Organic freeze-dried apples?

[YouAreTheFocus]

My 19 mo old LOVES these freeze dried apples:

http://www.amazon.com/Brothers-ALL-Natural-Mickey-Crisps-0-35-Ounce-Pouches/dp/B001ULH7G8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1305570554&sr=8-5

We have picked them up on occasion from BRU and Old Navy and he just goes nuts over them. I have resisted buying a case b/c I don't want him eating non-organic apples on a regular basis.

Have you found organic freeze-dried apples? (Not bake-dried or crunch-dried, these are both too hard for him.) Thanks!

[boltfam]

These are a lot smaller pieces but are freeze-dried.

http://www.diapers.com/products/Little-Duck-Organics-Organic-Apple-Banana-Tiny-Fruits-39703

[Pepper]

You know, I usually buy organic apples for the kids to eat fresh. I wasn't too worried about the Brother's using non-organic apples since they peel them before they freeze-dry them. Sometimes I just NEED to have a pre-packaged, crunchy snack to carry along and those apples are about the best thing i've found :-)

[YouAreTheFocus]

Thanks for the replies!

boltfam--I've seen the Little Duck ones online, but never in store, so I was hesitant to buy. I've bought a few other brands that ended up being too hard. Do these break down easily?

Pepper--Does peeling the apple make a big difference? I wasn't sure what is a better/healthier snack--organic crackers or non-organic apples. In general I'd prefer fruit over crackers, of course :)

Anyone tried the Just Tomatoes, etc brand? In the reviews I've seen, it seems that some items are extremely hard, while some break down quite easily...

[boltfam]

Thanks for the replies!

boltfam--I've seen the Little Duck ones online, but never in store, so I was hesitant to buy. I've bought a few other brands that ended up being too hard. Do these break down easily?


Yes, they broke down very easily - not as easily as the puffs but as easily as i would expect for fruit. DD was 11 months when we first tried them, and she did pretty well with them.

I bought them for a long road trip and tried a couple when I was hungry. The taste wasn't anything wonderful but neither DD nor DS noticed. ;)

[mikala]

FWIW, the Brothers Apples probably come from China.

I haven't found a comparable alternative and we mostly just eat them as a rare novel treat for long car or airplane trips.

In another thread someone mentioned a bulk sales company that sells big tubs of the apples but I can't remember the name offhand.

[essnce629]

Not apples, but Trader Joes has freeze-dried bananas, blueberries, and mangos that DS2 loves and break down rather easily. They have strawberries too, but I don't buy them since they're not organic. I'm fine with the other fruits not being organic since they are "clean" fruits, but strawberries are part of the "dirty dozen."

[Nyfeara]

We've ordered from http://www.honeyvillegrain.com/
They offer small and large coffee can type packages of various freeze dried fruits and veggies. Read the descriptions and or look at the packaging on the site to see how the fruit is prepared (ie, the peaches are small cubes, strawberries are sliced, apples have the skin on & are larger cubes). We've been very happy with them.

TJ's has a decent assortment but our issue was when DS was younger and we hadn't yet tried shellfish or anything, the bags of freeze dried fruit were processed in a facility that processed shellfish and/or nuts (or something to that effect). It wasn't every type of fruit they offered, but some had that warning, so just a heads up if that's a concern.

[bcafe]

The Brothers fruit crisps from Costco (apple, pear, strawberry/banana) come from China. I will not be buying them again.