Baby Food Discoveries

DISCLAIMER: I feed my baby natural foods most of the time. These are just my go-to foodstuff when I'm too busy. :-)

It's true that retail is the best therapy. I love doing groceries; it's the best stress-reliever for me. In fact, I almost always love grocery shopping more than clothes shopping. But don't get me wrong. I love both. Teehee. Anyway, before I digress, what I also love about grocery shopping is being able to discover new products, especially those that are locally-made. And because I'm a mommy, these discoveries often mean new baby products.

Last week, when I did groceries at SM Lanang Premier (suki), I discovered these new baby foods:

I'm sorry the background is a bit messy. The photos are taken a couple of days after Christmas, and nobody really wanted to fix the kitchen thoroughly, knowing that New Year's Eve is still coming. Good thing I found my camera already. It has apparently made rounds among the females in the house, as I saw a lot of self-portraits in my photos. :-|

I digress. Alright, back on track!

This is a half-full bottle of Gerber's apple grape juice. This is not a food discovery, as it can be seen in most grocery stores - which is why I unwittingly bought it when Y began to crawl. It tastes fine, but I have seen in other posts that any other juice (as long as it's not powdered) will do. One day at the grocery, I discovered this:

This is Mott's apple juice, in a 1.5L bottle. How did I know it's okay to give to Y? Simple. I got a bottle of Gerber juice and compared the labels. Both Mott's and Gerber contain zero sugar and no preservatives. Both boast of Vitamin C content, although Mott's has significantly higher content than Gerber. In addition, here's what the Mott's label says:

Water, apple juice concentrate, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C)

On the other hand, I wasn't able to take a photo of Gerber's label, but based on the website, LabelWatch.com, these are the ingredients of Gerber's apple juice:

Apple juice and ascorbic acid (Vitamin C)

So what's the difference? You're right: water. If you think no water is better, I think it's the other way around. I don't want Y to be used to sweets, so I actually water his juice down. If Mott's has water, this means it's less sweeter than Gerber. When I got to taste it, it still tastes very apple-y, and doesn't taste watered down. And Y likes it.

Most importantly, the 1.5 liter bottle of Mott's only costs around P150. Do you know how much a small bottle (4 oz) of Gerber costs? P70! Grabe, I felt cheated. LOL. Verdict? We're sticking to Mott's!

I discovered Nutri-Del cereal when I bought ingredients for my Nutella Cheesecake at the Robinson's Supermarket in Abreeza. I do give fresh food, fruits, and vegetables to Y as often as I can, but as a full-time working mom, ready-to-eat cereal is my bestfriend because it is easy to prepare and it doesn't compromise nutrition. Please stop raising your eyebrows at me. :-(

When I saw this considerably cheaper alternative, I just have to try it. And guess what? Y likes it! I tasted it and found out it is less sweeter than Cerelac (which I stopped feeding him months ago because Y throws up after eating it), and that's a good thing. It's also locally-made, which is another plus! But what I like most about it is the resealable pack: no unnecessary exposure to air. Finally, I saw that it's also available at my beloved SM. By the way, a pack just costs less than P50.

And finally this: Bibibons biscuit nibblers. I just got to try it last week, the day after Y turned 9 months. According to the package, the biscuits can either be eaten as such, biscuits, or can be dissolved into a porridge-like cereal (for babies under 9 months old). Y is already 9 months old, but I found out he can't eat the biscuits - because he doesn't have any teeth yet! So I dissolved a pack into a bowl with water and Y ate them happily. By the way, there are 6 packs inside the box and each pack has 6 biscuits. And a box only costs around P40. :-)

What about you? What are your baby food discoveries? I would love it if you share them with a clueless newbie mommy like me!