Like most kids, mine are fans of things like milkshakes and fruit smoothies. I have always had a simple blender in the house for making these and never really thought a lot about blenders.
However, after being diagnosed with autoimmune diseases, I began to look for ways to make my diet healthier and reduce my symptoms. I was also looking for ways to get my picky eaters to eat more vegetables and healthier foods. In my search, I discovered green smoothies. However, my generic kitchen blender was not up for the challenge of blending kale and spinach and pieces of raw fruit. It was time for me to find a new blender that was up for this challenge.
As a freelance writer, I often do product reviews so I began contacting some of the recommended blender companies for sample blenders to test and review. Little did I know just what blenders are capable of and how excited my kids were going to be about new kitchen appliances.
The first blender I received was the Tribest Personal Blender. In reading the description of this blender, I thought it was great because it comes with personal sized containers and lids and is designed for making green smoothies. As soon as the box arrived, the kids were excited to test it out. However, their excitement seemed to disappear when I told them I was going to make them a smoothie with spinach and kale. Despite their reservations, they helped me prepare the apple, banana, strawberries, kale and spinach. We loaded it up into the drinking container, added the water, secured the blade lid and put it into place. We were amazed at just how quick it blended everything together and the kids even said they would give up soda if they could have these smoothies everyday!!! That’s right…the kids were eating healthy and LOVING it. What more could a mom ask for?
The main benefits of this blender were the ease of use and the fact that the smaller sized containers allow for making different smoothies for everyone. If one of the kids wants a smoothie, they can pull out the blender and their cup and make it themselves. It is simple to use and definitely kid-friendly. It gets a Polka Dot Pantry A+.
The next blender to arrive has now become my FAVORITE kitchen appliance and I honestly do not know how we lived without it. I had NO idea blenders could do what this one does and we are only beginning to explore the possibilities.
The blender was the Vitamix 750 Professional Series and my kids are convinced that it is magic in a box.
We opened the box and it was this huge and heavy motor and a large container. Packed with the blender was a cookbook which my 12-year-old daughter quickly declared hers. As I read the directions to the blender, she grabbed the sticky tabs and started marking recipes she wanted to make. The idea of smoothies went out the window with this blender because that only breaks the surface of what is possible – though it does make up some amazing smoothies.
The first thing we tried making was fresh salsa and guacamole. I have always made this by chopping the ingredients by hand, but we read through the recipe and no chopping was required. We gave it a try and the results were amazing.
While that was great, the magic we discovered with the Vitamix came with the idea of soup. Who knew that a blender could make soup? Now, I was a picky eater as a child and the only way my grandmother could get me to eat veggies was to make a soup and place it in the blender once it was cooked to mix everything together. I have done the same with my kids for years. Cook and boil up the soup and veggies and then pour it into the blender only to return it to the stove to heat up. But the stove is not required with the Vitamix!!! It does it all. The recipe for the bacon cheddar potato soup simply has you put in baked potatoes, milk, cheese, bacon and a few spices and set it to the “soup” setting. Yes, this blender has a soup setting. It begins to blend and then continues to purr along and within minutes you have a hot blender filled with soup.
But as I said, this blender just kept amazing me. In addition to making all these amazing things, it even has a “cleaning” setting and the blender almost cleans itself. Talk about a family and kid-friendly appliance. While the cost of this blender is high, the price is well worth it in my opinion. It is now a permanent fixture on my counter-top and we use it regularly. The Vitamix 750 definitely gets a Polka Dot Pantry A+.