What are you Smoothifying Now

[VPI]

Dinny's daily Smoothie pics to which I have subscribed has gotten me interested in putting the Vitamix back to use.  I know there are many Smoothie people here so I thought a thread to share interesting recipes might be nice.

 

I have done most of the basic things but I am looking for ways to incorporate more healthy things into my smoothies.

 

I will start with one that I think is a bit of a failure, mostly because I do not like the flavor of chocolate Muscle Milk.

 

2 small containers of Muscle Milk Light Chocolate

8 Peach Slices

12 Strawberries

2 Tablespoons of Peter Pan Peanut Butter

Ice

 

While far better than straight Muscle Milk, it was still not a great flavor and really had nothing "healthy" in it.

 

Edited July 13, 2013 by VPI

[shellylh]

No smoothy here but I do have a question for the Vitamix fans.

I have the urge to buy a Vitamix but, frankly, it is mostly because I like cool gadgets. So far I have kept myself from buying one (mostly because hubby won't let me get one without a good reason - he says we already have a blender, juicer, and food processor that we don't use all that often). So my question is what does the vitamix do that I can't do with my other kitchen gadgets and is it worth getting one. Also, I am trying to eat healthier nowaday but haven't gotten back into smoothies - I was really into them in grad school but that was over 10 years ago.

[VPI]

Cool toys are Cool.

 

I do not know if it does things your devices won't but it was a dramatic upgrade over my previous blender and has not disappointed up to this point.

[acidbasement]

I know nothing of Vitamix. We got an Oster because of the all-metal-drive thing, and because it's much cheaper than a Vitamix. It works fine at six years old.

We tend to keep lots of frozen fruit around. Today's smoothie:

Pineapple chunks, one banana, mango slices, strawberries, and raspberries (all frozen)

Equal parts Tropicana OJ and So Nice vanilla soy milk

A splash of cream

A dollop of vanilla yogurt

It was a hit with the one kid in my house who likes smoothies. I thought it was very good too, though if I made it again I'd go with either a fresh banana or just half a frozen one.

Edited July 13, 2013 by acidbasement

[postjack]

No smoothy here but I do have a question for the Vitamix fans.

I have the urge to buy a Vitamix but, frankly, it is mostly because I like cool gadgets. So far I have kept myself from buying one (mostly because hubby won't let me get one without a good reason - he says we already have a blender, juicer, and food processor that we don't use all that often). So my question is what does the vitamix do that I can't do with my other kitchen gadgets and is it worth getting one. Also, I am trying to eat healthier nowaday but haven't gotten back into smoothies - I was really into them in grad school but that was over 10 years ago.

 

Green smoothies. A vitamix will vaporize green stuff. This is the sole reason we bought one.

 

Right now I'm drinking a smoothie with:

 

Peach

Kale

Crap ton of Spinach

banana

raspberries

blueberries

 

love my vitamix, use it almost daily.

[shellylh]

I haven't tried putting green stuff in our blender.   I suppose it won't come out so nice.  

 

I have been reading more about the Vitamix and it sounds great.  Now to try and sell it the hubby.  

 

By the way, what is the recommended model? 

Edited July 13, 2013 by shellylh

[VPI]

"Always buy the top model or you lose points."

 

VPI 2011

[boomana]

Love my Vitamix. For the past few weeks, I've been making a smoothie every morning and/or after a workout, mostly because I'm too lazy to make breakfast anymore. I love green drinks , and my standard morning one is two or three giant handfuls of kale with either strawberries, grapes or a half an apple. I toss in a scoop of vanilla protein powder. Delicious. I bought a juicing book a few weeks ago, but haven't bothered to look at it yet. I really like beet drinks, so maybe I'll see if I can find a couple tasty drinks with that. I actually like the more milkshakish smoothies, but all have too many calories for what my body can apparently handle. Most I can do is add a half a banana to some.  

[boomana]

I just made cauliflower soup with my Vitamix.  Half a head of cauliflower nuked for three minutes in the microwave (1/4 cup water), dropped into the vitamix with some minced garlic and about one tbs of butter.  Salt and pepper.  Yum.  Have added bacon in the past, but forgot.  

[VPI]

I have made an awesome Roasted Red Pepper soup out of the Vitamix cook book in mine.  Quite good.

 

Tonight I failed again.  Evidently when you don't pay attention at the grocery store and pick up Mustard Greens instead of Kale, you get a fairly spicy smoothie.

