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Meat only baby food


7 Simple Ways to Serve Meat to Your Baby – Serenity Kids

When it comes to baby food, meat might not be the first thing that comes to mind. But the benefits of meat for babies are real. From digestibility to nutritional density, meat baby food provides an ideal source of the nutrients needed for growth and development while also providing great flavor exposure.

Meat is also super versatile. With so many different ways to serve it, we promise your babe will never be bored.

Can Meat Be The Perfect First Food for Your Baby?

But you might be wondering, how early can we start? Can new eaters really have meat? Not only can babies have meat as a first food, but there are also several reasons why meat is the perfect first food! Meat is loaded with nutrients that support healthy growth, like fat, iron, vitamin B12, and zinc. Meat is also easy to digest and introduces a range of savory flavors to support the development of the palate during the important flavor window that shapes a baby’s diet taste preferences.

When to Introduce Meat to Your Baby?

Meat can be introduced to a baby whenever you choose to introduce solid foods, typically around six months of age. Meat can be introduced as a puree, as part of baby-led weaning, or our favorite - a combination of both! 

What Meats are Best for Babies?

All meats are great for babies, but as with all food, quality matters. Opt for grass-fed and pasture-raised meats, which come from humanely-treated animals. Well-sourced meat is higher in nutrition than its conventionally-raised counterparts. The meats in our pouches are all from ranchers who practice regenerative agriculture, so in addition to being healthier, they are also supporting the fight against climate change!

Some meats we love include:

  1. Beef: 

    Full of B vitamins, iron, and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)

  2. Chicken: 

    Full of B vitamins and selenium

  3. Turkey: 

    Full of B vitamins, selenium, zinc, and phosphorus

  4. Bison: 

    Full of B vitamins, iron, selenium, zinc, and CLA

  5. Lamb: 

    Full of B12 selenium, iron, and zinc

  6. Pork: 

    Full of B vitamins, iron, phosphorus, and zinc

  7. Salmon: 

    Full of DHA for baby’s brain development!

  8. Liver: 

    Full of vitamin A, iron, and B vitamins

 

    Of course, meat is also a great source of healthy protein and fat!

    How to Cut Meat for a Baby?

    The risk of choking causes many parents to hesitate in serving meat. But it is actually quite easy to cut and prepare meat for a baby. Just cut strips of meat that are the size of two adult fingers. A big chunk of meat allows a baby to safely hold it while sucking and gnawing on it. It gives them the opportunity to taste the flavor and experience the texture without creating a choking risk.

    How to Store Baby Meat?

    Storing baby foods can make parents antsy, but storing meat for babies is generally just as simple as storing it for yourself. In general, cooked meat can be refrigerated for four days and frozen for two months.  We recommend storing in silicone cups or glass jars.

    We recommend that our pouches be refrigerated after opening and consumed within one day of opening.

    7 Simple Ways to Serve Meat to a Baby 

    Meat can be served to a baby in a variety of ways depending on the type of meat, the preferences of the baby, and the stage of the baby’s development. For example, newer eaters may prefer to eat meat served as a meat puree or softened in bone broth, whereas a more experienced eater may prefer to chew larger pieces of meat. Here are 7 simple ways to serve meat to a baby:

    1. Pureed (try thinning with breast milk to get your desired consistency!)
    2. Ground into crumbles
    3. Shredded
    4. On the bone
    5. Braised in bone broth
    6. In strips
    7. As meatballs

      Our meat pouches are a convenient option for introducing meat to your little one. You can feel good that they’re made with only ingredients you’d trust yourself such as sweet potato and beef broth baby food, and they’re super convenient and portable for a healthy option on-the-go! 

      Bonus: Tasty Homemade Meat Baby Food That Your Little One Will Love 

      Ready to give your little one a taste of some high-quality, ethically sourced meat? Here are a few of our favorite recipes for homemade baby food to get started. 

      Simple, five-ingredient #babyledweaning recipe from @caitwittman & sous chef Baby Ben! 👨‍🍳

      This quick & easy #BLW Beef + Ginger Patties recipe is the perfect meal to immerse your little one's taste buds into a gourmet culinary experience this week! 

