Cooking With Gerber …Yes, Gerber Baby Food

I’m always trying to figure out ways to sneak healthy foods into my kids (and husband) so I was excited to partner with The Women Bloggers on this sponsored campaign.

So I told you girls before how I use baby food purees in shakes for the kids to sneak in veggies. Well, I still sneak them into Kaya’s hot cereal and soups but Rohan has wised up a bit. Calling my green smoothies “halloween” smoothies doesn’t make him want to chug em down anymore. I should have never let him see me put all the kale in…. but I digress…

I decided to use the products Gerber sent over to facilitate this post for a “grown up” item, and incorporate them into something I normally make, instead of copping out and making a “soup” or a shake for the kids. They’re all available at Walmart if you’re interested in getting them for your littles.

Confession #1: OK…I did make my green smoothie this morning actually, and added fruit puree…but still. I made other stuff earlier this week too! 🙂

Green Smoothie

Ingredients: Baby Spinach (or Kale), Shakeology or protein powder (optional), Gerber Apple Puree and/or Gerber mixed Berry Yogurt Blends 1/2 frozen banana, coconut milk.

Blend until smooth and drink immediately.

Easy! (Watch me make it here.)

SIDEBAR: I’ve been giving Kaya the apple purees after lunch/dinner as “dessert” I just pop em from the fridge into the freezer while she’s eating, and by the time she’s done the puree is chilled but not frozen and is a nice little dessert-like treat that’s super healthy.

I shared in my busy mom meal prepping post that I make turkey muffins each week to munch on. This week I used Gerber Oatmeal as the binding agent (instead of panko). They tasted super awesomeo.

Turkey Meatloaf Muffins

Ingredients: Gerber Oatmeal, Ground turkey, 1/2 Onion (diced) , minced garlic, 2 big handfuls Baby Spinach (roughly chopped), 1 egg, Adobo, pepper, hot pepper sauce to taste

Combine ingredients and place into sprayed muffin tins. Bake at 400 for 20-30 minutes

It’s really easy, and similar to my kitchen sink fried rice, you can basically use whatever ingredients you want. I doubt I’ve used the same mix of veggies/seasonings twice, and I make these muffins every week.

One of the cereals sent over is something I hadn’t seen back when I was actively buying these cereals for Kai or Ro. The Lil Bits cereal was new to all of us and Kaya loved it. It has little bits of strawberry in it!

Great for little ones getting used to textures. I used it to jazz up something we make about once a week in our house:

Easy Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients: Gerber LilBits Oatmeal Cereal (w/ strawberries), Strawberry Banana Gerber Yogurt, 1/2 Banana, Oatmeal, 1 container Gerber Apple sauce, raisins

Combine ingredients and divide in small spoonfuls onto baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Cool on rack before eating, even though it’s very tempting to eat them nice and hot from the oven….ok have one hot from the oven…then let the rest cool a bit. K? 🙂

Confession #2: 

I also made Banana Fritters. I wasn’t on the ball though and took no pictures. I only remembered to as Kaya was eating the last one. If I had bananas left I’d make another batch right now just for photos sake lol. But here’s the super simple instructions anyway:

Ingredients: Gerber Oatmeal cereal, (overripe) Bananas, tablespoon of flour, cinnamon to taste

Combine ingredients and plop by table spoon into super duper hot oiled pan. Fry on both sides for a few minutes until brown.

(It should be thicker than pancake batter, but not as thick as a cookie dough. So add milk if too thick, and more oatmeal if too thin.)

I’m glad I tried shaking up these items I usually make with the Gerber items. The oatmeal was totally hidden in the turkey muffins, and gave a great flavor/texture twist to our usual oatmeal cookies. The banana fritters had a different texture but still the same great flavor.

If you’re babies are getting older and starting to eat table food, these are great ways to use up your extra baby food items. If your babies are still itty bitties then this line is perfect for moms on the go who still want to give their children healthy foods.

What are you making today?

I’m always trying to figure out ways to sneak healthy foods into my kids (and husband) so I was excited to partner with The Women Bloggers on this sponsored campaign.