The Owl and The Pussycat Chilled Baby Food

Baby Craftiness is a fussy little thing; we haven't quite achieved him eating anything with lumps and bumps in yet. The only things he will eat have to be completely smooth as otherwise he vomits the food back up. He's still breastfed so I'm not too worried about his fussiness with food at the moment. With my first son I tried to be perfect and followed the Annabel Karmel baby meal plan to the letter. I had lots of time on my hands then and I could afford to make every meal from scratch. These days it's just not practical. It's bad enough catering for a very fussy seven year old, so I quite often give jars of baby food to Baby Craftiness. I do feel a little guilty but there's not much choice.

The usual brands of baby food that I buy are Hipp, Heinz and Cow and Gate. So I was intrigued when I was given the chance to review some 'chilled baby food.' Even more intrigued by the lovely sounding name 'The Owl and The Pussycat.' The packaging looks quite tempting with the cute little owl and pussycat from Edward Lear's book. The packaging isn't overly fussy though and in most circumstances I have found that the simpler the packaging, the nicer the food.

So now we are getting down to the nitty gritty? Did Baby Craftiness like them? To be honest, I didn't hold out much hope on him liking them as he is just SO fussy with food. I was waiting for a day to try them out on him when he had had at least one substantial meal already in him, so that it didn't matter if he chose not to eat them. However, my husband had different ideas and was eager to try him with something more nutritionally beneficial. So while I got down to housework, hubby fed the food to Baby Craftiness. Did he like it?? He LOVED it. I was called down to inspect the empty pot. This was the 'Chicken, French Beans and Coriander.' I tried him with the second pot of this flavour the next day and again he devoured it.

Next up for trial was 'Tomato and Celeriac Risotto with Cheddar Cheese,' he loved it! And lastly the 'Beef with Parsnips and Apple' which he devoured. As he is such a fussy eater, this was a HUGE achievement! What more can I say.... I am now in awe of this baby food brand.

The important difference and advantage of this baby food over jarred baby food is that 'The Owl And The Pussycat' food is gently steamed to preserve the fullness of flavour ensuring that each dish tastes and smells delicious and fresh. Jarred baby foods have usually been heated to very high temperatures to sterilise the ingredients which means that the food doesn't have the same fullness of flavour.

The chilled weaning food is being launched by a small family run food business, based in rural Wiltshire - Sally, Simon and Sarah are the people behind the new range. All have young families and when it came to weaning they wanted to buy food that was close as possible to their own home made food - and that means fresh.

Each pack of The Owl and The Pussycat chilled baby food contains two individual 100g pots (priced at £2.79) and can simply be heated in the microwave or on the hob before being served. All Owl and The Pussycat meals are certified organic by government approved inspectors, Organic Farmers and Growers.

So are there any drawbacks? The only drawback to me is the fact the baby food is currently only available at Waitrose and through Ocado as I don't shop with them. I would be more than happy to pay a little extra for these foods as the nutritional value is so much better. So to the makers of 'The Owl and The Pussycat' food - please consider stocking in other supermarkets. I promise I will buy!!

You can find more information about the fantastic 'The Owl and The Pussycat' range including recipes, nutritional information as well advice for parents on weaning at www.theowlandthepussycat.org