Beech Nut 100% Natural Baby Food [Review]

I adopted the philosophy that homemade is always better a few years ago and planned on making my own baby food. After reading Baby Led Weaning, I mandated that no baby food (pureed foods) will be fed to the baby and there will be no spoon feeding! I now realize that I went a little over the top with my new-mommy goals. After wanting to give the baby yogurt and homemade carrot souffle, I realized that I would have to spoon feed it. I relaxed a bit. Seeing the baby love all of these foods that I was spoon feeding him opened up a whole new world of natural baby food that I shut out prematurely. Beech-Nut just came out with their natural baby food line: natural ingredients, no additives or preservatives, minimal processing, and just what the label says.

Beech-Nut 100% Natural Baby Food               ($1.09)
Rating: total green check marks out of 5.

The Good	The Not So Good
100% natural ingredients	Not certified organic
No additives, preservatives, or colors
Delicious taste

First and foremost, this new line of baby from Beech-Nut is made from 100% natural ingredients. No artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. When the label says Just Honeycrisp Apples, the ingredients list only lists honeycrisp apples! Beech-Nut uses "just gentle cooking" to retain the most nutrients without adding excess water or preservatives. They imported this technology from Italy. What is gentle cooking?

1. Close-to-home ingredients 
2. Cold puree (raw fruits and vegetables pureed before cooking)
3. No artificial preservatives (excess air is removed)
4. Gently cooked (indirect heat with a double boiler method)
5. Jar (BPA-free glass jars)

As a mother who is focused on natural and organic foods for her baby, I am pleased with Beech-Nut's gentle cooking method. I love that the ingredients are high quality, are gently cooked, and go into glass jars. 

I have a confession! Shh...don't tell the Baby Led Weaning world...Beech-Nut's new line of 100% natural baby food was the first actual jarred baby food that my baby ate. Yes! After 5+ months of Baby Led Weaning, I finally gave him jarred baby food. Why? Because I was impressed by the high quality, natural and simple ingredients and the cooking process. I would like to see Beech-Nut release an organic line.

Out of the 40 new delicious flavors, we received the following to sample:

1. Beets, Pear & Pomegranate
2. Just Carrots
3. Just Honeycrisp Apples
4. Just Spinach, Zucchini & Peas

The colors were vibrant! Just like they would be if I cooked the same ingredients at home. I tried a little bit before I gave to the baby (this mama was curious!). Just Carrots reminded me of my homemade Carrot Souffle. Just Honeycrisp Apples were one of the best apple sauces I have tasted. And my favorite was the Beets, Pear & Pomegranate. We have yet to try Just Spinach, Zucchini & Peas. The baby liked all of the flavors also. He ate the whole jar of Beets, pear & Pomegranate in one sitting (each jar contains 2 servings). Just Carrots made it through a couple of meals (opened jars should be refrigerated and used within 2 days). 

The new Beech-Nut line will be available in stores, including Kroger, Meijer, Wal-Mart, and Publix in Spring 2014. Suggested retail price of a 4.25oz bottle is $1.09. Visit Beech-Nut for more information about the new flavors. Beech-Nut's new 100% natural baby food line is affordable and wholesome. 

Disclosure: This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Beech-Nut and MomSelect. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.