Creative Ways to.use up Excess Jarred Baby Food

Yeah, it says on the WIC site you can't give away. Honestly, though...you aren't harming a sole by giving them away. Seriously. Give them to a food bank, or a family in need. You would be helping someone who is struggling, probably already using WIC, but it's not enough for the family.

I am a stickler about rules and laws, but this is a rule I'd have no problem breaking. Just my opinion. They aren't tracking you or the food. They have to say that, so someone doesn't try to sell under the guise of giving it away. They don't actually care if you give it to someone who needs it.

my kids wouldnt eat teh meat alone.. but mixed with a veggie they would eat it.. -- doggies and kitties love teh meat baby food.

i used to work at a grocery store. vet office would come in and buy baby food meat by the case.. cause sick dogs and cats would eat it..

I know there is a recipe for carrot cake with baby food carrots.

I would donate it to a food pantry.. I know it is agains the rules but i woudl rather see it feed a hungry baby.

Pretty sure there aren't any WIC detectives following you. Lol. I would just give them away.

Put it in soup and stews.

When I got WIC a few years ago, I found the same thing. Actually, I hardly used any of the baby food at all, because I preferred to make my own. I stockpiled jars the first month and then basically quit using the baby food portion of my WIC because I just didn't have any need for it. I think we used most of the cereal (because I would mix it with other stuff), and some of the jars of fruits/veggies when we went out.

Another thing that I could never use was all the juice. I do not give my kids juice, except as a special treat. I would much rather have gotten more money for fresh fruits and vegetables. Again, I just didn't get all the juice I was allowed to get, because we didn't drink it.

Whatever you don't use within the month you lose, but you'll have more the next month. If you can't use something on the list, just stop buying it (using your WIC on it). Let the program keep the funds to use for other families.

Dog or Cat food with the meat.

While I wouldn't want you to get into trouble with WIC rules, if you can't get them to reduce the amount of baby food your getting, I would quietly find someone who is also in need. If the jars aren't labled WIC, you could put them in a food bank.

Maybe the meats and veggies could be added to soups or stews? Or even added to spaghetti sauces?

I would probably just give it to someone who needs it. Or the local food bank.

I agree -- you could donate them at a canned food drive (I'm sure lots are coming up as Thanksgiving approaches) and nobody would know.

Or throw the meat/veggie ones into spaghetti sauce, chili, soups, etc.

My mother makes an awesome carrot cake with baby food, not sure of the recipe but you could maybe google it. At babyzone.com they recommend using the meat ones in your stews

The veggies you can put into different types of food. There is a cookbook that will teach you how to hide veggies and fruits in Mac and cheese and breads and different types of food. The Sneaky Chef is the cookbook that will tell you how/ show you how to do that.

Try, I've never done this, mixing it with some spices....garlic, onion, poultry seasoning and spreading it on cracker or make a dip out of it . Maybe top with a little cheese or a veggie. I don't know worth a try... just experiment. I would also like to commend you for doing the right thing. I know lots of people would probably try to sell it or toss it. You are setting a good example for all. :)

you do NOT HAVE TO USE ALL OF THE WIC COUPONS, in ohio you get coupons to use to buy the baby food formula cereals milk and such. you do not have to use every single thing.. if your baby doesnt like a certain thign DONT get it, my daughter hated the meat so we just didnt get it. she only liked oatmeal cereal thats what we got. she liked certain fruits and veggies over others so thats what we got.

I would just donate them unless you feel your going to use them. If they don't expire for another few years just keep them for back up incase something would happened.( you get off wic,storm,power loss etc) You never know! Most of jar and can stuff don't expire for maybe 2-3 years later. I use to mix some fruit/vegetables together with baby cereal to get my to eat it.(i know nasty.lol) Most times it would work. ;) Hope that helps!

You can use most of the fruit baby food to replace oil in baked goods. If something calls for 1/2 cup of veggie oil, dump in half a cup of a baby food fruit - applesauce, carrots, etc.

For veggies, throw them in with casseroles, etc.

Can you return them?

i give mine away to folks who need them
why cant you do that?

Since it is against t the federal law to give away WIC food I think you are doing some good things. I looked at your profile, I assume you're not still one child and one on the way...lol since this little one is eating baby food.

I think that as the baby gets older their taste buds will change. They will eventually like meat but it will most likely be beyond the date I would use it at all.

I suggest you make soups and stews then add a couple of the jars of baby food to the broth to make it richer and more savory. You can always add them to the actual foods too. Like if you make Sweet Potato Casserole for Thanksgiving you could use a couple of the jars of Sweet Potatoes in it instead of milk or some other fluid to make it creamy.

I know that the guidelines are very strict about how WIC items can be used but if you truly don't need them you don't have to take them. I think that if you simply fill the other items and don't use that voucher for the baby food then you just lose that food. You can talk to the health department too and find out if there is any way to use the items. They often have the meetings you go to before getting the vouchers where they give recipes and instructions on using new items.

They could be a great resource.

As far as I can tell by your previous questions and profile your kids are about 4 and almost 1. So your vouchers will change drastically once the baby turns 1 year old. Then it will be the regular whole milk, cheese, peanut butter, eggs, dry cereal, fresh fruit or veggies, bread, whole grain stuff, all sorts of new things. So it will be very different in a couple of months.

Baby food has very very very little nutrition in it to start with and then the jar and lights they are exposed to even just sitting in their jar deletes even more of the nutrients out of them. So throwing them away might even be an option to me. I called either Del Monte or Gerber about some stage 3 baby food a friend had given me. It was out of date by a week or two at most. The person who I was talking to told me it was not any good, there were no nutrients left in it, that is was basically flavored goo at this point.

I asked her why and she told me that baby food is only to be a tool to teach a baby to chew and swallow, not for nutrition purposes. Mom's are supposed to feed their babies breast milk or formula first and foremost the entire first year. It is complete nutrition and they don't really need anything else.

The baby food industry gets wealthy off parents who think their babies need to eat a ton of baby food then they give the formula or breast milk when the babies are thirsty or want to suck. It's backwards. They need the formula or breast milk first then the eat a few bites of food.

Your baby is old enough at 11 or 12 months to go to table food primarily instead of baby food at all. I just wouldn't get any more of it. If you have another 3 months of infant WIC just tell the worker you have enough baby food and don't need that voucher anymore, they may have a substitute item that you'd be able to use more.