My Favorite Kid Product Ever

When I registered for baby gifts before the birth of my son, I wish someone would have told me about the Beaba Babycook. 

Forget swings, bouncers and burpcloths.  Oh sure, those things are wonderful; some are even necessary. But this is the best baby item you will ever buy.

I bought my Beaba after my dad read a review on it and sent me a link.  $170 for a baby food maker?  Ummm, yeah.  And I filed the email away for months without another thought.  Until my son started to expand his culinary scope beyond milk.

Strolling through the baby food aisle, I was shocked by the sheer nastiness of the veggies and fruits in the little glass jars.  Sodium, sugar, additives...these are not things that my child should be eating.  To be fair, some of the packaged stuff is better than others, and it came in very handy when we traveled or didn't have access to a refrigerator.  But nothing you can buy on the grocery store shelves is as good or rewarding as making the food yourself.  At least that's what I found out after I skeptically purchased the Beaba at Williams Sonoma.

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Even after taking home the shiny little green machine, I figured it would be one of those appliances that you use twice and set on a shelf, never to be used again.  I started making applesauce, and the machine is so simple to use that I quickly graduated to pea purees, meat and veggie mixes, and a blend of every kind of fruit you can imagine.  My son absolutely loved the food; even the veggies went down easy.  I've continued to use the Beaba through the birth of my daughter, and still use it now that the kids are one and two.

The Beaba Babycook is a fabulous little machine, and the nutritional benefits it provides my little ones are completely worth the initial investment.   For those of you that make your own baby food, what are your favorite recipes?