I really hate those pouches (so expensive and so much packaging waste!), so we did the same thing. I also mashed/pureed things we were eating (lentil curry, black bean soup, etc) to give some more variety in flavor and nutrients. And we started introducing soft whole foods (stuff like scrambled eggs or beans) pretty early on also. In addition to saving money in the baby food stage, it saves us money now (almost age 3) as our kid has never gotten accustomed to sucking food out of a pouch. I see so many kids of a similar age to ours STILL eating food on the go from pouches, and have heard a few parents say that applesauce in a pouch is one of the only fruits/vegetables their kid will eat. Meanwhile our son will eat stuff like cucumber slices, frozen peas, nuts, hard-boiled eggs, and whole fruit for snacks.