Thanks to all you Vita-Mix enablers...

caseysmomgo

caseysmomgo

Cathlete
Especially you, Kathryn! Thanks to you, I finally drove 30 miles to Sur La Table the other day and bought a Vita-Mix Professional Series!!!! It was the last one they had in stock. I just LOVE it and I've been making green smoothies until they're coming out of my ears. :D

Kathryn, I just love reading your thoughtful, informative posts, and I thought it was just awesome that you took the time to post all of your green smoothie recipes awhile back. (Another thanks to Karen (KarenVictoria?) who also posted a ton of them in the same thread) I printed them out, waiting until I had the guts and money go buy a Vita-Mix so I could make them. Now I can! Yippeee.... and now maybe I can get DH to drink a smoothie for breakfast instead of eating cookies....:(

Every time I log on here, I know that I'm going to be able to garner another tidbit or two (or more!) of sound advice in my continuing quest to get and stay healthy! I haven't posted on here very long, but I've been lurking for awhile, and just wanted you to know how valuable you and all the other fine people are here.

Between the workout advice and sound nutrition advice found here, there's no excuse to be unhealthy! You ladies all rock...

So, thanks again to all of you for your constant inspiration, and also thanks for letting me gush about my new toy!
 
Yay! Denise has a Vitamix!
Enjoy playing with it !
I just made some 'gravy' in mine, blending raw cashews, a bit of water, some miso, onion and garlic powders, and poultry seasoning (it's amazing how nuts like cashews, pinenuts and macadmia nuts get so smooth and creamy in the thing!).

So what are your favorite smoothies? (My current 'no time in the morning" smoothie is 2-3 oranges (depending on size), 1 large frozen banana, and 1-2 Tbps of Vitamineral green (since I haven't had time to shop for organic greens).
 
I'm jealous! I've been told (especially since Vitamix-ers are so expensive) that I can't have one until my current blender dies! Darn it! I'm doing my best to kill it! :eek: Even though they are far superior to any blender, I can't make a good argument for having both! :eek:

Anyway, congrats! It gives me something to look forward to, having to wait that is!
 
My DH was actually the one who told me about a year ago that we needed one, because he was home and happened to watch some infomercial on it. Then I reminded him how expensive they were... :(

But recently my blender was on it's last legs and was leaking out of the bottom, and my juicer died months ago, so I decided we deserved the splurge! Besides, we always had reservations about all the "waste" when using a juicer. With a Vitamix you get all the nutrients (geesh, I'm sounding like a spokesperson!). Also, it really takes the place of a blender, juicer, food processor, etc.... so Tricia, just make sure you kill all of yours and you'll really be justified in buying one! LOL

Kathryn, that cashew gravy sounds yummy! Today I'm loving one of the smoothies you posted using kale, romaine, banana, orange, frozen strawberries, and instead of chia seeds I used ground flax seeds. Totally yummy and I've been drinking it all day! Now I'm going to have to check out the Vitamineral green...
 
syzygy314 said:
I'm jealous! I've been told (especially since Vitamix-ers are so expensive) that I can't have one until my current blender dies! Darn it! I'm doing my best to kill it! :eek:
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I think you could kill your current blender pretty quickly by trying to grind nuts into nut butter in it. A combo of cacao powder and agave is also really hard on the blender (even my Vitamix started smelling a bit like burnt wiring, and smelled that way every time I used it for a week afterwards!).
 
caseysmomgo said:
Also, it really takes the place of a blender, juicer, food processor, etc....
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I definitely think there are tasks a food processor does better. If you want to grind nuts into a crumbly texture, for example, the Vitamix is too powerful (unless you futz with it and use low speed and drop the nuts onto the blade little by little..maybe).

Food processors also work well for shredding, slicing, dicing, etc. I do think these are the only two pieces of kitchen equipment one really needs to do about anything, though.
 
I absolutely LOVE my VitaMix. I killed two blenders in two weeks prior to biting the bullet and buying the VitaMix. Wish I just went with the VitaMix instead of the other blenders... ;-)

I have been enjoying my daily green smoothies. Yummy! :)

I agree that the VitaMix does a great job in making nut butters. However, I use my Food Processor for the shredding/dicing activities.
 
I don't have a Vitamix either:( But have gotten by with a juicer and am going to look up some of these recipes for smoothies that you are all raving about. I definitely love adding the Vitamineral Green to my smoothies and juices as well! Even if I have some veggies in there, I still add it. Green superfoods like this just are so great with providing an energy boost and really improving your overall health. I remember going away to college years ago and really missing the juices I had used to make at home every morning. You really notice a difference when you stop! Definitely look into getting some Vitamineral Green and add it into whatever you have first thing in the morning. It's great stuff.
 
Man I want one of these too. I just could never afford it. My sister has one, . . I wish I could just steal it. It has never been used and she's had it for 4 years!!
 