      INGREDIENTS

      • 1 Serenity Kids Grass Fed Beef + Ginger pouch
      • 1 large egg (pasture-raised if possible)
      • 3 tbsp hemp hearts (or ground flaxseed)
      • 1/3 cup chopped spinach
      • 1 tbsp ghee or grass-fed butter (we love @fourthandheart & @vitalfarms)

      DIRECTIONS

      1. Heat a burner to medium-high
      2. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl
      3. Add ghee or butter to your pan & let melt
      4. Scoop batter onto the pan in little circles (like making pancakes)
      5. Let cook for about 1-2 minutes (checking often to make sure it doesn't burn & adjust heat accordingly)
      6. Flip & cook the other side for an additional 1-2 minutes until cooked all the way through
      7. Serve & enjoy!


      If you try, be sure to report back how you liked it & tag us on Instagram @myserenitykids + #myserenitykids!

      This dish was inspired by one of our faves @wholefedbabies— check out her page for all the #BLWinspo — and her Wild-Caught Salmon Patties recipe below:

      This five-ingredient Wild-Caught Salmon Patties recipe is the perfect meal to make for your little one this week!

      INGREDIENTS

      • 1 Serenity Kids 100% Wild-Caught Salmon pouch
      • 1 large egg (pasture-raised if possible)
      • 3 tablespoons ground flaxseed
      • 1/4 cup chopped spinach
      • 1 tablespoon ghee or grass-fed butter (we love Fourth and Heart & Vital Farms)
      DIRECTIONS
      1. Heat a burner to medium-high
      2. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl
      3. Add ghee or butter to your pan and let melt
      4. Scoop batter onto the pan in little circles (like making pancakes)
      5. Let cook for about 1-2 minutes (checking often to make sure it doesn't burn. You can adjust the heat accordingly). 
      6. Flip and cook the other side for an additional 1-2 minutes until cooked all the way through. 
      7. Serve & enjoy!

      Celebrate Thanksgiving with your little one anytime of the year with this easy baby food recipe!

      INGREDIENTS

        • 1/4 lb cooked turkey
        • 1/2 c cooked pumpkin puree
        • 1/2 avocado
        • 1/2 c turkey bone broth (or any bone broth)
        • pinch of Himalayan sea salt
        DIRECTIONS
          1. Combine all into a blender and blend until smooth. Add more liquid to thin if needed.

          Pasture-raised meats are not only better for the animals and the earth - but better for those that consume them! Pastured pork contains 300% more Vitamin E and more Vitamin D thanks to being raised in the sunshine. Take a look at our easy pasture-raised pork & uncured bacon for this recipe!

          INGREDIENTS
          • 2 pieces of uncured bacon
          • 1/2 cup ground pork 
          • 1 1/2 cup butternut squash (peeled and cooked)
          • 1/2 cup spinach or kale (de-stemmed and cooked)
          DIRECTIONS
          1. Cook bacon and pork on low until it's cooked through. Try to avoid browning.
          2. Combine meat and grease with cooked veggies in a blender or food processor.
          3. Add water or breastmilk as needed to thin.
          4. Purée till smooth. 
          5. Serve & enjoy! 

          And of course, our organic baby food brand makes grass-fed meat pouched purees that are a convenient way to get high quality meat into the belly of your baby. They’re nutritious and delicious and require NO prep or cleanup! 

          Check out our full lineup here. There’s a flavor for every mood and every palate. With all this variety, we promise your babe will never get bored! 

          Beef Baby Food Puree // Kale & Sweet Potato // Serenity Kids®

          Our Grass-Fed Beef Baby Food Pouch with Organic Kale & Sweet Potato baby food is packed with nutrition and flavor because every bite counts! Why grass-fed beef baby food pouch? Because it is proven to be extra high in Omega-3s, iron, and conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs) which are essential for your baby's growth and brain development! Plus our grass-fed organic baby food puree meat is sourced from small family farms that practice regenerative agriculture.

          With no added sugars or preservatives, our allergen-free, easy grab-and-go pouch is the most nutritious low sugar baby food with meat option for your little one. Make your baby a Serenity Baby!

