What's wrong with jars?

[wukter]

I really hope this question doesn't cause a fight, it's a genuine question.

After all, it's just blended veg preserved in an airtight jar. Maybe a drop of oil.

I give my DD jars, a couple of times a week at cm's, our own meals mashed and plenty of finger foods.

Have you eaten one ? They are vile - the ultra heat treatment they go through makes the food caramelise a bit and gives it a weird sweetness, and changes all the tastes.

But theres nothing intrinsically wrong with them

I used jars for convenience with dd1 when out and about mostly or to have handy if caught for time.

The only thing that bothered me is with the meal ones if you add the percent of veg, meat etc together it adds up to very little so what is all the rest?

I did eat one. I liked it . But I do prefer my own dinners.

Must check that Suiledonne, never actually did add it up.
CMOT does the heat treatment reduce the nutritional value?

I read somewhere (and think it must be a piss take) about people eating baby food as diet alternative.

Found them only alternative initially when out and about as dd was dead picky re finger food - I envied those people who could just give kids bits of of real food.

I think they're not as good as fresh food as the very high temperatures they go through destroy the nutrients.

That said, I used to cook all DD's baby food from supermarket ingredients and a lot of the veg had been in the fridge a few days and had probably lost a lot of nutrients anyway.

Yes, the heat treatment can reduce the amount of heat-sensitive vitamins, particularly vit C.

Thanks everyone.

@Poppy34

People actually do eat jarred baby food in order to lose weight.
I remember girls at school (about 12ish years ago) having them for lunch.
And have read about it loads in magazines and forums.

We happily use jars or pouches if we are out and about or in a hurry. But generally DD (just turned 10 months) has whatever we had last night/are having mashed up.

By comparison the jars are very smooth, taste very bland indeed and are in much smaller quantities than my DD would normally get down her!

I think the other problem is the expense - I think my DD would eat about three jars three times a day and my mind boggles at how much that would cost ...

Really bumpsadaisie? Lol mine has a tiny appetite, the expense for me is throwing away all the nearly full jars!

Mash a banana and avocado together, as easy as a jar!

I do Battykoda, she likes it.
I do feed jars a couple of times a week, knowing it was less than ideal but not knowing why.

I think what gets me is the use by date on them. They could be sat there on the shelf for yonks, just doesn't feel right. I wouldn't be comfortable eating it!

(Have you tried adding tuna to the avocado and banana, my DS loved it!)

i think i've got my judgey pants on for mums who feed their babies jars at every meal - you wouldnt eat a ready meal at every mealtime yourself! and dont get me started on that powder stuff that you can add water to to make "food" - how can that possibly be healthy for a dc if its been so processed to be able to be a powder!

but i did use jars very occasionally for times when we were away in a hotel for a weekend when there was no other possibility to give the dc fresh (or defrosted) food. and then i hated feeding the dc them - they taste so artificial and i used to try to buy the better quality of jars! i agree with the above poster - what is really in the ingredients to fillup the jar - maybe just water? very filling!!!

Dont think there's any reason you couldnt give the CM some fresh food to reheat when your dc is there!

I use the odd jar or pot occasionally but not much - generally when we've just got in and DS is grumbling with hunger but my frozen supplies of homemade stuff are running low.

In answer to the question - there's an awful lot of water in there to make up the weight. (When DD was little I sent a ranting email to Plum about the sweetcorn and carrot one being 44% water - I got an email back saying they were flabbergasted as they'd never received a complaint before. Hmmm.)

The ones with added iron are particularly grim - a horrible combination of bland smoothness and then this kick of metallic bitterness at the end. I could completely understand why my normally unfussy eater was looking very unimpressed.

they taste vile. i remember trying 3 at a baby shower and none of could guess what it was. we thought it might be beef and carrott. was beef hotpot. for e.g.
loads of people use them. tis not a crime of course. but many people ONLY use them. and that can't be good. a few here and there makes life easy. we all understand that. i never feed either of mine any. but thats because i was blessed with gannets who eat anything put infront of them. most are not as lucky.

They all smell foul and look exactly the same. I only ever fed ds a jar once it was supposed to be spaghetti bolognese but it was just orange mush. We stopped off at a service station and I bought him a jacket potato and some salad to try and make it resemble something edible.

Nowadays you can actually buy some nice packaged food for babies, Ellas Kitchen and Babylicious do a range which looks and smells very nice. I won't mind if this baby has the odd ready made meal whereas I couldn't subject ds to the bland rubbish that was on the market 5 years ago.

Don't CM's provide fresh lovely meals ? most of those i know do. would be happy to have lunch there myself !!!

Am when did this turn into a thread about c/m giving jars?

"I give my DD jars, a couple of times a week at cm's," in Op.
Sorry did I misunderstand. Does it not mean childminder ?

Oh yes!

God, find another c/m who does the cooking. I bloody love not having to think about my DD's every meal.

Just to clarify - yes I send jars to Childminders as she does not provide food.

I rely on jars a lot now as I am too busy and my DD loves them so I don't see a big problem. They often contain 3-4 things and I can not puree stuff every day especially meat.
She easts what we eat in the evenings but I use jars almost every day at lunchtime and it is usually HIPP range.