This morning, I was perusing the items I've purchased in the past month in an attempt to see what I could review that might help other customers. Wooden spoons: Check. Heart-shaped straws: Check. Cuisinart DLC-2ABC Mini Prep Plus Food Processor: OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH! That item brought me up short; just seeing it listed nearly caused me to break down in tears, for the Lord has used it to literally revolutionize my life. I love to cook. I love to experiment, combine foods, use bay leaves where they've never been used before, and generally turn the sense of taste into an adventure. However, things have lately been complicated by the fact that I have developed autonomic dysfunction, which has kept me on bed rest, and gastroparesis, which has altered what I can eat and especially the consistency at which I can eat it. Hummus, mashed potatoes, and soft, bite-sized pastas are fine, as are sauces. Bread, coarse vegetables, and any meal that incorporates too many elements are problematic. I could eat hummus, and I could eat rice, and I could even enjoy fetta, but a Mediterranean meal that incorporated all of these simultaneously would be too much for my insides at the moment. I love vegetables, but here again, they have made the consistency of my meals much too busy for one fragile gut and appetite. But I love adding twenty flavours to one casserole!--now what? For the longest time, we had a blender, but it was just that--a tall container for mixing and pouring smoothies and shakes. If you really only want to grind or chop half a cup of food, it's more trouble than it's worth to scrape your puree out of such a tall container. However, most of the food processors we looked at were either too costly or too technologically advanced for our old-school family, or both. UNTIL... My sister found this food processor. I would say it was wonderful for the price, but in reality, I'd be willing to spend up to $150 on something that has made my life this much easier. Its capacity is perfect--we never need to process more than three cups at a time--and this processor works better than any other electric kitchen appliance we've ever owned. Another reviewer noted rightly that it works quickly, so if you don't want a fine puree, you do want to watch it--that button means it when it says "GRIND!" However, the one other button, the control for chopping, is very affective in doing just that--coarse vegetables can be ours, if we so desire. Never again will I have to laboriously mince or chop onions by hand when I'm well--I'll let this processor do my teary, dirty work! So, not everything comes out purred unless you want it to. I recently asked a family member to process some dry ingredients to make a breadcrumb-type crust, with instructions that "it shouldn't be like powder--more like the consistency of dried oats." My loved-one and the food processor did a FINE job--pun intended! My family really appreciates how easy it is to scoop or pour the processed food, how easy the cup is to wash, and the basic design. We aren't a family who really enjoys touchscreens, digital readouts, and other technological advances that turn our appliances into computers--we didn't need any extras beyond grinding and chopping and, happily, this processor doesn't feature anything beyond that. As for me, I can't say enough about how much more beautiful eating has become once again. For close to a month, I put food into my body because I didn't want to take more drastic measures, but that was all it was--ingesting nutrients, no more. Now that I can grind veggies, herbs, certain meats, nuts, and virtually anything else into an appropriate consistency, food is the lively, joyful, enheartening experience it has always been. Nowadays, I typically keep a soft starch base, puree the rest, and-voila!--TASTY, non-bland, nutritious food. Broccoli, olives, mushrooms, whole garlic, and other edibles may not be at their premium this way, but at least I can eat them, whereas I was formerly stuck with plain hummus and mild pastas. What a difference! If you or a loved-one have a medical condition that makes a softer but not necessarily bland diet necessary, and if you're looking for a basic, easy product, this one may make you, too, cry when you pass it as you go about your day--right there, on the counter, waiting for you, just waiting to grind more delicion for someone in nutritional need...