          Includes

          • Grass-Fed Beef 
          • Organic Vegetables 
          • Omega-3s
          •  Iron
          • CLAs

          Free From

          • Grains
          • Eggs
          • Nuts
          • Dairy
          • Gluten
          • Added Sugars
          • Preservatives
          • Artificial Sweeteners
          • GMOs
          • Additives
          • Antibiotics
          • Hormones

          Frequently Asked Questions

          Want to know the answers to some of our products? See below for our list of answers.

          We asked this same question because we value protecting the environment in a very big way here at Serenity Kids. After all, we want to protect the future of our planet for the babies we are raising right now! We recognize that plastic poses a variety of environmental problems. While exploring glass packaging options, we were shocked to find out that convenient pouches like ours actually have a smaller carbon footprint than jars. Why? Because for every one truckload of pouches, glass jars will fill up 26 truckloads of the same number of units! Given the resources required to produce, transport, and dispose of glass, mixed with the overwhelming consumer demand for squeeze pouches, we decided to launch our company with pouched products. However, we are exploring other packaging options that we may adopt in the future depending on consumer demand. We are always listening to our customers so if you have a hot tip on new packaging, please let us know by emailing us. If you’d like to recycle your pouches, you’re in luck! Our partnership with TerraCycle allows you to request a free envelope to mail back your empty pouches to be recycled.

          Yes! Our pouches are made from BPA-free plastic and the caps are recyclable anywhere that plastic is recycled. The pouches are unique because they are not recyclable in traditional plastic recycling because they are a mixture of different plastics. Therefore, we have partnered with TerraCycle to keep our pouches out of landfills. Simply request a free envelope, fill it up with used pouches, and send it back to TerraCycle with the included prepaid shipping label! Pro tip: place the TerraCycle envelope with your used dirty pouches in the freezer until you’re ready to ship. This helps prevent any odors!

          No. Our pouches are designed to be enjoyed at room temperature, but if your babe prefers them warm or you’ve stored an open pouch in the refrigerator, we suggest that you place the pouch in hot water or a bottle warmer. Do not microwave.

          Unopened pouches can be consumed up to 18 months from the date of manufacture. You can find the best by date on the back of the pouch under the nutrition facts panel.

          We recommend eating or freezing it within 24 hours of opening.

          Thanks to the high-heat, high-pressure retort process (similar to canning) that our pouches go through, there is no need to refrigerate unopened pouches! However, once you’ve opened the pouch, be sure to refrigerate it and consume or freeze within 24 hours of opening.

          Some of our purees may leave a colored tinge on the silicone of your little one’s spoon, and that is most likely a result of the combination of all ingredients! For example, in our products containing kale, a yellow looking stain could be left behind. Also, sweet potatoes added with the natural fattiness of meat can make staining happen even more regularly than others. A quick Mom-hack is that acidic things will help to break down the stain and get your utensils and high chair tray looking brand new again! We recommend lemon juice before or soaking your utensils in a little bit of watered down vinegar.

          Yes! Once opened, you can freeze the puree within 24 hours of opening. This way your babe can have it for later consumption! You also can freeze the entire unopened pouched and its contents – popsicles, anyone?

          We were very concerned about this because we live in hot hot Texas. We chose a pouch that is extra durable and specially designed to withstand high heat up to 250 degrees. Our final pouches are also randomly selected and sent to an additional third party testing facility to ensure its purity.

          Definitely not! Our pouches are put through a high-heat, high-pressure process after they are sealed. This process kills all potential pathogens or mold. The reports you may have heard about parents finding mold were all in pouches that had been processed using “hot fill”, meaning they pasteurize it first and then fill the pouches, which allows the small chance of contamination in between. Since our process is different, you don’t need to worry about your little one being exposed to mold when it comes to our pouches!

          Baby food without secrets

          Children's meat and vegetable canned food is a "lifesaver" for every mother who has started complementary foods for her baby. Moreover, ready-made canned baby food products annually gain an increasing number of supporters among pediatricians, primarily due to the guaranteed control of state epidemiological surveillance over their production. Bribes and the assurance of manufacturers that canned food is made from high-quality, environmentally friendly products grown, harvested, processed and packaged in compliance with all safety standards. Is food from jars as healthy as advertised in commercials?

