It’s no secret that I don’t always cook things from scratch for my kids. I frequently use off-the-shelf, shop made stuff as frankly I don’t have the time or energy some days to make them fully homemade meals. I was doing my online grocery shop the other day and realised I tend to always buy the same things for my kids. I thought it would be useful to show you what my favourite Off The Shelf foods are. Where possible I do try to get sugar or salt free items or as low sugar/salt as possible (but sometimes honestly you just can’t get such options) so I hope these are helpful.

NB: As I am based in the UK most of these products and links are UK centric. However I am sure most countries do similar versions of these products so I hope my non UK based friends also find this useful.

Cereal: 

Bear Alphabites 

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This cereal is refined sugar free and comes in regular or Cocoa flavour so my kids think it’s a proper chocolate cereal. They actually have it more often as a snack without milk than at breakfast.

Bitesize Shredded Wheat – I rarely buy the branded version of this as most supermarkets have their own generic one. This cereal is completely sugar free and amazing for little ones as if you soak them in some warm milk they get lovely and soft and perfect for little ones to pick up.

Weetabix (or generic wheat biscuits) – again I rarely buy the branded version – all supermarkets have their own versions and they seem to be pretty similar in taste. They do have sugar but I love them as not only does The Boy have it most mornings for his breakfast but it is also great in recipes. My Yummy Chewy Biscuits are one example of how useful Weetabix is. Little Lady won’t eat Weetabix in a bowl but will happily eat lots of these biscuits.

Snacks:

Bamba

Bamba is honestly one of my kids favourite things to eat. In simple words it’s basically peanut butter flavored puffs. They are refined sugar free but do have some salt. Both my kids would happily have a bag for every meal and I always have a couple of bags in my car and handbag.

Kiddylicious Crisps

These lovely “crisps” are delicious and I often have them for a snack myself. They are refined sugar free but do have a small amount of maltose in them which makes them crunchy. The Boy will only eat the apple ones but Little Lady loves them all. Kiddylicious also make other kid friendly snacks but these are definitely our favourites.

Ella’s Kitchen Prune and Banana Fruit Pouches:

Even though Little Lady is now 2 I still buy these two pouches. She has one prune pouch a day to help “regulate” things and the Banana pouches are so useful for baking when you either don’t have bananas to hand or your bananas aren’t ripe enough to mash. When she was in the early weaning stages I used to always have a banana pouch in my bag as it made a quick and easy snack or dinner option. Also bananas aren’t really suitable for storing once mashed so these are a great option.

Store cupboard:

Reduced Sugar and Salt Baked Beans

My kids both love baked beans and they tend to have them with a jacket potato and cheese or on toast once a week. Regular baked beans are very high in sugar and salt (probably why they taste so yummy!) so for the kids I buy the low sugar and salt ones. I usually buy Heinz but we also really like Sainsbury’s own version too.

Reduced Salt and Sugar Tomato Ketchup

Yes I admit it! My kids LOVE tomato ketchup. I am working on a homemade version but until then they have the stuff from the squeezy tube! As is the case with baked beans, regular ketchup has lots of sugar and salt so I buy either Heinz own reduced sugar and salt ketchup or supermarket own brand (the kids like Morrisons’ one).

Sugar (and salt free) Peanut Butter

Lots of my recipes use peanut butter and the kids love peanut butter sandwiches or on toast so I always buy Sun Pat’s sugar free version and when I am feeling very virtuous I buy Meridian’s sugar and salt free one.

Yogurts / fromage frais:

Although my kids eat their fair share of sugary foods one thing I have always been completely against is giving them sugar loaded yogurts. I have bought them both refined sugar free yogurts from birth and now, at nearly 7 and 2, I still only buy them. There are sadly very few sugar free yogurts on the market but there are 3 that I buy every time I do a grocery shop.

Rachels Organics Taste Explorers  and My First Yoghurts.

These yoghurts are really yummy and come in really lovely flavours. The First ones are a single fruit flavour whereas the Taste Explorers have 2 fruits combined. Even at nearly 7 The Boy still loves these yogurts which he has been having since 6 months old.

Little Yeos Fromage Frais

These little fromage frais are perfect for little babies as not only are they refined sugar free but they also come in little pots which are great for little appetites. They have lots of flavours including plain and also come in squeeze pouches but I think they make too much mess so I stick to the pots!

Be careful though as the makers of these (Yeo Valley) make a big range of kids yogurts and fromage frais but these ones are the only refined sugar ones they do.