Vitamix!!

This may sound like an infomercial. That's how much I truly like my Vitamix! (I would use the term LOVE - but I should probably save that one for my Jesus, my family, and my friends!) Anyways - I was SUPER excited to get a Vitamix for my birthday back in October. My awesome husband got everybody pooled together to help get me this (since it's kinda a big ticket item...not one we could afford to just buy for fun!). It can make juices, smoothies, sorbets, soups (yes, soups - it can heat it up to just below boiling just with the speed of the blades!), sauces, etc, etc. I use it every.single.day. Mostly for smoothies in the morning, but today I used it a couple times. Here's how:

Morning Smoothie
Jadyn BEGS for her 'Princess Juice' or 'Monster Juice' (either pink or green respectively) every morning. Usually within 5 minutes of waking up. Mostly I make up the combinations of fruit/veggie so it's different each morning. But here is what I made her today:
-1 big handful of red grapes
-1 apple, cored (but I leave the peel on)
-1/3 banana
-1 small handful of blueberries (frozen from summer)
-1/2 leaf of kale
-1 handful of spinach
-2 or 3 broccoli florets
-1 tsp(ish) hemp hearts
-1 tsp(ish) flaxseed
-2 or 3 ice cubes
-splash of water
I would say this is one of the best tasting juices we've made! And Jadyn drinks all of that. If I want some, I have to double it. Yes, making her juices/smoothies in the morning is more expensive than buying juice in the store. But here there is no added sugars, real raw veggies, and it's so flavorful and different each day! Another plug for the vitamix - I put all these ingredients in the blender just like it's listed above and it takes about 25-30 seconds to blend to a smooth-consistency smoothie. No chunks

Strawberry Sorbet
Mike is not a dessert kind-of-guy. But he DOES like his tart sorbets. I haven't made them too often, but today after supper Mike asked for some. So I tried some out...here's what I did:
-1/4(ish) cup milk
-about 2 cups of frozen strawberries
-1 tbsp raw honey
Blended that until smooth, thick, creamy, and YUMMY! I had to adjust and add milk/strawberries to get the right consistency. But it turned out so well - a BIG hit with both Mike and Jadyn (and me!).

Fruit/Veggie Roll-Ups
I won't claim success on this one yet, as they are still in my oven. But I used my vitamix to blend the fruits/veggies for making fruit/veggie roll-ups (otherwise known as fruit leather). Here are the basic instructions I'm following: http://www.loveumadly.com/2012/04/100-pure-love-for-100-real-fruit-snacks/ Since I only had frozen fruits for this today, I softened the frozen strawberries in a pot, and also boiled a few carrots to soften them up. I the dumped the strawberries and carrots and added 1/3 of a banana I had sitting around and blended it to a puree. Tastes pretty good as a liquid, so hopefully it will become a nice leather. The only combo I made was blueberry/spinach. I did that the same way - tossed the blueberries and spinach in a pot to soften and then blend in the vitamix. I'll let you know how they turn out and whether they are a success with Jadyn.

So that's my little plug for my vitamix - we use it and eat healthier because of it (of course - you can use it to make not-as-healthy options - it's how you choose to use it). If you're wondering how it's different than other blenders - it just is. There is absolutely no comparison between it and a basic blender you'll buy in the stores. It's that much more powerful and competent. If I HAD to complain about anything, it's just that it's loud - but if you're only blending for 30 seconds to get a juice or sorbet completely smooth -I won't make any fuss about it!

Infomercial fade out - aaaaand cut.