If you're a grandma, chances are you figure you can get along just fine without any sort of special equipment for making baby food. I'm a grandma, and I thought the very same thing. Until, that is, I received free for review a Baby Brezza, "the one step baby food maker."

When contacted by PR folks suggesting it for review, I thought, "Heck, I'll review it for all those grandmas raising their grandkids and all those who provide care for the little ones on a regular basis. Then I'll just give it to my daughter to make goodies for Bubby and Mac and any yet-to-be-born additions to the family."

But...there's no way am I giving up my Baby Brezza now that I've tried it. This thing is so cool. And it does so much more than make baby food.

Baby food making is its primary function, of course, and it does that with flying colors, thanks to the Baby Brezza's ability to steam and blend food. Or just steam. Or just blend. Peas are one of a baby's first foods, so I decided to first try out the little appliance making peas, which would require both the steaming and the blending functions.

Following the included instructions, I added water to the steam tank:

 

Added my ingredients (two cups of frozen peas):

 

Then pressed the steam + blend option and chose the correct steam time according to the instructions (20 minutes for two cups of frozen peas). Then I pressed the start button.

Soon the peas were steaming, just as they were supposed to.

When the 20 minutes were up, the blend function ran for 30 seconds. That wasn't quite enough, so I pressed and held the blend button to blend a bit more.

That was a fair consistency for, maybe, the second step in introducing foods to baby. So I hit blend for a wee bit longer to squish it all up as smooth as could be for a first food.

 

I must admit, I tasted the peas. They were hot. And pretty darn good, actually. (Though my husband wasn't willing to try, of course, but that's just because he doesn't like peas, squished or non-squished.) I think any baby would be pleased with their peas from the Baby Brezza, despite PawDad's aversion.

It was clear the Baby Brezza would be an awesome little appliance for any mother or grandmother who wanted to provide cost-effective and healthy homemade foods for her little ones. I used to do a similar thing years and years ago with a blender, freezing the foods in an ice cube tray to pop out for my youngest. Let me tell ya, the Baby Brezza is far, far simpler and quicker. One of the big bonuses is that it not only blends but it heats the food at the same time. So simple to make food for baby.

But what about making food for older kids? Or for adults? With a retail price of $99, I thought it would be great if the Baby Brezza could be used long after baby is done with the pureed goods.

Turns out the Baby Brezza does indeed work well—fantastic, in fact—for creating foods for older kids as well as adults. I watched two videos on the Baby Brezza website that gave ideas for healthy foods for older kids and quick homemade goodies for all ages. Than I came up with an idea of my own.

I decided to make a smoothie. Using spinach, mango, and a big ol' dollop of honey—a concoction of ingredients I had on hand and one that would require only the blend function of the Baby Brezza.

I added one cup of baby spinach leaves to the bowl of the Baby Brezza. along with one whole mango, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces (as recommended for all foods made in the Baby Brezza):

 

I added the honey:

 

Put on the lid and pressed blend a few times until my smoothie was as smooth as I desired.

 

Viola! A delicious and nutritious smoothie similar to those expensive little food pouches kids enjoy with a straw—for far less than the cost of those, to be sure.

 

I'm already considering the many things I could mix up in my Baby Brezza. Guacamole is definitely next!

What I love about the Baby Brezza: As a grandma, I have no doubt the baby-food maker will come in handy for making smoothies for Bubby and Mac and homemade first-foods for little ones to come. Plus, when the boys are visiting, the steam function will be a super way to make veggies for meals. Heck, it'll be a great way to make veggies for my husband and me when there aren't any kids around. One of the videos I watched even said it's great for steaming fish fillets, so I'll be trying that, too.

I love the small profile of the Baby Brezza. It takes up only minimal space on my counter top and is within easy reach of my cook top for blending up items to add to recipes. I'm thinking pesto or spaghetti sauce with fresh tomatoes (which can be steamed before blending) to top pasta, for starters. It's the perfect size for two—my husband and me—or for just one person, making it a great gadget for most any grandparent household. It can be used daily for the grown-up residents, then will be ready to blend, steam or both when the grandkids visit.

Brezza apparently means breeze in Italian, and there's no doubt this little appliance makes blending and steaming foods for babies and more a true breeze.

What I didn't like so much: The only complaint I have about the Baby Brezza—and this is a very small complaint, just because I felt obligated to come up with one—was that the instructions that accompany the gadget mention in a few places to add 160ml of water to the water tank (for steaming) and to use the marking on the bowl for easy guidance in filling that tank with 160ml. Well, the marking on the bowl is for 180ml. I filled to that line, though, and it worked just fine, so I'm figuring that 160ml mention is simply a typo in the instructions. No biggie.

The Baby Brezza would make an ideal gift for moms-to-be. Better yet, it's an ideal gift for grandmoms-to-be. Or both, really, as both moms and grandmas will get plenty of use from the Baby Brezza.

Visit Baby Brezza online for more information and to order. You can also find the Baby Brezza at BabiesRUs, Target, Amazon.com, Williams-Sonoma and several other retailers (listed on the website).

Disclosure: I received this product free for review. Opinions are my own.