Even as a third time mom, I am still occasionally discovering products that make me wonder where in the hell they have been my entire parenting life. Sometimes it turns out they have been right in my own closet.
Take the baby food grinder, for example. Someone gave me this nifty grinder sometime in between my first and second babies, I think. To say that I am not the most mechanically inclined person would be a gross understatement, and anything with more than one moving part scares me. In addition to that, I was in a Baby Bunching haze without a spare moment to pee, more less read instructions on a grinder, so it went straight to the top shelf of the nursery closet unopened.
When I packed away the nursery stuff, it was almost scooped up by my very mechanically inclined (courtesy of his father) eldest son, who is fascinated with gadgets of all sorts. But since it was still unopened, I threw it in a box thinking maybe I would unload it at the preschool's consignment sale in the fall.
When Baby #3 arrived, it bounced from the storage box to to a box of toys to a box on the changing table and finally actually ended up in a kitchen cabinet somehow. One day recently, I found myself with a baby who was pretty close to being ready for table food, the grinder, and 5 free minutes to peruse the directions. It turns out it was a cinch to "assemble", did not require batteries, and was dishwasher safe! Aside from not being mechanically inclined, I have an aversion to changing batteries and hand washing dishes, so score 10 points for the food grinder. Another 5 points for the fact that I saw one at Target later that same week and it was only $7!
It was super easy to use and I was able to quickly make a variety of foods suitable for baby, from peas, corn and carrots to a little homemade chicken noodle soup. The food grinder does not like pineapple, but it did siphon off the juice nicely for baby to enjoy a few spoonfuls. It was so easy to use that I wondered why it was again that I busted out the Cuisinart mini-processor to make homemade baby food for my first two? Talk about complicated and moving parts...ugh.
Unfortunately, the food grinder met a cruel fate in the form of my garbage disposal. Bent beyond repair, it has ceased to grind. This happened just 72 hours ago and I am missing my new best friend the grinder like I lost my right arm or something. Literally the ONLY reason I haven't dashed to Target to replace it is because of my tendency to turn a $7 errand at Target into a $90 one, so I have to pace myself on my Target trips.
I have a few products that I love to give new moms and the Munchkin baby food grinder has just made the list. Cheap, effective, and so easy to use even a sleep-addled Baby Buncher can figure it out - a winner in my book!
Hmmm...sounds like a good find.
My mom had a magic bullet that she wasn't using, so she sent it my way. It's pretty fool proof and dishwasher safe...plus everything is pretty easy to get out of the container. However, it is a little more that $7!
Posted by: Krystyn | Apr 01, 2009 at 12:22 PM
Wow! This is such a great idea. I am sure my wife would be delighted to know this.
Posted by: KC at Crib Sale | Apr 16, 2010 at 01:43 PM