          Test participants:
          1. "Agusha" (vegetables and beef).2. "Grandma's basket" (beef and cauliflower) .3. "Gerber" (home-style beef with carrots).4. Nestle (vegetables with beef) and Semper (beef stew with vegetables).

          The first part of consumer testing took place in the Igromania entertainment center, where parents of young children were invited. This part of the test was focused on their assessment of the appearance of the baby food packaging, its labeling and the organoleptic characteristics of the product (color, smell, taste). For the purity of the experiment, the participants were first offered the contents of the jars, and then the jars themselves to study the label.

          According to young parents, 1st place was almost unanimously given to "Agusha". The texture of the product was rated as the best for children - neither runny nor thick. A six-month-old kid present at the tasting ate “Agusha” with pleasure, although he usually eats food from jars badly.

          Olga: “More like vegetable stew with meat, not meat with vegetables. Meat purees are more pinkish, but here you can see from the color that there are mostly vegetables, and most of all - carrots.

          2nd place went to Gerber food.

          Irina: “The texture is like after a blender at home. It smells of meat, meat fibers come across and rice is felt. The child really liked it! Great for older kids! The consistency is larger and the meat is in pieces. There are spices in the texture and taste - pepper is added.

          3rd place for Semper.

          Tatyana: “This food, which is intended for children from 10 months old, has a texture for very adult children! All ingredients are reviewed. Everything is very large, and a lot of pepper! For an adult, this is very tasty, but it seems to us that for a 10-month-old baby, such an amount of salt and pepper in the diet is not acceptable. ”

          4th place - "Grandma's basket".

          Ulyana: “By smell, you immediately feel that it contains cauliflower. The child didn’t want to eat it just because of the smell!” Eugene: “I would understand the child if he refused it. The first was much tastier compared to the second. Almost no taste at all. The texture is more uniform compared to the first puree ("Agusha"). Grains of meat are felt more.

          5th place for Nestle.

          Oksana: “Absolutely no smell and taste. Barely perceptible smell of meat. And the taste is like that of "Grandma's Basket". Natalia: “The grains of meat are visible, but the taste is not felt. Yes, puree is very similar to the second one, only one is denser in texture, and this one is more watery. The most "none" of all."
          As usual, we carried out the second part of our test at the Tomsk Regional Veterinary Laboratory, whose specialists assessed the nutritional value of the product, as well as the compliance of the contents of baby food jars with the current food safety standards.

          Details
          Vegetable-based canned food with meat are prepared meals for baby food, which include vegetable components and meat, which in most imported, and in recent years, domestic canned vegetable and meat products is no more than 10-15%.

          A product manufactured abroad and entering the Russian market must comply with the labeling requirements of national legislation, that is, have information on the label in Russian. A regulatory document that is not indicated on the product label may be indicated in the contract for its supply to Russia - this is a voluntary matter.

          The first question related to safety standards arose already at the stage of studying the label. Only two jars out of five were marked with regulatory documents (TU), according to which the consumer can identify the product (“Agusha” and “Babushkino basket”). According to TU, one puree refers to a vegetable and meat product, the other to a meat and vegetable product, although they do not differ much in composition, since meat is listed second on the label after vegetables. But still, according to the classifier, the TU codes are different.

          But other manufacturers of tested baby food did not indicate their regulatory documents, in accordance with which it is possible to identify the product, on the labels. Although it is for them that the consumer must determine whether the composition of the product, its name, purpose, guaranteed indicators of quality and safety, including the content of vitamins, amino acids and minerals, correspond to those indicated on the package.

          Sterilization versus preservatives

          The analysis of food safety carried out in the laboratory (heavy metals, nitrates, the presence of GMOs) did not reveal any deviations, as did the microbiology test in 2 selective samples. There are no complaints about these indicators for all 5 products, which was to be expected, because all samples are sterilized products. Sterilization takes place at a temperature of over 100 degrees, in particular, canned meat and vegetable products are sterilized at a temperature of 113 to 135 degrees for a certain time, which is set depending on the feedstock and production technology, the field of which in such a product all microorganisms and their spores are destroyed. This process is necessary due to the long shelf life of the product - 2 years. And since preservatives in the production of baby food are excluded, sterilization solves this problem.

