This truly is so disgusting.
Our baby Linden started eating "solid food" when she was four months old - mainly rice cereal, and at five months moved beyond rice cereal to a variety of foods...beginning with peas.
For the most part, we make most of her "solid foods" with the exception of the baby cereals...of which she has rice, barley, and oatmeal.
We have bought Gerber brand, but the most recent purchase had the most disgusting thing on it...a recipe on the back for Garden Vegetable Meat Loaf.
This is not a baby meat loaf recipe...no, it's a regular meat loaf recipe made with baby food.
I've uploaded the picture on the box above...if you can read the recipe, you'll notice this recipe is made with traditional meat loaf fair...ground beef, eggs, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic.
This recipe has two unique (disgusting) additions...Gerber Baby Food Green Beans (1 3.5 oz container) and 1 Gerber Baby Food Garden Vegetables Container (1 3.5 oz container) and 1 cup of Gerber Oatmeal cereal.
This is disgusting. And messed up. The other boxes have advertisements for Gerber baby food bowls and info about Gerber vitamins. This recipe on the back of the Gerber Oatmeal cereal box is completely unappealing and simply does not make sense to me. What were they thinking??
19 comments:
That reminds me of a specific type of hospital food called "mechanical soft." Basically, they purée meatloaf and corn and potatoes and whathaveyou, then press them into these molds so that they hold a shape vaguely related to what they would have looked like before they got ground to bits. It's supposed to fool you into thinking you aren't actually eating an adult equivalent of baby food. It doesn't work.
I think you should make it. And eat it. And blogs about it.
That is really funny. I can't imagine that there's all that many people who've ever actually made that recipe for the family.
But, on the flip side, what exactly makes it disgusting? I mean, maybe inefficient and overpriced, but disgusting? You feed it to the baby, don't you?
i'm with william there. we make recipes with much weirder stuff all the time, don't we? i mean, try garlic on its own.
then again, i loathe meatloaf...
I have made this meatloaf recipe and thought it was good. The Gerber food was substituted with more cost efficient food. I cooked frozen veggies and ground them in the food processor. Then, used regular oatmeal. It turned out very tasty and my 18 month old twins love it.
This recipe was most likely created using leftover baby food items. For example, the ones hidden in the back of your pantry & found once your child has moved on to more solid foods. I found this website searching for recipes that use Gerber Baby Cereal. Since the cereal is still good & healthy for my famly, I did not want to just throw it away. At least now I have an idea for using it as a binder, instead of over-processed & unhealthy bread crumbs.
I agree with william and the others. There's nothing 'disgusting' with using baby foods in recipes, if it's good enough for your kids, then why not you. We make all of our baby food, aside from the cereals, ourselves and add them to a lot of grown up dishes as well. Adding some puree'd spinach to your pasta sauce won't change the flavor in the least and adds nutrients that we all need more of.
Ok... I will admit I HAVE made the Gerber Meatloaf. It really wasn't too bad, just like regular meatloaf in texture and shape and didn't appear to BE made with baby food and from the looks of it, one would NEVER know (i've hear of other mom's sneaking a baby food jar of carrots of mixed veggies into pasta sauce). I wanted to get rid of the rest of a box of cereal and figured it would do the trick. It's REALLY bland, but the kids went for it. But then, I guess that's the point... I wouldn't recommend it when company's coming but for 2 toddlers.. it worked...
I grew up in the "baby food capitol" of Fremont, MI where Gerber baby food is made. Every year there is an annual festival called Gerber Days. One of the events is a cooking contest using what else? Gerber baby food! This is very possibly one of the "winning" recipes from that contest.
You should not be so quick to judge. I made this for my 12 month old baby who I could not get to eat any vegetables. He loves this! It's his favorite.
I am SO GLAD my fairly picky daughter can't read your blog, otherwise it might really skew her thoughts on this meal, which she LOVES. The box mentions that its for baby, but good enough for the whole family. You bet I wouldn't eat it, but only because I know it was made with baby food. She is a baby, so of course she's going to like it, it's all she knows!
I'm making meatloaf with baby oatmeal cereal instead of regular oatmeal b/c that's what I have. I'm not telling the older kids the ingredients and don't think they'll notice. Adding the other pureed veggies seems like a good way to 'hide' nutrients in the food too, but I think I'll skip it b/c it might come out too mushy.
The meatloaf isn't actually that bad. It's a little softer than adult meatloaf, but if a baby is good at chewing it's a perfect table food.
I actually came across your blog because I was trying to find this recipe, so thanks!
There is nothing disgusting about this. I am actually making this tonight, not this exact recipe but my own variation. My daughter is 12 months old and no longer interested in normal baby food so instead of letting all that baby food go to waste I incorporate it into other meals for the whole family. Maybe you should try it before smashing it
I used my own version of this recipe to get rid of all the baby food I have left after my daughter started to want table foods. All it is, is mixing pureeded canned veggies in the meat loaf. The rice or oatmeal cereal in it is just that..rice and oatmeal just in a less noticeable form. Yes people may frown upon canned veggies but any vegetables is better than none. I myself prefer fresh and frozen but I have a child that prefers some canned
vegetables over frozen/fresh so instead of just not giving them to her I just give them how she will eat
them.
I hate how you say it is discussing yet never tired it.
That's just ignorant.
The post is very informative. It is a pleasure reading it. I have also bookmarked you for checking out new posts. I wanted to thank you for this special read.
What's so disgusting about it? One of my friends uses just the carrots and peas and other vegetables (babyfood) in hers and it's the best meat loaf I have Ever tasted!
That you are feeding baby from the particular results of Gerber's plastic-type material child food storage containers, and also you look, quite carelessly, in the bottom of the bathtub. In addition to, on your utter horror and dismay, the phone number of which greets an individual can be, keep your breathing, 7.
For active mothers out there, you should consider creating a delightful plate high in nutritive value. Meatloaf is one of those healthier dishes that you should try creating for your loved ones members. Here are some easy dishes for meatloaf that you can get ready with so much convenience.
Post a Comment