Homemade Pouch Recipes

 

Ok so if you know me in real life you will know that I don't belong anywhere near a kitchen. I am so grateful that my husband loves cooking and he is fully in charge of all the meals in our house. 

When our toddler was about 9-10 months old he started making home made pouches for him. Now I know what you are thinking- how hippy dippy granola is that?! Especially for things that you can just buy at the store. Here's why we started it and why we still continue to do it now that he is almost 2 years old

1. Cost- and the ability to batch make them. Typically my husband will designate a morning and make a huge batch of these and then we can freeze them. He will typically freeze them in gallon size freezer bags and then de-thaw as needed. This typically lasts us a few months at at time- so while it sounds super time consuming if you make a big enough batch it can last you a long time. Plus the going rate for store bought pouches is roughly $1 a pouch- if you make them yourself they are significantly cheaper per pouch- and you can buy ingredients in bulk. 

2. The ability to put them in different size pouches- we didn't understand the pro of this initially. In the beginning my little baby would only eat about 4-5 oz of a pouch in one sitting. Now that he is almost 2 he can easily put down a 7 oz pouch without batting an eye. We found that some of the pouches that you buy from the store weren't enough for him and we liked the ability to make larger sized pouches. You can buy lots of different size pouches on Amazon- I would recommend getting a variety of sizes. 

3. You control what ingredients are in them- Ultimately we always are trying to limit sugar and the amount of unnecessary ingredients that our toddler ingesting. The best way to know whats in something is if you are making it. 

4. Convenience- Yes I know our 2 year old is a bit old for pouches but they are just so convenient! We make it a habit to always have a pouch defrosted in our fridge. They are great for errand days or if we are out on a walk and he needs a snack. Or sometimes he's just super hungry and has eaten everything we had planned for lunch or dinner and we are just needing something else to give him. Plus I feel good that I'm giving him something healthy even if he thinks it's a treat- it's a good way to get leafy greens in your baby who maybe can't chew them quite yet. 

The chef himself and his little "helper"

The reason I am posting these is we've had so many people ask us for the recipes for the homemade pouches so I thought it would be easy to share them here so that everyone has access to them. 

Thank you to my husband who helped me with this blog and wrote up his personal recipes: 

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Pouch recipes are an age old tradition my family has passed down for the past 5 generations. Starting with an eight-paragraph long explanation of why my Great Great Grandmother invented the secrets of the pouch recipe. Luckily this isn’t Pinterest and no one cares!

So let’s get into it. Recipe is a strong word for what I do. I don’t have a rolodex full of cards that have exact amounts of what to do. I have a good idea of amounts and then just wing it till it tastes good. I also have access to this grand space of ideas: The Internet. Which is where I get most of my ideas anyway, just have to sort through all the back stories and hoopla to get that what everyone is actually after. As the great Captain Barbosa one quoted, “These are more like guidelines.” So do what you want, I’m not your mother. Don’t like broccoli? Want more sugar? The thought of yogurt makes you physically ill? Blueberries ruined Christmas and tore your family apart? Weird, but hey, everyone’s story is different and you can throw in something else that fits your tastes and preferences as you see fit.

 

Apple & Broccoli

5lbs apples

1lb frozen broccoli

Substitutes for broccoli

1 large bag fresh baby spinach or 1 brick of frozen spinach

 

Core, peel, and slice apples then place in large pot.

Put in about ¼ cup of water to help prevent burning.

Cook on Medium heat stirring occasionally to break up the apples.

After 20-30 minutes put in broccoli. 

Keep on burner for about 20-30 minutes or until apples and broccoli are tender.

Transfer to food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Transfer to pouches and make a large mess for your wife to clean up later.

Don’t like broccoli? Great! Throw in some spinach instead. Still green, still healthy, kids will be non the wiser. Want your kids to have the good stuff? Throw in some cinnamon too. Spoiled? More sugar! Though I think it all tastes fine without added sugar.

 

 

 

Stone fruit and yogurt

1 large container of plain Greek yogurt 32oz

2-3 peaches, nectarines, plums, apricot, etc

Peel and extricate pit

Place fruit and yogurt in blender and blend until smooth.

When I first made this the recipe called for a Pluot. I know what you are thinking, what on God’s green earth is a Pluot? Well, it doesn’t exist in nature; it and many other hybrids of all these stone fruits are a monument to man’s arrogance. Just google it, there are so many of these hybrids that I didn’t think they could all exist, but they do. That aside, you can probably use just about any mixture of fruit to your liking.

 

Sweet potato and carrot

2-3 lbs sweet potato peeled and quartered

4-6 whole carrots peeled

1/2 stick butter

Milk (probably)

Pumpkin spice

Place spuds and carrots in cold water and bring to a boil.

Turn down heat to med/med-high (so it doesn’t boil over)

Cook until fork tender (about 30 minutes)

Drain water and place in food processor spuds, carrots, and butter.

Blend until smooth

This recipe is more on the “hearty” side of usual pouch recipes, so it can come out a bit thiccc thick. I usually use a bit of milk to thin it out. If you have some extra breast milk left over that works great too! Then I usually throw in some pumpkin spice to taste, maybe about ½ tsp. I also throw in about a tablespoon of brown sugar for fun.

 

 

 

Blueberry and yogurt and wheat

1 cup Bluberries

1 cup Greek Yogurt

2 tbs Wheat germ

Wash blueberries

Blend in food processor until smooth

 

This started off with blueberries, but you can use just about any kind of berry:  strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, etc. Now we need to address the elephant in the room: wheat germ. Many years ago, someone somewhere said, “Hey! Wouldn’t this food taste so much better if I threw in some of this saw dust looking ingredient?” So then wheat germ was invented for some reason. The internet says that it is “healthy” with vitamins and minerals.

Avanana

3-4 Bananas

2 avocados

Peel bananas and avocados

Blend in food processor until smooth

Transfer to pouches

The ratio to use is 3:2 banana to avocado and will yield about 8 oz. This mostly depends on the sizes of said ingredients. So yes, size does matter. One thing to note is the fact that it is avocado and it will brown if it exposed to air. So, some of the pouches will look like it might be bad, but it is fine.