          Based on the fact that this is a baby food product, canned food should contain, for its intended purpose, a sufficient amount of proteins, amino acids, minerals with an optimal ratio of calcium, phosphorus, a sufficiently small amount of table salt, an optimal amount of fat in relation to proteins and a sufficient set of vitamins . This is a general requirement for infant formula for young children. The balance of the composition is achieved here due to the presence in the product of beef, leguminous crops, vegetable and butter oils, as well as starch for binding in order to avoid splitting canned food.

          With long-term sterilization, all taste indicators of the product naturally decrease, starch and sugar are partially broken down, enzyme activity decreases, and some vitamins are destroyed. Also, as a result of prolonged sterilization, color, smell and taste may change. The most lively, fresh and nutritious canned food for children is one that has a shelf life of up to 1 year. If the period is longer (in all our samples it is 2 years), then such a product is focused more on saturation, and its vitamin and nutritional composition is very weak.

          Details
          Vitamins according to SanPin

          SanPin (sanitary norms and rules) regulates only a part of vitamins - these are B2 (riboflavin), B1 (thiamine), beta-carotene, PP, B3 (niacin). Vitamins A and C are not included in the list.

          In accordance with the regulations, these vitamins do not have to be present in the product, moreover, vitamins are not allowed as an additional enrichment of the nutrition of young children. Vitamin balance should be achieved only through the components of the product. That is, in this case, it is young beef. And already to compensate for the amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, a composition is selected that optimizes the vitamin and mineral complex of the product. Speaking of vitamins, it should be noted that in natural products it is possible to detect them only in very small doses, and it is generally difficult to find them in processed and sterilized ones.

          Nowhere on the labeling of our 5 samples is it indicated whether vitamins were added additionally. Nevertheless, we decided to check their presence in the puree. The direction of the search for vitamins was suggested by the composition of the product on the label, where, as a rule, carrot puree and cauliflower were listed first. Proceeding from this, a study on vitamins A and C was laid. Only vitamin A was found, which was present in all samples, and in “Agusha” it turned out to be the most. Vitamin C was not found in any of the submitted samples.

          It is important to know that according to TU (technical specifications) a product is produced in cases where there is a need to deviate from GOST in technology, or to achieve the final result. According to SanPin, such a product will not cause any complaints, but the underestimation of consumer properties (taste, nutrition) is allowed in TU. Therefore, if a product is produced according to specifications and at the same time, manufacturers declare on the packaging, for example, the huge benefits of its use for growth, brain development, immunity, and other things, the consumer should be interested in the reliability of this information. How does the manufacturer support such statements? In our case, not a single vitamin is indicated on the label.

          It turns out that some degree of growth, health improvement, etc. is achieved only due to the composition of the puree. For such indicators, the presence of at least calcium, phosphorus and vitamins in the diet is required. They may be there, but the data on the label absolutely does not imply and is not guaranteed exactly how much they are contained in the product. Thus, if the manufacturer writes about some favorable consequences for the body when using his products, then such information must be confirmed on the label. In our testing, the only thing that is guaranteed on all puree samples is that the product is non-GMO, free of dyes, flavors and preservatives, salt and gluten free.

          Label

          The labels on food jars are quite informative, they indicate the manufacturer, expiration date. On the labels of imported samples there is a translation of information about the product in Russian.

          In Russia, since February 2010, in Decree No. 982, certification of food products has been replaced by mandatory declaration. The mark of confirmation of conformity is obligatory, and it is applied on all jars submitted for the study!

          In addition to mandatory declaration, baby food is also subject to mandatory state registration. Only 3 cans have a certificate of it (not on the label of "Agushi" and "Gerber"). This circumstance lowered their scores in the laboratory rating of the studied samples, since the certificate on the label is one of the indicators of confirming the safety of the product.

          Lab Rating

          In terms of nitrates (which are always found in vegetables and fruits) and vitamins, all the presented samples met the norms (see table), but, nevertheless, the highest nitrate indicator (albeit within acceptable limits) is in Agusha. Agusha has similarly high levels of vitamin A.

