For years, even though I had a rapidly growing family, I never owned a food processor.  All of the food processors that I had familiarity with seemed very impractical. 

Most of the food processors took too long to take apart, clean and put back together.  However, the main reason why I never purchased a processor was because I felt that I had to do so much of the work just to prepare the food to process it that it wasn't worth it.  For example, to chop onions, I first had to cut an onion down to the chute size before I could chop it.  By the time I did the sizing, I felt I might as well chop it myself.

Some time back, though, I noticed a new type of food processor had come on the market that had a chute and motor large enough to take whole foods.  Now there is no prep time necessary.  For example, if I want to make scalloped potatoes, I do not have to cut the potatoes to size and then slice them in the processor.  I just wash the potatoes and put them down the "whole food" chute and the slicing is done.

I am finding out that a food processor can be a very helpful tool if it is designed with efficiency in mind.  Now when I need to process a lot of food, it takes just a fraction of the time even including clean up time.  A food processor may not be the most efficient tool for you if the amount of work you do does not justify the extra clean up and set work.  However, you may find that as your work load grows along with your family, that you will soon reach the point where it is a whole lot easier to let a machine do the work and be free to other tasks yourself.

Don't Food Processors Cost a Lot?

Food processors can cost a lot, depending on which brand you buy.  We did a lot of shopping before we bought ours because we knew that we would be using ours a lot more than most families so we wanted to be careful what we got. 

Although we were tempted to buy an expensive brand processor, in the end we ended up just buying an relatively inexpensive large food processor.  For us the deciding issue was warranty.  For the difference in price between comparable models but different name brands, we could buy several replacements of the less expensive food processor before we would have paid for the more expensive one.  When deciding cost, consider these factors...

Buy the size you will need.  By getting smaller than what you need just to save money, you have defeated the purpose of the food processor.

Look at the warranty details of the items you are considering.

Consider the likelihood of replacement between comparable models.  For example, model A might cost $200 and be a name brand model with a warranty for one year.  Model B might cost $60 and have a warranty for one year.  Would the more expensive model last over three times as long as the cheaper one?  Would it perform three times as well?

Enjoy a healthful snack from your food processor!

The next time you are looking for a wholesome snack for your children, think peanut butter.  Not the canned excuse for it that you often buy, but the real thing!  Buy a can of peanuts at the store--preferably ones that are not prepared in hydrogenated oils. You can get just plain roasted nuts or salted.  Put them in your food processor for the stated time until it turns to peanut butter.  Spread the warm peanut butter on homemade bread and your children will think you have just invented the world's best recipe!  They love to see it made while they watch too.  There are few things that taste as fresh and wholesome as homemade, warm peanut butter!

Just an idea...

Is there an area of your kitchen that could be designated "appliance lane"?  If you continually have to get out and set up your small appliances, it becomes far less efficient to use them.  It doesn't take much counter space to leave out your main, small appliances and they are easily accessible when you are ready to use them.