby food (4 months and up):

carrot, apple, parsnip
broccoli, pears & peas
sweet potato, apple, pumpkin & blueberry
peaches & bananas
strawberries & apples
apples & bananas

and two pouches of smoothie fruits:

The Red One - strawberries, raspberries, apples and bananas
The Yellow One -bananas, mangoes, apricots and apples

Packaging

The stage one baby food comes in 3.5 oz. pouches and the smoothies are in 3 oz. pouches. These pouches are similar to juice bag pouches. I am sure it won't be long before these are recycled into juice bag totes! I must admit, I love the packaging - bright colors, fun fruit and veggie graphics and a comic sans like text (how appropriate!) The re-screwable caps are convenient for preserving unused portions.

The Red One Smoothie Fruit

I knew that once I showed Ryan the Red One Smoothie, he would be anxious to try it. He took a small sip and with a shudder said, "Mom, I don't like it." (Really, what did I expect when high-fructose corn syrup wasn't an ingredient?)

I was very disappointed, because I took a sip of the Red One and absolutely loved it. The smoothie fruit is a perfect blend of strawberries, raspberries, apples and banana. Without added sugar, I admit, I thought the smoothie might be bland and tart - not the case at all. This is a tasty, healthy treat. I thought, Wow! Forget about picky, sugar-loving kids like mine, this was a convenient, healthy product for mom. I could add this to Greek-style yogurt!

I contacted Erika and told her my sad story, that my little guy just didn't embrace the the Red One like I did. She was fine with that and remained very positive. She urged me to try the Yellow One for myself (yes they are great for moms too) and perhaps try to sneak the( stage one) sweet potato, apple, pumpkin & blueberry to their pancake batter. Great idea! We will be trying the stage one baby food after all! Ella's kitchen has several smoothie fruit and baby food recipe ideas.

The Yellow One Smoothie Fruit

A few days later, when I pulled out the Yellow One, guess who wanted to try it? Amazingly, Ryan requested a sip of the Yellow One smoothie. This time, I didn't expect much and gave him the smoothie. He took a sip. I studied his face, he smiled at me (without shuddering) and said that he liked it. Wow, I had to capture the moment in a photo - too bad his "thumbs-up" was cut out of the picture. (Yes, that is dirt on his mouth and marker between his nostrils. )



My theory as to why he liked the Yellow One is that of the fruits this smoothie contains- the bananas, mangoes and apricots-these are some very sweet fruits, but Naturally. Yes Naturally, no sugar added. Yeah! There is plenty of room in Ryan's lunch box for these smoothie fruits - a healthy, organic product I can feel good about.

I wish that these Ella's Kitchen products were available when these guys were 4 months old. With combinations like carrots, apples, parsnips and sweet potato, pumpkin, apples and blueberries, I think they would have loved eating their fruits and veggies and (perhaps) would eat more of a variety of healthy food today.

Buy It: Ella's kitchen stage one baby foods and fruit smoothies are available for purchase at several online locations and several stores like Toys R Us.

Win It: Ella's kitchen is offering one of my readers a sample pack of the eight stage one baby foods and smoothies that I received. Thank you Erika for this generous giveaway. To enter is easy! Just one mandatory entry:

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1. Mandatory entry - Visit Ella's Kitchen and comment on the stage one baby food or smoothie fruit that your little one(s) would like best. (1 entry).

Extra entries -

2. Follow my blog. (2 entries)
3. Grab my button and put it on your site and add a link in your comment telling me where it is. (3 entries)
4. Tweet about this giveaway and leave the Tweet URL in a comment. (2 entries)
5. Subscribe via email. (3 entries)
6. Sign up for Networked Blogs (Facebook - located on the right side) (2 entries)
7. Sign up for my Women are Crazy Men are Stupid Book giveaway (2 entries)

This Giveaway is open to U.S. only and will end on Friday, 2/19/10 at 12:00 pm EST. Please include your email address in all comments. The winner will be selected using Random.org and I will post the winners names by 5:00 pm EST on Friday 2/19/10. Thank you to all who enter and good luck!

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you for stopping by.


The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.