Squooshi Reusable Food Pouch Alternative

 Many parent's have been buying these reusable pouches instead of the individual pouch servings options at the store. These open up at the bottom and parents can fill them, seal them, place in fridge, and kids can enjoy at their convenience.

Another reason parents have been using these pouches is due to the concerns with the store pre-filled disposable pouches. Read this post on Facebook. This GoGo squeeZ had mold inside and didn't expire until the following year. There's been a lot of complaints from other parents who also had this experience and many had their children hospitalized due to their children getting sick from the contents. This also includes juice boxes and other prefilled individual serving products. This growing concern from parents and the need to save money has sparked a new customer based for reusable pouches parents can fill. I even purchased these refillable pouches myself. However, I was not happy with them at all.

My reasons:

• They hold so little. I maybe can fit 4 tablespoons of food in them. 
• Didn't work for beverages
• They are a pain to fill with out making a mess.
• They spill out when sealing them close.
• They get gunk stuck inside the pouch where the zipper seal is at. It traps old food inside. No matter how much I hand-washed, soaked, used toothpicks, it was just not getting all the old food out. 
• Takes so much effort to attempt to clean properly. Sure they're dishwasher safe, but how that gunk needs hand-washing and how much residue is getting stuck in there too from the dishwasher. 

I just got sick of them and came up with a much better solution. I purchased these 8oz vintage milk bottles. I love them and here's why:

• They are so easy to clean. I handwash them using a baby bottle brush. They are easier to clean than baby bottles, in my experience.
• They hold a lot!
• They're easy to fill. Heck, I don't even use a funnel. I just pour everything right into the bottles. 
• Closing is easy and nothing spills out when I close them. It's a simple as putting a lid on. 
• Dishwasher safe and no worry that any residue will get trapped anywhere. 
• and many other wonderful reasons.....

We use them for all kinds of things:
Drinks, yogurts, apple sauce ( flavored or plain no sugar added), milk, etc... I can get so creative filling. Even do layers! Yes, layers. I can put strawberry smoothie on bottom and a blueberry smoothie on top. Then they drink that way and go from one flavor to the next as they drink, or just shake and make it a mixed smoothie.

My girls find these bottles so much fun that they drink from these everyday. This means they are choosing healthier options for snacks with out me having to encourage them to do so. And I never have to buy any of those sugary snacks just to have sweet snacks on hand my kids "will eat".

Here's a photo of a some I filled one day... The one with the white on top and the red on bottom is yogurt with fresh strawberries I blended; can even use frozen fruit. This is way healthier than the store bought fruit yogurts that contain added processed sugar and preservatives plus this is more affordable. My girls just shake the bottle to mix and then drink. Everything I fill in these bottles is organic.

*Tip: Don't fill to the top. Leaving some room at the top of the bottle empty helps allow the bottles to be shaken for mixing.

How is this a "Lazy Mom" idea? Well, I want my kids to eat healthy and I also let them snack all the time. In my own life experience eating small healthy snacks all day long and properly portioned sized meals is much better for us than just eating 3 large meals a day and then snacking here and there. However, I just don't want to have to keep making my girls these healthy snack options through out the week. I mean, really? Making a smoothie every time my kids wants one? Um, no thanks. So, then there's the prefilled store bought options: costly and risky.

How do I make this work for me?
After going shopping I come home and put away the groceries with the help of my family. I leave out all the food and drink items I need to fill the bottles. Then I set up the counter with the bottles, lids, a cutting board, a butter knife (to stir the yogurt for easy pouring), large cutting knife, and my blender.

I have a blender that can either do smaller potions with one of these cups or it uses the glass container for larger portions. I like that option because some days I won't make any smoothies but I need to blend a small amount of fruit mixture for the yogurts. Next I start with cutting up all the fruit I need so I don't have to cut fruit every step. I also cut fruit for another snack option I do after completing filling these bottles. Click here to learn more. After the fruit is cut I start making the applesauce. Making applesauce homemade using a blender is easy and much more affordable and healthier than store bought in the jar.

Here are some recipes and remember you don't have to use cinnamon or sugar. You can make modifications as needed. Such as adding slices of peach to make a peach applesauce. Just cut back on the sugar or don't use any at all. There's even the option to use honey and lemon juice instead of sugar for sugar-free plain applesauce. But, keep in mind that honey should not be fed to children 1 year and younger.:

Blender Quick Applesauce Recipe - Food.com: I do not recommend using splenda because it's just so unsafe to consume. But, that's just my thoughts.
HOW TO: Make a Cup of Simple Organic Applesauce in Your Blender: Just multiply the ingredients to make the amount you need. Pour the applesauce into the bottles. If there happens to be a little bit of applesauce left that won't fill another bottle, I just leave it in the blender and move onto the next step. Note: I don't add sugar to the applesauce I make at home.

Now's time for making the smoothie mix for smoothies and the yogurts.  I put my fruit I need for the smoothie into the blender (with the applesauce, if any is left over). I blend it all up. If needed add a few tablespoons of water to help blend. Once fully blended I pour a small amount in some bottles that I will use for the yogurts. Then I fill the rest of the smoothie mixture into final bottles, approx 4-5 bottles. If there happens to be a little left over that is not enough for another bottle, I pour that into a cup and enjoy. :) Notice, yet again I do not add sweeteners, milk, yogurt, etc... it's just not needed as fruit is naturally sweetened. I just make sure to use fruits that compliment each other, if unsure - taste and add more sweeter fruits until made the way you like it. I also don't make smoothies with banana in them. Banana just doesn't do well premade into smoothies for this type of use.
*Tip: You can make extra smoothie mixture to make Frozen Smoothie Fruit Bars. Just pour the extra smoothie mixture into the popsicle makers now. I usually just make Frozen Fruit Juice Bars as explained in this next step.

If I want a variety of smoothies I will just repeat the steps to make another smoothie mixture.
Layered smoothies: Just pour the bottles half full of the first smoothie mixture made, then make another type of smoothie and fill the rest. If you wish to do triple layers, do the same and instead only fill 1/3 layers each time. Enjoy!

I now fill up the other bottles with any other snacks or drink options. While I already have the fruit juice open I also fill up our money saving freezer popsicle makers and make their Frozen Fruit Juice Bars. Once things are all filled I put the lids on each one of them and then put into the fridge and freezer (for popsicles) on a shelf my kids can reach. Viola, I am done with these and move onto the fruit jars, and filling the cupboard snack canning jars! My girls now have instant grab healthy snacks they enjoy. I don't have to worry about making them all week long! This only takes me about 45 mins to an hour to do these plus the other snacks I premake. That isn't much time when you consider how much time I just saved for the week. This includes not ever having to make my girls their cereal or clean up their cereal making messes. It's quite amazing how much healthier children will eat when they can do things for themselves and/or when it's made fun!

Just a note: When I ordered these they came in a pack of 6 or 12. I discovered 12 wasn't enough for my 2 girls. Yeah, they loved them that much. I bought 36 total. I now have plenty of options each week with out worrying about running out. Plus I put milk in some for them to easily pour their own milk into cereal, instead of juggling with the large milk container. And they will drink milk too, so it's already ready to drink for them. Makes things easier for this busy mom.

Here's an example break down: (per child, per week)
4 yogurts
2 smoothies
4 milks
4 applesauces
4 juices
= 18 yummy snack/drinks choices
times 2 kids = 36 bottles :)

Each family is different. So, base your total on your child/ren.

Tip: I use wet erase marker to put expiration dates on the lids for things that expire in a couple weeks to keep track as I replace the empty ones each week. This way they always finish before expiration dates because they know which ones to consume first.