I bought Gerber Graduates Lil' Meals Pasta Shells & Cheese for my one year old in an attempt to introduce him to toddler-friendly textures and flavors. I thought the size of the small shells and flavor of a cheese sauce would be perfect for my little guy, but not only did he not like it, when I tasted it, I wanted to spit it out. Quality of Ingredients After tasting this myself, I'm not sure why anyone would buy this a second time. It's disgusting. The "cheese sauce" is chalky and gross, not resembling cheese sauce at all. Safety The pasta shells are all stuck together inside each other, which makes it really hard to feed little mouths. While the shells are not what I would consider "large", they aren't as small as I was hoping they would be since this meal is specifically made for toddlers.

this2shallpass19

Camp Lejeune, NC

There is nothing like feeding your child from a brand you trust.  I absolutely love the gerber graduates meals and so does my toddler.  My toddler usually eats what we eat for dinner, but for meals on the go or nights I don't get around to cooking, my son loves these meals. His favorite is the meat spaghettio meal.  They offer a variety of different options including mac and cheese, chicken meals and ravioli.  They are easy for him to feed himself and it's been great having him teach himself how to feed himself with the gerber graduate meals.   I love that I can easily throw one of the gerber graduate meals in the diaper bag for when we are eating on the run or at a retaurant.  They taste better when heated, but can be eaten straight out of the container for those rare times when you can't get to a microwave.   We've also found out that our son loves to play with the round plastic lids.  So we clean them and save them for him to play with.  Not only are they nutritious meals, but they provide entertainment as well!

daisy12081

Belcamp, MD

I used this at mall and every plcae that i take my child. and you actually ask any restaurant if they have microwave and you can ask them to warm it up for you. but be careful the restuarant microwaves are very powerful, so in case you want it to be warm for 30 seconds, in the restaurant microwave will do the job in hafl the time. ask the resturant how powerful the microvae is.

priyakiran

Bellevue, WA

I couldn't wait for my daughter to start table foods so I could introduce these to her. I actually think we went out and bought about twelve of them to start. Our daughter did eat all twelve containers the first month we introduced these Gerber Graduates Lil' Meals Pasta Shells. We liked how the meals had a homestyle feel in some of their varieties of products and that they were a great beginner food for starting on solids. However, as our daughter got older and her sense of taste developed, she grew tired of the bland flavor and would no longer eat these. In addition, I believe as she older she realized how badly they smell and how slimy their texture is in hand. As a busy mom, I appreciated the convenient microwaveable container and how quick and easy it was to prepare. However, they are very expensive for what you get and are unpleasant in smell and taste. I just think our daughter developed her own sense of taste and these pasta shells stopped agreeing with her.

brebre21

Nampa, ID

These are quick and easy to make. My baby loves them. They are easy to pack up and take with you on trips. They heat up in less than 30 seconds. They are easy for toddler to chew and swallow. my baby is 14 months old and does well eating these. Although I don't recommend making these a daily thing for them. But they are good for when you are in a hurry.

mkatherine04

Council Bluffs, IA

I tried these, thinking that they would be a great, easy way to have something for my son in a pinch when I'm not able to cook a meal on the spot.  They are super convenient, just 30 seconds in the microwave and you're good to go.  However, my son hated it, and he's generally a fan of mac and cheese.  Upon tasting it, I understand why he doesn't like it...it tastes terrible!  Aside from the taste, the shells are just dripping in goopy cheese sauce.  It's like a cheese soup in these little containers.  They aren't super expensive, but you are definitely paying for the convenience of being able to zap something for 30 seconds and have it ready to go.  The chicken pasta one seems a little better and healthier, so I would definitely go that route if you want the convenience of the product, but something with a little more substance and some protein (the chicken).  I won't be buying this product again.

lvnlife924

Coronado, CA

These little pasta pick ups are the best!  They come in the perfect serving size and my son just loves them.  I was originally giving him some Chef Boy are Dee raviolis with the sauce washed off because it was so messy.  Now I give him these.  I like that the pasta's are soaked in broth and not messy sauce.  My guy is still little, so I need to cut these and these cut well so easily.  I think Gerber has some great graduates foods and they are so convenient to take to my child's day care for lunches as well as when we are on the go.  You just can't get better than Gerber for figuring out what little children will eat in an easy to serve form.  The variety is wonderful and I am very impressed with this pasta food. I only wish I could find coupons for Gerber graduates.  I would probably buy a lot more of them.  It's just that with a busy lifestyle, cutting up table food into little pieces is so time consuming and that's why I love this product! 

amberanne

Carson City, NV

I bought a couple of the gerber graduates pasta meals for my daughter because we were making a long move across the country and I wanted her to be eating healthy, well-balanced meals along the way.  I purchased the vegetable ravioli, chicken ravioli, and the chicken and rice dinner.  I think that the concept of having pre-made meals that are packed with nutrition is great, but they were not what I expected.  I figured these would be good on the go meals, but they were really messy and the sauce gets everywhere.  I also didn't realize that you have to drain the sauce, which makes the lid a mess.  The lid also fell off one of the times I was draining.  I also thought they would be good finger foods, but again, the sauce made a mess.  Another problem I had was the portion size.  Maybe my daughter doesn't eat as much as a normal toddler, but these meals would have lasted three meals!  There was far too much food for a single serving.  Over all, it's a good concept and I think would work well as an at home everyday meal, but the convenience of any type of travel is not there.  Not worth the money and I won't be buying these again.

heatherkeever

Oak Harbor, WA

**Gerber Graduates Lil' MealsPasta & Cheese Sauce**   **What is it?Gerber Graduates Lil' Meals** are meals for toddlers that are microwaveable, fast and convenient.  There are different varieties such as turkey stew, chicken stew, vegetable stew, pasta and meat sauce, etc. They are easy for toddlers, with few or many teeth alike, to chew and swallow.  They also do not contain any preservatives, which is nice.**My Viewpoint!**I have been feeding one of these to one of my toddlers daily.  I could never stand the smell of them and finally tried a bite.    The only word that comes to mind is "Ew".  It wasn't good at all.  I don't know how kids can eat this stuff!  The texture is so slimy. I understand that is what makes it easier for the toddlers to chew and swallow but still, I wonder if the Gerber people taste test these foods themselves?I will continue to feed these to the kids because that's what their parents send with them for lunches but I can't wait until the discover the blue box macaroni and cheese!!  Won't they be excited?!

CrystaBush

Detroit, MI

My son seems to really like the shells and cheese and the ravioli but you cannot leave the container anywhere near a child.  He bites the plastic off which comes off very easy and in small pieces.  I have tried to leave the container on his try (there is a small part that folds out just out of his reach) and he still manages to get to this.  I try not to give him all the ravioli because they become projectiles at some point.

Snugglebunnyac

Cleveland, OH