My personal favorite in the grinder department.
I will never forget my first taste of jarred baby food as a parent. After my initial reaction, and after rinsing out my mouth, I felt deep guilt at having fed my precious child that putrid mush. It took awhile for the grinder to really catch on with me (I'm outrageously thick-headed). I was concerned with the clean-up and constantly dragging it everywhere I had to go. However, once I realized all of the benefits, I was hooked.
Now, I know that there are times when the jar is the only way to go. It is great in a pinch. The jar is also great when introducing brand new foods. It is easy to isolate new ingredients should a food allergy appear. However, once your "baby" isn't really a baby anymore, it is time to explore new flavors.
Once you have established that your child doesn't have any food sensitivities you can take samples from your own plate and grind them up for your little one. This helps him or her get adjusted to the new flavors. This can get a little tricky. If you are having chicken tacos you may want to just grab some chicken, cheese and a few bits of veggies to throw into the grinder. Skip the salsa since it could be too spicy for a fragile palate.
Grinding is cost-effective! No more coupon clipping for the best deals on baby food. The youngest member of the family is eating with the rest of the family. No more separate meals. My second child loves eating what we are eating at the table and meal time is suddenly a very social time for him. He just can't eat anything that isn't mushed up quite yet. For the next few months the grinder will be our centerpiece at the table.
I have spent time pureeing my own baby food. I used oatmeal, rice, different fruits and veggies. This was cheap, convenient and quick. I loved it when the kids were just beginning to eat, but they became bored with the bland flavors fairly quickly and this is when the grinder became my best friend. Sticking with unseasoned foods is really unnecessary after a certain point. When is the last time you ate a shake made of carrots and spinach with no salt or garlic powder? Well, you wouldn't eat a carrot/spinach shake-but you get my point. There will be more of making your own baby food to come.
Here is a link to Babies R Us's website. You will find my favorite grinder here:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2585711&CAWELAID=107502037
It is by far the least expensive and I love the fact that it is manual and small. It's relatively easy to clean and only takes one or two minutes to grind an entire tube of food, depending on what you are grinding. Have fun grinding away and leave some comments on foods you have had success with while using the grinder.
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