This article is brought to you in partnership with North Coast Organic through Kitchen PLAY.
If you’re new here, this blog is about helping toddlers overcome picky eating and getting toddlers to eat healthier. I have an extremely picky eater son and I am always sharing tips about how to get toddlers to eat more nutritious meals and snacks - even when they refuse to eat veggies.
So, what do I do when my toddler refuses to eat vegetables?
Just like other moms, I get creative.
I hide veggies in his favorite foods, and I turn to healthy products that he loves that contain veggies.
Fruit + Veggie Apple Sauce Pouches
Our favorite snack products lately are these new Fruit + Veggie Apple Sauce Pouches from North Coast Organic. We have tried all three flavors and our son loves them all!
That’s a huge win for a mom of a picky eater.
There is no way our son would be eating beets, kale, or sweet potato if they were not blended with fruit.
We offer these fruit + veggie apple sauce pouches to our son as part of his meal when we know we are serving a vegetable he will likely refuse to eat.
These North Coast Organic Apple Sauce Pouches also make great snacks for when we are on the go.
These pouches are all organic, have no added sugar, and no preservatives. Just fruits and veggies.
Ideas for serving pouches to toddlers
There are lots of ways for toddlers to enjoy these pouches:
- Drink straight from the pouch, with a meal or during snack time
- Stir the fruit + veggie apple sauce into unsweetened Greek yogurt (the Mango Sweet Potato Apricot one is AMAZING for this!)
- Drizzle the fruit + veggie apple sauce over ice cream or frozen yogurt
- Use them instead of syrup on pancakes and waffles
Pouches for toddlers
There is some controversy about giving babies and toddlers pouches – pouches don’t allow babies to get messy and may prevent babies from getting the sensory benefit of eating food with a spoon or with their hands. There are also some who worry that fruit pouches can get kids used to only sweet foods, and pouches are bad for the environment because people don’t recycle most of them.
But I believe that fed is best. My son is not only eating food from pouches - he gets other food too. We supplement his meals with organic pouches to help round out his diet and give him the much-needed calories and nutrition he needs.
And these pouches *CAN* be recycled!
Recycling pouches with TerraCycle®
One of the reasons I feel good about using North Coast Organic Fruit+Veggie Apple Sauce Pouches is because North Coast partners with TerraCycle, where we can send in empty pouches to be recycled – all at no cost to us!
In addition to this, North Coast is working on making pouches with recyclable materials so they can be recycled directly at home.
This is fantastic news for our planet and for us moms who need the convenience of healthy snack pouches.
North Coast Organic Apples
North Coast Organic makes all kinds of products with apples, such as apple sauce, apple juice, apple cider, and apple cider vinegar. All the apples they use are U.S. grown, free of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and produced with responsible organic farming practices.
North Coast has been making apple products since 1922 - for almost 100 years!
North Coast Organic Apple Juice
In addition to the fruit+veggie apple sauce pouches, North Coast makes a variety of apple juices. Ever since we tried their organic fresh-pressed apple juice, I don’t think we can ever go back to the “regular” apple juice from concentrate that we drank when we were kids.
I thought I didn’t like apple juice because it always tastes like apple-flavored sugar water, but that’s because I have never tried true fresh-pressed apple juice until now.
A sip of North Coast Organic apple juice tastes exactly like biting into a crisp apple. This is because North Coast doesn’t boil away all the flavor, nutrients, and micronutrients. None of their apple juices are made from concentrate, and you can really taste the difference.
Lower sugar apple juice drink for kids
I used to be one of those people that was all like, “I am never giving juice to my kids!” Yet here I am, giving my son juice. 🙂
I am glad that he is getting extra fluids and extra calories. We are potty training, so we are encouraging our son to drink more fluids, and the only way to do that with a stubborn toddler is to give him some juice.
North Coast Organic has a Kid’s Organic Apple Juice Drink with 45% less sugar than 100% apple juice. It’s fresh-pressed and never made from concentrate.
And it tastes fantastic. The whole family drinks this juice.
It has less calories per serving than apple juice.
Where to find North Coast Organic Apple Juice and Apple Sauce Pouches
Look for North Coast Organic products in supermarkets all over the U.S. or request your store carry these products if they don’t already.
Your kids will love the new fruit+veggie pouches. You’ll love that they’re secretly eating vegetables. And the whole family will love the flavor of fresh-pressed apple juice.
Tell me in a comment below: Have you ever tried North Coast Organic products? Will you give these new fruit+veggie apple sauce pouches a try?
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