Vita-Mix

[San Onofre Guy]

We received our Vitamix in the mail yesterday. I made apple juice this morning since I had a few apples in the crisper.

Ideas and recipes welcome.

[loosechickens]

We use ours almost daily......of course, for various kinds of smoothies, but also for making pesto, hummus, bean dip, salsa (only seconds on very low speed, or else salsa disappears and liquid appears, hahahaha), etc.

I like to take homemade soup and puree about half of it in the Vita-Mix and return to the soup pot, to make the broth richer and thicker......use it to make all sorts of creamed soups, etc.

I stew and puree prunes to use in baking as a substitute for most of the oil or butter....you can keep the prune puree in the fridge for a week and use for several things.

Using the dry container and blade, I make old crusts of homemade, stale bread into bread crumbs and store in the freezer for when needed,

just to get you started......but heck, the glorious smoothies are worth the whole cost. I use plain yogurt, unflavored soymilk, and chunks of several frozen fruits (strawberries, blueberries, mango, banana, etc.) and a partial tray of ice cubes for breakfast smoothies. I don't like them sweetened, but you could add some sugar, honey, stevia, etc., if you like them sweeter.

They would have to "pry my Vita_Mix from my cold, dead hands".........it's my favorite kitchen item.......I got a lot of kidding when I bought it, and my sweetie called it the "blender on steroids" for a long time, but he really loves it now, too.

Enjoy!!!!!

[folkypoet]

Green smoothies green smoothies green smoothies! :o) Our standard smoothie is greens (usually kale or turnip greens), carrots, apple, banana, orange and berries of all sorts, a splash of water and a few ice cubes. Yum! You'd never know the greens were in there (my 13-year-old son *loves* them). If I could only keep one kitchen item, this would be it. No pots and pans, no dishes.... Heck, I'd just blend and drink from the pitcher. :o) We also make vegan mac and cheese sauce (hubby does this, but I think it's raw nuts, nutritional yeast and some other stuff) - oh so good! And mushroom-walnut-cashew pate. And soups!! Lemon-curry is my fave. Here are the (one really non-specific and one really specific) recipes for lemon-curry soup and mushroom-walnut-cashew pate:

Lemon-Curry Soup

Can of coconut milk
Couple of slivers of fresh ginger
1/2 banana
Handful of parsley
1 veggie bouillon cube
Cumin
Salt & pepper
Lemon juice
Little bit of onion
Garlic
Roma tomato (or 1/2 regular tomato)
Curry (we generally have yellow curry on-hand)
Water


Mushroom-Walnut-Cashew Pate

1 portabello cap
2 Tbs. onion
1 Tbs. raw walnuts
2 Tbs. raw cashews
8 sprigs cilantro
1 Tbs. Braggs Liquid Aminos
1 tsp. powdered garlic
Dash of cloves
Dash of nutmeg
1 smallish date (we usually have either honey dates or medjool dates on-hand)


Have fun playing around with it! It's such a joy to experiment with. :o)

[Gina]

I love mine.

Lately it's been essential for blending blueberries/banana for making fruit leathers in the dehydrator.

My favorite use is making quick icecreams. But you have to make sure to add enough frozen things or it won't be cold enough for everything to freeze. I experimented with frozen fruits, frozen liquids such as almond milk, homemade custards, etc. I had to stop making them however since I prefer them rich and sinful. ;)

Oh, and margaritas are quite good. :devil:

[folkypoet]

Ooh, sorbets! Fruit/juice, ice, sugar. Yum!

[Gina]

Sometime this summer I want to make watermelon sorbet. :) Not sure why since just plain watermelon is so good, lol. But they can be so big, chunking, freezing and then later 'sorbeting' might be a good way to preserve part of it.

[frugal-one]

Are there recipe books for Vita Mix? I'd really like to see what all can be made in one before I purchase. Guess I'll check YouTube too. Thanks.

[libby]

How does a person make juice with a vitamix?

[Reyes]

Love my Vitamix:-) I've had this drink daily for sometime now:

1 cup fresh spinach
1 carrot
1 orange
1/2 apple
1/3 c. blueberries
1/3 c. soy milk
protein powder

[Gina]

How does a person make juice with a vitamix?

It's my impression that you just put in the whole fruit, sans pits or thick peel in the case of citrus, and blend..... Juices would be thicker with all the fiber ground up, but you benefit by consuming the fiber instead of throwing it away. :)

As to recipe books, my vitamix came with a limited one. There are more recipes online. When I first got mine I subscribed to a vitamix mailing list (yahoo groups) and there was a lot of good information there. If that still exists, you can sign up for it, but only read the posts at the list home so your mailbox doesnt' get clogged.

Because of this thread, I've been making 'ice cream' the past couple days. Lots of frozen fruit, some banana for better texture, a dash of vanilla, and instead of cow's milk, I've been using Trader Joe's almond milk frozen in small cubes. And a splash of cream and some more almond milk for liquid. Oh and something sweet. I use splenda. Better than very good. :)