I was provided by the manufacturer with a small selection of Yummi Pouches to facilitate my review.  As always, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Today’s original plan was to review these Yummi Pouches in the morning, and then later in the afternoon share how I choose activities for our unit studies.  Unfortunately, half a dozen administrative things fell apart around our household today (overcharges, malfunctioning internet/phone, etc.) and I’ve spent the whole day so far putting out “fires.” (And then I burned my hand – through the pot holder – trying to take my lunch out of the oven, which ultimately resulting in accidentally sloshing water all over my food…ever have those days when you’d like to just go back to bed and try again tomorrow?)

So…sorry!  Hopefully you’ll get the unit study information tomorrow!  In the meantime…Yummi Pouches.

About Yummi Pouches

I thought I had more photos,  but they seem to have disappeared.  Part of the “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day” syndrome, I guess.  Yummi Pouches are reusable food pouches – like the baby food pouches you get at the store, except washable and refillable.  (They are BPA-free, phthalate-free, and recyclable.)

These come in several different configurations, and each design has its own strengths.

The white one you see above is the mini 2.5 oz pouch.  It has the simplest, most straightforward design – and the advantage of having the spout on the top of the pouch so it can be stored on racks designed for this purpose.  The reason it doesn’t look much smaller than the green one on the top-right (which is 6 oz.) is that this one has no gusset – it’s completely flat.  The Mini also has the opening on the bottom.  I haven’t had any issues with this leaking, but it makes me a little nervous.

On the upper-right, you see one of the Brights.  I believe these are exactly the same as the Classic 6-oz pouches, except the Classics have a basic design (like the Mini above) and the Brights have these fun, colorful prints.  This design has a gusset on the bottom, which is how it can hold twice as much in what initially doesn’t look like much more space.  Because the gusset is along the bottom the opening obviously can’t be, so this design opens across the top and the spout is moved off to the side.

I feel much more comfortable with the opening on the top of a pouch.  It just seems more secure.  And the spout works just fine on the side.  The only downside to this design is that you can’t readily store it in a pouch storage rack.

Then there’s the Sport pouch.  This one is designed exactly like the Classic and the Brights, except it’s extra-long, enabling it to hold 10 ounces.  So this is good for the big kids who want a bit more to eat!

What Do You Put in Them?

I had this brilliant idea to use them for small, dry foods as you see in the photo at the top of this post.  We always get sunflower kernels in those little pouches at the gas station when we’re going on a trip, and they’re great, but once they’re open, they’re open, and you spill them everywhere.  So I thought this would be a great solution.

Well, it sort of works.  With something as tiny as sunflower kernels, it will technically work, but you have to shake the pouch really hard to get them out.  See, there’s this little “divider” in the spout.  I assume it’s to keep the spout from collapsing – especially when youngsters decide to chew on them – but I didn’t account for this and the fact that it splits the orifice in half.  For liquids, that makes no difference.  For solid items like this, it does.  So that was mostly a fail on my part.

But there is still plenty you can include.  Applesauce.  Other fruit purées.  Smoothies.  Yogurt.  Make your own or you can transfer it from other containers.  (Even with baby foods – if it’s easier for baby to eat it from the pouch, you can take storebought baby food right from the container and transfer it to one of these.)  Even if your item needs to stay cold for a while, you should still be good to go, because there’s even a neoprene Pouch Cover available to help keep your Yummi Pouch insulated for a while.

The folks at Yummi Pouch have provided a few tips for filling and cleaning your pouches.  (They’re top-rack dishwasher safe, so that’s your first cleaning tip!)  Save 10% on your order at the Yummi Pouch website (any of the Yummi Pouch product links you see throughout this post!) with coupon code PARTY4YP.