Blenderized Diet: Where Did We Start?

Austin has a love/hate relationship with food, he loves to look at it, but hates to actually place it in his mouth and swallow it. Although on occasion he does comply . So it's no surprise that I, in turn have a love/hate relationship with feeding him. Having a child with an oral aversion is no picnic. On the one hand there is no messy high chair to clean, and on the other hand, no messy high chair to clean. Austin actually uses his high chair more frequently to watch TV and get his breathing treatments than he does to eat. Sad, but true.

Feeling perhaps we had hit a wall on the feeding front a few months ago, I got interested in feeding him real food through his G-tube. Austin has been on the same formula for exactly a year now. No offense to the makers, but I want some real food in my toddler. This formula has done its job, but a little color, a little variety and some natural rather than manufactured food is now in order. Something about putting formula in a two year old seems wrong, no matter how great a product it is.

In my research the first thing I learned is that a blenderized diet calls for a VERY powerful blender. Your average household blender will not do the trick adequately. The who's who of powerful blending mommas lead me to two choices: Vita-Mix or Blendtec. Vita-Mix which has a program for special needs kids. If you have a letter of medical necessity you may be eligible for a medical discount. Great idea, but it still puts the purchase price at several hundred dollars. YIKES!

So needless to say I was pining for a high powered blender for months. Sure I could run out and purchase one on credit, or I could let my parents purchase one for Austin for Christmas both ideas made me nervous. That is a lot of money to spend if the blenderized diet fails. I am sure it would make some awesome margaritas, but not to the tune of 400 buckaroos!

Then my friend, Susan posted on her blog about how she purchased a Blendtec blender from Costco and used it to make her daughter's formula. I fell in love, until I found that these blenders also have a retail cost starting at $399. Double YIKES!

Then one fine November day I saw this: "Tweet why you need a Blendtec blender and you could win 1!" Cool, I entered. Imagine my utter and complete surprise a week later when I saw this:





I won the Blendtec Total blender for Austin. OMG!!





And that, is how we got started on a blenderized diet.




Thanks for peeking,






Disclosure: I won this blender in a contest fair & square, this is not a review or paid advertisement. All opinions expressed are mine & mine alone. Occasionally Austin will interject, but unless noted, it's all me.