Vitamix - My New Love

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I'd been eyeballing the Vitamix blender for years, but $500 for a blender...YIKES!  A few years ago wanting to get more fruits and veggies into my day I bought a juicer.  It was probably around $300.  I did enjoy juicing.  Only problem is I didn't do it as much as I thought I would for 2 reasons.  One it would extract all the pulp/fiber from the fruits and veggies which seemed counterproductive to a health regimen.  Secondly, OMG what a pain in the butt to clean.  All I wanted to do was sit down and enjoy a glass of juice, but I had 30 minutes of washing to do.  Don't dare let it sit and soak or it would be days before I'd get around to the chore and I do mean chore of cleaning it.  I guess there is a 3rd reason I didn't like juicing.  As I said it extracted the pulp and I'd have this big bowl of pulp and it seemed like such a waste to throw it away.  There were recipes for baking up a loaf of something with the pulp added, but it was not appetizing at all.

So, I was at Costco a few months ago and they were selling the Vitamix again.  I had heard from 2 friends and my trainer over the course of several months expounding on the virtues of their Vitamix blenders.  I decided to take the plunge.  At Costco the blender was still $400.  Still seemed steep, but I took the plunge.  I bought a bunch of fruit and veggies at Costco before I came home and began making a smoothie.  I fell in love.  The next thing I made was the broccoli cheese soup.  It showed the blender steaming in the videos that came with the blender.  I just couldn't believe it.  It's true in 5 minutes I had steaming delicious broccoli cheese soup.

These days I mostly make a fruit and veggie smoothie in the morning for breakfast.  I feel like I can't start my day without my zap of healthy fruits and veggies.

And the major big plus of the Vitamix is the cleaning!!  I rinse out the blender and lid.  Add 5 cups of really warm water, 2 drops of dish soap as per the instructions with Vitamix.  Run blender on high for 1 minute.  Rinse out the soap and sit in the dish drainer.  BAM!  Ready for next smoothie.  While it's doing it's 1 minute of cleaning I'm getting the straw for my smoothie and enjoying a sip.

My favorite is the Sailor Man Green Smoothie.  Why its called the Sailor Man I'm not sure.  I would think it would have lime in it to prevent scurvy.  I made it the first few times exactly like the recipe called for.  It came out this gorgeous green color and tasted so good.  Then I started to tweak it to my preferences.  I just don't have vanilla yogurt on hand I had plain nonfat.  So, I use it and add a squirt of honey.  Don't want my smoothie to be sour.  Then I got to not liking having a half of a brown apple waiting for the next days smoothie.  My daughter suggested I just throw the whole apple in.  She's so smart, but I wanted something more healthy and started leaving the apple out and putting in a carrot.  I usually have frozen bananas and frozen pineapple ready for the smoothie, but I occasionally have fresh.  Because I work out so much these days and I'm prone to leg cramps I'll sometimes had some coconut water for some extra potassium.  The added coconut water also helps the smoothie whirl up.  Sometimes if I have frozen pineapple, frozen banana and ice it will become real thick and not easy to drink right away.  Mama needs to drink her smoothie and get to gym!

Below is the original Sailor Man Green Smoothie recipe.  Hope you try it soon it's really good.

1/2 banana, peeled
1/2 cup (80 g)grapes
1 cup (30 g) fresh spinach
1/2 apple, cored
1/4 cup (60 ml) vanilla yogurt
2 oz (56 g) pineapple
1 cup (240 ml) ice

Place all ingredients into the container in the order listed and secure lid.

Select Variable 1.

Turn machine on and quickly increase speed to Variable 10, then to High. If necessary, use the tamper to press the ingredients into the blades while processing.

Blend for 1 minute or until smooth.