Does anyone know how vitamineral green compares to greens plus? I've never heard of vitamineral green, but I've seen greens plus suggested to put in smoothies. I don't do smoothies (don't have anything like a vitamixer) and it tastes pretty nasty. Does vitamineral green taste okay? Where do you buy it? I googled it and it looks to be pretty expensive, although the greens plus wasn't cheap!
 
ddj said:
Does anyone know how vitamineral green compares to greens plus? I've never heard of vitamineral green, but I've seen greens plus suggested to put in smoothies. I don't do smoothies (don't have anything like a vitamixer) and it tastes pretty nasty. Does vitamineral green taste okay? Where do you buy it? I googled it and it looks to be pretty expensive, although the greens plus wasn't cheap!
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You can find info about VMG here : www.healthforce.com . I think Vitamineral green takes some getting used to, but it's one of the least obnoxious-tasting green superfoods I've tried. Bananas and/or a bit of citrus (lemon or lime) often hide the taste. It's important, though, to start out gradually. Your tastes will change over time, so you can use more. I still sometimes put 'too much' in a smoothie, and it's not as tastey as it could be (but I've also found that often the first 1-3 sips of a green smoothie aren't that great tasting (not horrible, just not yummy), but after that, it tastes fine (maybe the salivary glands producing the right enzymes to break down the ingredients makes them taste better?)

One green food I would advise anyone to stay FAR away from: Sproutein (a sprout-based protein powder). It tastes horrible, and there's no way to disguise the 'sprouty' taste of it. Another woman at a raw-food potluck I go to said the same thing.
 
Adorable babies, Melanie!!

I just wanted to say how much I'm loving my VitaMix! I'm using it every day and experimenting with all different flavor combos. I must say that I haven't made anything that's tasted horrid...yet... One thing I like about it is I can make a batch in the morning and drink part of it, save the rest for later, and it'll still taste good. With my previous piece of crap blender, it didn't blend stuff enough, and if I tried to save something to drink later, it would taste crappy the longer it sat in the fridge.

My DH wanted a smoothie the other day with just fruits...bananas, strawberries, etc, and I snuck some spinach and flaxseed into it...:) He thought it tasted great, and I told him later about my additions! He never noticed that I'd made it a little healthier... I'm definitely going to check out the Vitamineral Green. I checked Amazon and it's available with free super saver shipping.

Take care, all!
 
I don't know about the Vitamineral Green. I have a super-green supplement I get from Whole Foods (can't remember the name sorry, by Orac maybe?) and it's not too bad. I DO add citrus and a piece of banana to my green smoothies. The citrus definitely helps cut the 'green' taste. I need it since my smoothies are 95% veggies (except for the 1/2 lemon and piece of banana). It IS an acquired taste. As Kathryn said - start gradually.

I also add a supplement like Alive for the protein and extra green boost in addition to the super-green supplement. However I eliminate the extra green supplement when I use Vega instead of Alive as my protein/boost.

For those of you that like chai, Vega has a Vanilla Chai flavor that I enjoy. IF you just want the chai flavor without the supplement (or the Vega high price tag), you can use brewed chai as your smoothie liquid instead of water. :cool:
 
Has anyone actually tried it to make flour? I would LOVE to make different types of flours for baking. Does it grind the grain fine enough?

MJ in MN
 
Two new recipes to try:

I just made this soup (original recipe!) last night (makes two large bowls):

"Avocado-cilantro-lime soup"
blend 3 Tbsp hemp seeds with 2 cups water (optional, but adds amino acids, omega fats and helps make it creamier)
Add 1 large tomato, two smallish (but not mini) carrots. blend.
Add about 2 cups spinach and 1 cup fresh cilantro. blend.
Add about 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice, 1/2 tsp (or to taste) onion powder or flakes, 1/2 tsp (or to taste) garlic powder, and 1 tsp (or to taste) Herbes de Provence and about 1/2 tsp sea salt. Blend.
Add two avocados and blend until just incorporated (the avocados give it a nice creaminess, but blending too long oxidizes them).

This was good right away, but actually tasted better the next day/today (kept in an airtight thermos in the fridge overnight) as the flavors blended/melded more.

(Caveat : I just kind of threw things in as I went along, inspired by thinking of guacamole and/or salsa so I may have forgotten some ingredients! I think I also added a shake or two of a three-sea vegetable sprinkle that I have).


Today's a.m. smoothie:
1 large orange
1/4 mango (was going to be 1 mango, but it was bruised inside and only 1/4 was usable!)
1 large banana, frozen
2 Tbsp Vitamineral green
very pretty green

(My smoothie and my soup ended up being about the same pretty green color!)
 
martijean1 said:
Has anyone actually tried it to make flour? I would LOVE to make different types of flours for baking. Does it grind the grain fine enough?

MJ in MN
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I haven't tried it (I don't eat flour products), but you can get a dry ingredient container that has a blade made for grinding grains. It will get the grain as fine as you want it to be (I imagine).

I suggest going to their website to see if they have a demo video you can watch (or if not, maybe look on Youtube?).
 
I have the dry container for the Vita-mix it works perfectly. We mix any grain in it and presto flour :). My DH has a big feed bag of wheat (berries?) from the feed store that is kept in the freezer and we take a cup out when needed to grind and add to our bread and buns. We do have to sort though it a little first, some times there is a corn nugget or some outer shell in it :p .

Bri:)
 
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