Ella's Kitchen Review & Giveaway

When I first had Jaxon, I had these grand dreams of making all his baby food, from fresh organic ingredients. I did make a lot of his food until my Baby Brezza broke. But when we needed to leave the house, I quickly found that homemade baby food doesn't travel very well. With my diaper bag already stuffed full of cloth diapers, I would end up carrying a separate small cooler bag with the baby food in it (and an ice pack). That works sometimes, but at other times, it was just not practical. So I was happy to find that someone else had already encountered this same dilemma and come up with a great solution!


Ella's Kitchen was founded by a dad who was looking for something healthy, yummy, and easily portable for his daughter, Ella, to eat. There was nothing like that at the time so he set to work. Doesn't it seem like the best ideas are always born from a parent's need for a better product? 


Ella's Kitchen is passionate about health and nutrition, which is why they only use organic ingredients. They take their commitment to health even farther though. Ella's Kitchen foods contain no preservatives and nothing artificial. They are also egg, gluten, sugar, salt, and wheat free. They don't even add water -it's just pure organic goodness! They come in BPA free packaging. They also believe that taste and convenience are important (I agree!), so their pouches are highly portable and their flavors are kid-friendly. 

Look at all the fun colors of the Ella's Kitchen foods! They are broken down into several product ranges:

First Tastes - for babies just starting solids, these foods are single flavors and contain nothing but fruit and (in some pouches) a tiny splash of lemon juice. 

Fruit + Baby Rice - organic brown rice with organic fruit

Ella's 1 - fun blends for babies who have had exposure to each of the ingredients separately. No added water, preservatives, or extras- still just yummy organic fruits & veggies for baby. Eat them alone or added to mashed or ground chicken, turkey, or fish! 

Ella's 2 - these blends introduce meats and textures. 

Baby Brekkie - organic fruit, yogurt, and rice - still 100% organic and a perfect breakfast for babies or toddlers!

Smoothie Fruits - with names like "the red one", these are perfect for toddlers and older kids - an easy way to put some fruit in their diet. Pop into lunchboxes or grab one for an on the go snack! I'm going to pick some of these up for our big kids. 


The first one I pulled out to try was an Ella's 1 flavor - spinach, apple, rutabaga. To be honest, I wasn't sure what a rutabaga was, so I had to look it up (it's a turnip). I knew it was something I'd never eat, but I'm always happy to feed healthy foods to my kids, even the ones that don't appeal to me. 

Jaxon sucked that pouch down like he'd never tasted something so great (see another pic).   

He is very serious about that pouch.

One thing I've noticed about the Ella's Kitchen mixtures is that they seem slightly thicker than some of the other baby foods we've bought in the past, even those in pouches. Jaxon's sensitive to texture, but he actually seem to prefer the thicker mixes. I like the thicker mixtures because he can easily handle the pouches himself without accidentally spilling them. He loves being able to feed himself. 

Mangoes are his favorite!

He also ate Ella's Kitchen "apples apples apples" and for the first time ever, he seemed to like apples. I've give him at least 3 different brands of apples and even made some for him at home, with and without cinnamon, and he's never cared for them. But he really seemed to like the Ella's Kitchen brand. He also loved the other First Tastes that we tried: bananas, mangoes, and pears. 

These apples are better than yours, mom.

He also loved the Ella's 1 blends we tried. He did not seem to care for the Fruit + Baby Rice, though in all fairness, he doesn't eat rice cereal. He seemed a little unsure about the Baby Brekkie at first, but he ate it (mangoes are his favorite and we were trying the mango Baby Brekkie). We will definitely be purchasing more Ella's 1 blends and First Tastes foods, and I will also give the Baby Brekkie's another try. 

Sadly, Ella's Kitchen is not sold at any stores in our area. We have to drive at least 25 minutes to get them. They are sold at Target, Kroger, and Buy Buy Baby, as well as some Whole Foods locations. You can click here to find out where they're sold in your area. You can also purchase Ella's Kitchen online  - with free shipping. I found that their online prices are comparable or even cheaper than what Target is charging. They are also available at diapers.com and amazon.com.

If you want to receive Ella's Kitchen special offers and coupons, click here to sign up for their mailing list. You can also look around their website - they have some recipes using their pouches that kids love (great way to sneak in some nutrients!). Be sure and follow them on Facebook & Twitter by clicking the buttons below!

Want to win your own 10 pack of Ella's Kitchen foods to try?

Jaxon's first food!

Jaxon has shown a lot of interest in eating for over a month now. I've been putting it off for a couple of reasons. Allergies, for one. I didn't want to introduce solids too early since some doctors say that it can cause food allergies. I've had a kid with multiple food allergies and it is no fun. Thankfully, she has outgrown all of her allergies now! The other is really just laziness. Let's face it, breastfeeding is super easy. The milk is always available, always the right temp, always fresh. It's just easier. We travel frequently and eat out often. So once he starts solids, I'll have to start bringing stuff for him to eat and that can be kind of a pain. 

Cloth diapering is also easier when the baby is exclusively breastfed. Breastfed baby poop is water soluble so I can just toss those diapers in the wash and never deal with the poop. Love it!

But Jaxon is really interested in eating. The other day he swiped a stalk of steamed asparagus off my plate and immediately stuck it in his mouth. He's fast. 


We get a box of organic produce each week and this week we ordered some bananas. I thought that would make a nice first food, so I used my brand new Baby Brezza (this thing is pretty sweet!) and set out to make some banana baby food. Ok, let's face it. Making banana baby food is not that hard. Bananas are already soft and mushy. But I was still pretty proud of myself. It definitely tasted better than jarred baby food.


And most importantly, Jaxon LOVED it!

First bite!

I ate it all already? 

I love that little messy face :)

So I'm about to start making more baby food. What should I do next? If you have any baby food recipes to share, post them below!