          If we build a rating of children's purees participating in testing, then 1st place is given to "Grandmother's basket" , where all the necessary parameters are indicated on the label: GOST, certificate of state registration of baby food, composition, presence of a vitamin-mineral complex, terms validity.

          2nd place for Agushi. And if in consumer testing this puree took the 1st place, then in the laboratory it was not assigned leadership due to the lack of information on the state registration of baby food on the label.

          It turns out that the product has not passed the state registration in the bodies of Rospotrebnadzor. It is likely that there is a registration, but it is not acceptable not to indicate such information on the label, especially when it comes to baby food. This is a violation. After all, the consumer must first of all receive all the data about the product from the label.

          The rest of the samples in laboratory testing occupy the same positions, there is no clear distinction in places, all food is approximately the same in quality.

          The main rule when choosing baby food is to pay attention to the composition of the product. It's enough. If vegetables are in the first place in the composition of the product, it is vegetable-meat puree, if meat, then it is meat-vegetable.

          We express our gratitude for the active participation in the preparation of the material to the specialists of the OGU "Tomsk Regional Veterinary Laboratory", as well as the entertainment center "Igromaniya" for their assistance in organizing consumer testing.

          pluses and minuses, overview of manufacturers ~

          For a child and his parents, the introduction of complementary foods is a very responsible step. Boiled meat is useful for both adults and children. A special place is occupied by complementary foods from beef.

          Meat in baby food.

          Weaning beef - pros and cons

          Beef is good for babies because it has a huge amount of nutrients and vitamins. It is rich in iron, useful for a child's body that suffers from anemia. There is carotene useful for vision. It contains a lot of gelatin and little fat, which is suitable for dietary nutrition, B vitamins that are beneficial for the body. Vitamins contribute to the production of hemoglobin and amino acids. It is also important for the central nervous system and the development of muscles and blood vessels. Meat is rich in iron, potassium, phosphorus, vitamin PP. The absorption of protein and iron is facilitated by the copper contained in beef. Thanks to it, oxygen is absorbed in the body.

          Thanks to all these factors, beef is ideal for the first complementary food.

          But in all products there are both useful and harmful substances - beef contains purine compounds, which causes acetonemic syndrome in children.

          Beef: when and how to introduce complementary foods

          For babies, it is best to use lean beef meat. It usually does not cause allergies. You can introduce beef into complementary foods after 7 months. But you need to proceed from the individual characteristics of the child. If the child is weakened, it is allowed to introduce beef into complementary foods as early as 6 months.

          Like any other beef meal, start with half a teaspoon of mashed meat in the morning. During the day, you need to monitor the reaction of the child. In the future, you can supplement the baby's complementary foods with meat puree with the addition of vegetables or cereals. With age, the portion is increased, so in one year a child can receive up to 50 grams of mashed meat.

          You can also make your own beef food.

          For babies, it is advisable to grind the meat in a blender to a homogeneous consistency.

          For children over three years old, roasted meat, beef broth and meatballs can be prepared. Beef broth is very quickly absorbed into the intestines of the baby.

          Baby food with beef

          For babies, young meat should be chosen, it contains less harmful substances and coarse fibers. Young meat is considered more tender and suitable for children. If you do not have the opportunity to choose the right meat for mashed potatoes, you can contact the manufacturers of canned products. It is very convenient and does not require preparation. You just need to open the jar and offer it to your baby.

          Carefully choose beef puree for a child. When choosing, you should pay attention to the expiration date, sealing and consistency of puree.

          There are many manufacturers of meat puree on the shelves of supermarkets. Thus, the firms "Agusha", "Theme", "Babushkino Lukoshko", "Gerber", "Heinz", "FrutoNyanya", "HIPP" provide us with a wide choice of flavors of baby food with beef.

          Canned mashed potatoes with meat can be seen in the following flavors: “beef with liver”, “vegetables with beef”, “veal with beef”, “beef with carrots”, “potatoes with beets and beef”, “zucchini with beef”, “chicken with beef”, “beef puree with buckwheat and carrots”.

          For the first feeding, you should choose pure beef puree. It can be mixed with breast milk, so it will be easier for the baby to accept meat.

          Learn more