Then he hit twenty months, and suddenly he was looking at his piece of banana like something I'd fished out of a drain, and subsequently throwing it on the floor with disgust, looking at me like "How could you?!" To my utter bewildered frustration, he did the same with strawberry, orange, blueberry and mango - all of which he'd previously loved. It was only when he accepted toast, cheerios and cornflakes that I realised I had a new texture-fussy toddler on my hands. I tried baking fruit and putting it in a crumble... he saw straight through it, screwing his face up and throwing his spoons on the floor.
He's had fruity crispy snacks before, but they were more like crackers, and they still seemed to have a sticky, chewy kind of texture to them. They'd always be left in his changing bag to go soft. A few days ago we were kindly sent some of the new crunchy snacks from Kiddylicious to sample and review, and I was really interested to see if Charlie would take to them.
Cheese flying saucers, Banana fruity puffs, Blueberry fruity puffs & Tomato flying saucers.
They are gluten free and all suitable from age seven months, which is brilliant because, being big & chunky, they're really easy for babies and young toddlers to hold (rather than slippery fruit) and direct into their own mouths. Older toddlers might also appreciate the Flying Saucer shape.
When I look for packaged snacks for Charlie, the things I usually look for are
1. Suitable for vegetarians
2. Sugar content/artificial flavoring
3. Nutritional value
They are suitable Vegetarians, as well as Coeliacs and Lactose intolerance.
They are not suitable for children with a nut allergy (or a potential one) due to how they are manufactured - around lots of nuts I expect!
There is 0.1g of salt, and 0.3g of sugar per bag.
The Fruity Puffs are made with Corn flour, the Flying Saucers with Rice flour. The other ingredients include Sunflower oil and Vitamin B1. They are flavoured with natural fruit or savory powders depending on flavour, and natural flavorings.
So, on to the fun part, the taste test!
First Charlie tried the Blueberry Fruity Puffs, these were the ones I'd have chosen in a shop because I'm blueberry crazy.
We took them on our spring walk with us.
I loved the purpley colour! Even though it was pretty obvious they would be from the "Blueberry powdered crisps" bit! I know Charlie is a bit too young to appreciate that, but he did say "Purple crispies!" before he started cramming them into his mouth. Every time one was in his mouth, his hand delved into the packet to grab another. He ate nearly all of them and clearly enjoyed them. I also nicked a couple and the blueberry flavour was lovely and they were so light and melty, ideal for seven month olds new to solid food.
Next he tried the Tomato Flying Saucers:
These were my favourites. They were really tasty and I loved the shape of them. Charlie seemed interested too because he loved pushing them around his tray, counting them, and trying to pile them up! Then he ate them all. They were smoother and larger, but still easy to pick up. They had the same, light fluffy, melty texture, with a light tomato taste. I really liked these ones.
Next we tried the Banana Puffs
I'm guessing these were Charlie's favourites as he ate every single one in about five minutes! I don't like banana flavourings but Charlie clearly does, as he shouted "Nana crispies!" and didn't stop eating them until they were finished.
We haven't had the Cheese Flying Saucers but Charlie loves quavers and anything cheesy so I'm guessing these will be a hit! I love how I now have a healthy snack that I can take out with us without getting a squeal over something squishy.
I'm guessing Charlie would definitely recommend them to other toddlers and babies too!
Kiddylicious do a fantastic range of healthy baby and toddler snacks. Before he was fussy Charlie used to love the fruit wiggles and the pineapple crisps.
You can find out more information about toddler snacking and their range of foods here: http://www.kiddylicious.co.uk/
I was sent these for the purpose of this review, these are all my own words.
