Our neighborhood is a buzz! After years of trying to have a baby, one of the couples in the development in Raleigh we call home is expecting triplets — yes triplets! How exciting is that? Our little neighborhood of about thirty something homes is mostly made up of older couples and parents with older children. Many of us are empty-nesters.  Our neighbors three little boys (yes, all boys – how great is that?) are expected around Thanksgiving time and we are all ready to welcome them into the world!

I gave great thought as to what would be the best, most helpful gift for a new mom, especially a new soon-to-be mom of triplets! My new cookbook You Never Cook Alone was definitely at the top of my list. This soon-to-be new mom, would certainly benefit from reading the funny and heartwarming stories about the importance of family meal time and how this practice or commitment makes for a successful family. I decided to wait until she was on bed rest. I think that will be a good time to give her my book as a gift. She’ll have plenty of time to read then.

In thinking about families cooking and eating together (no matter what ages), I remembered the beautiful Brenda Berg, president, CEO, mom, and founder of Scandinavian Child or SCI. About two years ago on the My Carolina Today show I had featured Brenda and some of the BEABA Babycook products on a Cooking with Elise segment. Page Crawford, one the co-hosts of the show, was expecting her second child, so a baby week was planned in her honor. As I interviewed Brenda, I was amazed and wished that these products had been available when my (now young men) were babies!

After viewing that television segment, many people purchased these products and contacted me to tell me how much they loved them!

You can watch that segment here: Now tell me, how adorable are those products? What they didn’t show during the segment was that I actually ate some of the baby food. It was really, really good!

What exactly is the BEABA Babycook? And why do I love it so much:

    • it’s a steamer, blender, warmer and defroster in one compact appliance.
    • it steams vegetables, fruits, meat and fish in less than 15 minutes, preserving vitamins and flavors.
    • it purees or blends foods to the desired consistency.
    • it quickly reheats or defrosts precooked foods.
    • is BPA free.
    • has recipes included.

The BEABA Babycook is a four-in-one-product that helps you steam cook, blend, defrost, and even reheat! It has a 2 cup capacity and cooks in less than 15 minutes for most foods. A small recipe book is included, but I was really impressed by the Babycook cookbook!

I was also super impressed at how easy the Babycook was to use. If you want to steam and puree carrots, for example, pour some water into the heating unit, put your carrots in the steamer basket in the bowl, put the top on, and turn the dial to steam to cook. Come back 15 minutes later to take the basket out of the bowl (be careful, use the provided spatula to lift it out), and put the carrots directly into the bowl. Put the lid back on the bowl and turn the dial to puree. Voila! You’re done!

Some folks make baby food on the stove in the steamer basket and then puree it in their food processor.  With the Beaba, you can basically set it up, turn on the steam and come back when its done to puree it. This is much easier and foolproof and you only have one thing to clean. Once you play with it, you can figure out how to make almost any kind of baby food in it.

Not only is this so healthy for your children, but think of all the money you can save with making your own baby food at home! And the biggest plus of all is that you will know EXACTLY what is going into your baby’s food and you can easily make 7 servings (of 1/4 cup each) at a time to freeze. The steamer function is great to defrost as well.

I love the silicone multi -portion trays ($20 each).

Once children can eat solids parents can make all kinds of delicious food for them like apple puree, chicken with apple puree, carrot puree, blueberry puree and banana puree.  Use the storage containers to freeze then by simply popping the portions out of the multi-portion tray and placing  into sealable plastic bags or container. Just remember to label what you made.

Now you can see why I thought this would be the perfect gift for my neighbor! Stephanie was so surprised when she walked into what she thought was a simple Saturday lunch with friends to find dozens of loved ones from all over the country there for a surprise baby shower!  Stephanie was also so excited when she opened all of her gifts. To my surprise Stephanie had her eye on this product. Hurray for BEABA and for Scandinavian Child for introducing me to them! For more wonderfully thoughtfully-made products visit Scandinavian Child.