Have you seen those green berry juices at the store? They are so expensive! When I say expensive, I mean between $2.99-$3.99 for 12-16 ounces. Like many people, one of my resolutions this year was to get more “greens” in my diet. For me, this is nearly an impossible task since the whole “green foods” concept is a challenge with my family.

I’ve always wanted one of those high powered blenders… you know… the kind where the price tag alone would make me balk and say: surely a blender can’t be that good! Well, alas, I’ve put off buying one of those for as long as I could. Moment of truth: I once bought the “other one” who claims to have as much horse power, blah blah blah… so don’t get me started on how horrible it performed at blending anything green. Don’t believe me, check out this video (skip to minute 9:26).

At the same time I was checking out my options out there, Vitamix offered me a blender to review–they must have heard I am a kitchen gadget lover. So in an effort to be fair I thought I would give Vitamix a whirl! I was so surprised at how versatile it is. I’ve come to appreciate smoothies as something fun that Baby G and I do together.

I honestly thought I was getting another blender. That is so not the case with the Vitamix. When I opened the box I was super excited to see that it came with a recipe book. It’s also a juicer, blender, grinder, chopper all in one! Although I was a little skeptical at first that it would perform as well as people say it does, I decided to give it a go every day for a week straight.

I decided to do some whole juicing (where you mix fruit and veggies whole) since it claims to be a juicer that keeps all the fiber. One of the reasons I haven’t bought a juicer instead is because I dread the cleanup process. Anyways, I wasn’t really sure how that is possible (the whole juicing thing) so on Saturday morning, I tested it out with The G. I followed the instructions added some water, frozen berries and some fresh kale.Once it was going I poured in a dash of OJ jusssst in case.

I really wanted to like it! -and I did! After a week of blending and whole juicing I now have another smoothie addict in the house. This kid loves blending.  In 45 seconds I couldn’t believe what I had made. I poured into two  cups and added a straw for a little insurance. We both LOVED it and drank it all. Shocking I know.

Unlike my food processor, I found that cleaning the Vitamix is an absolute breeze! Simply add a cup of water and a splash of dish soap and blend. So at this point I was pretty happy, right? While it is dishwasher safe, it practically cleaned it self and it didn’t’ take precious dishwasher real state. And my dishwasher is nearly always full, the kitchen is a wreck,  and my sink is filled to the rim after we get home from school and work and unload our lunch bags.

If blending, chopping, and making nutella (I will share my sugar free nutella recipe soon) wasn’t enough, it heats up soup. What?! Believe it or not, if you turn the Vitamix on for about 3-4 minutes the motor heats up the container/ soup/contents inside to the point steam is coming out of the top when you lift the top off. It is crazy hard to believe but true! This is great for weeknights or anytime in the winter when you just need to warm up and don’t feel like opening a can of soup. In some cases  in just under 15 minutes including prep time you can have a fresh homemade, hot bowl of soup! What is not to like about that!

Overall thoughts:

I love my Vitamix and consider it to be a great investment. I’m  using it every afternoon to make smoothies for Baby G and I, to make my own waffle batter on thursday nights, soups, muffins, nut butters, nutella… and so much more!

I can’t wait to make my own almond milk, homemade pesto and so may more things! I just haven’t had the chance yet. So much to do, so little time! Thanks to the beautiful book of recipes it came with I know that no matter what I put in my Vitamix I know it is going to come out tasty.

THE GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED.
Winner: Comment #309. Chris Gore from California. 

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Disclosure: While I received a Vitamix to try in  my kitchen I am not being compensated for this post. The review, photographs and opinions are my own.