 

1 Peach

3 large Strawberries

3 Chunks of Mustard Greens

 

[shellylh]

Jeff,  that sounds disgusting.  

[boomana]

Yeah.  That doesn't sound good at all, though my fav drink at the local Planet Juice is a Red Rocket, which is very spicy: wheat grass, beets, ginger, tabasco and probably something else I don't remember.  

 

Now I want to make kale chips, but have only a wee bit of kale left.

[The Monkey]

lol, thank god Jeff started this thread because I was about to.  This newsletter certainly pertains to my interests.

[Dusty Chalk]

Green smoothies. A vitamix will vaporize green stuff. This is the sole reason we bought one.

So greens are too tough on most food processors, mixers, blenders, etc.?

[postjack]

We used mustard greens a few times in our smoothies, didn't like the results.

 

Spinach is far and away the most mild, you can put tons in there and the fruit will still cover it up. 

 

Kale is the obvious favorite because its a super duper healthy food, but it adds a very strong earthy/dirty taste to anything. I've grown to love the taste, its like drinking a dirty weird salad, but I think after a couple years of drinking it my brain knows how good it makes me feel, so its trained me to enjoy the taste.

[postjack]

So greens are too tough on most food processors, mixers, blenders, etc.?

 

That is my understanding. However, I never owned a regular blender before the Vitamix, so I never personally tried to do green smoothies in anything but the vitamix.

[postjack]

I haven't tried putting green stuff in our blender.   I suppose it won't come out so nice.  

 

I have been reading more about the Vitamix and it sounds great.  Now to try and sell it the hubby.  

 

By the way, what is the recommended model? 

 

The 5200 is more than enough for home needs. And the reconditioned models receive high ratings.

 

The 7500 is shorter and wider, 40% quieter and 10% more powerful. Its up to you if the price is worth it. The 5200 is loud as hell, like so loud you have to shout to have a conversation while its on in the same room, but since its only ever running for a few minutes at a time this doesn't bother me.

 

Vitamix's warranty service is also reportedly awesome. 7 year standard warranty IIRC. They stand behind their products.

[shellylh]

Amazon has a CIA Professional Series for $398 which is very tempting. I don't need the presets so this might be a good choice for me.

http://www.amazon.com/Vitamix-1363-Professional-Series-Platinum/dp/B000RRKQKA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1373774820&sr=8-3&keywords=vitamix

Edit: Ordered the CIA.

I thought about getting this from BB&B with a 20% coupon but I see that the coupon excludes Vitamix. . Now I have to wait for it.

Edited July 14, 2013 by shellylh

[acidbasement]

That is my understanding. However, I never owned a regular blender before the Vitamix, so I never personally tried to do green smoothies in anything but the vitamix.

I tried a kale smoothie from a friend's blender once. It was stringy. I suspect that fresh spinach would be less problematic. Will attempt to test this and report back.

[tyrion]

5 to 6 mornings a week Gail makes us smoothies with our Vitamix.  At least a few days a week I make soup, usually tomato or tortilla.  All our smoothies have either kale or spinach, frozen bananas, frozen avocado, strawberry, blueberry and vanilla almond milk.  Gail will usually throw in flax seed and some other seed like product.  

[Dusty Chalk]

All this smoothie talk has made me want a smoothie, so I went out and got a smoothie from Bluberi -- sugar water, meh.  I think I'll be investing in a Vitamix soon.  The local Wegmans has something similar for significantly less, but it's still targeted at smoothies, both green and otherwise, I'm a gonna go look into that (don't remember brand right now).

[boomana]

I've made decent kale smoothies with a Nutribullet (belongs to a co-worker) at work, and it smoothies things up better than regular blenders I've had in the past.  Although I wouldn't trade my Vitamix for one, they're a lot cheaper, take less space, and are easier to clean.  I'm seriously considering buying my own one for the office.  It keeps me away from all the evil goodies the skinny people bake and bring in everyday.  

 

I forgot about almond milk.  It's excellent in smoothies.  Will go get some today.  I'm avoiding as much dairy as I can.  

[VPI]

Had a successful experiment today.

 

1/4 of a Cucumber

5 Strawberries

Bunch of Pineapple

Milk

Ice

 

[tyrion]

1/2 orange (peeled but pulp left on)

1 banana

4 strawberries

1/4 cup blueberries

1 heaping tsp greek yogurt

1/2 cup Vanillla Almond Milk unsweetened

1 tbs flax seed

A bunch of spinach

ice and water (I prefer them on the thin side)

 

[VPI]

Nice, you even have special cups for yours.