I will just add that the total changes to your shopping and cooking will last over time. Having used my Vitamix now for about 8 years, I still eat primarily fruits and veggies year round because of it.

When fresh fruits are in season in Summer, I buy them at their peak of flavor and bottom of price. Some I freeze in smoothie size portions, and some I can for baking. Same with veggies, buy at their best and freeze in small portions.

You can go through the produce section and pick up one or two of everything, depending on how many people you have at home, and then make incredibly variable recipes for days, all with very little waste.

In spring, summer, and fall, I can also pick off fresh leaves of lettuces, kales, spinaches, and herbs in my garden and add them to anything. It's also nice that leftover bits and pieces are great to use up, a few cherry tomatoes, a bit of leftover peas, even a spoon or two of jam in the bottom of the jar, all add something to a hot or cold recipe.

As jellytoast said, even the bruised or otherwise sub-optimal stuff is perfectly fine in soups, dips, drinks, smoothies, ice creams, sorbets and so on. In fact, I buy the overripe bananas on deep discount and freeze them for all kinds of things (chocolate banana smoothie is great).

My diet is so much healthier and my weight so much more stable since I started with my Vitamix. I even bought two more so that my sons could each have one in their homes!

I'll be quiet now that I'm starting to sound like an infomercial! I have no connection to Vitamix except as a happy customer.

Following this with interest, as I haven't been willing to pull the trigger, yet. Why did you miss it Azmom? The part I'm concerned about is that we don't eat a lot of soups now, and my regular blender does fine with fruit smoothies. I'd love to get more veggies into our diets, but other than soup and pasta sauce I'm not sure what recipes will do it. And I could make soup with an immersion blender, and don't need for pasta sauce to be perfectly smooth. We like to eat, but I'm not sure my family will consider food that isn't chewed a real meal. I want them to learn food from a box isn't real food!

Haha, that's funny, smiling! I don't think I talked about anything BUT my Vitamix for two weeks after I got it.

kksmama, I am fairly lazy in the kitchen and felt like my nutrition was suffering. I got my Vitamix for one reason only ... as a quick and easy way to get more healthy vegetables into my diet and it is definitely serving that purpose. Even if I never use it for anything other than green smoothies, I still feel like it was a good investment because I know I will use it every day.

If you are hesitant about the cost (who wouldn't be??), you should check out the Nutribullet. It is a fraction of the cost but grinds up veggies, nuts, and seeds for smoothies just fine. I have several friends who have them and they love them. I don't know if it is as quick and easy to clean and put away as the Vitamix, but the much smaller investment might make up for that inconvenience.

I'm hesitant about cost, yes, but more so about inconvenience. I like juicing kale, but hardly ever do it because it is a hassle. And I feel bad about throwing away good fiber/pulp. (Once I kept it in the fridge, thinking I'd hide it in a soup or pasta sauce, but didn't).
I definitely want to make it quicker and easier to get veggies in myself and family - but it would be easier to "swallow" if I knew I'd make something besides soup and smoothies. But what else would that be? Are there any casseroles or sauces (other than red, tomato based sauce) that you all are making thanks to vitamix? I have a great new kitchen, and now I'm gonna put my family on a liquid diet?

Just FYI, Vitamix is having a sale right now on their refurbished models and they're an extra $30 off. If you're in the market for one, now would be a good time to take advantage.

kksmama, to answer your questions about what else besides smoothies and soups, these are some other things that are a snap to make in the Vitamix: salsa of all kinds, pestos of any type, guacamole, fruit sorbets, ice cream, peanut and other nut butters, frozen drinks adult style such as Margaritas, frozen coffee frappachinos, hummus, mayonnaise, bruschetta toppings,
and, if you get the "dry container" you can grind your own coffee beans, grind your own grains and flours.

If you belong to Costco, you can buy one and try it for a few months, long enough to get the hang of it and see the difference in your diet, then if you don't like it, Costco will take it back!

I don't understand what the big deal is - I have a $25 blender (with glass top) that has lasted for at least 5 years already and we make smoothies in it all the time. Why would a more expensive blender change anything?

There are so many models! Other than the Turbo having only two speeds, why so many models to choose from?

KKs, we have a rather powerful Cuisinart vari-speed blender, but smoothies from Vitamix are so much better. On the trip, I missed the convenience of making my own smoothies, frozen desserts and soups instead of going to restaurants. I missed the certainty of knowing what are being used in my food.

We like to cook from scratches. Before the trip, I started using Vitamix to prepare for dishes. It is so much easier than dragging out big Cuisinart Food Processor. I missed the quality of our homemade dishes. Of course I could get high quality from fine dining establishments, but it is hard to afford the time and energy after an exhausting workday.

Jellytoast and Smiling, thank you for the tips. I also noticed that we throw away a lot less fruits and vegetables. I use a vegetable slicer to make zucchini, squash noddles and ribbons quite often. All the odds and ends go to smoothies, no waste at all.

We are fairly adventurous in trying new cuisines and dishes, Vitamix seems pushes boundary even further. Eventually I would get a dry container, for now, I need to get more familiar with these Vitamix recipes.

Cosco says in their Thanksgiving Savings pamphlet that from Nov. 29-Dec.1 they would offer $25.00 off for their Vitamix 5200S, the one with variable speeds without pre-set features.

YMMV, my experience is that things made in my Vitamix have a noticeably better final quality than the same thing made in a blender. Two examples are pumpkin soup and split pea soup. Both of these, at their very best quality, are totally silky smooth. If you had a batch of soup ready, and did portions with a stick blender, a jar blender, and a Vitamix, you could see the final difference in the silkiness.

We also prefer our drinks, ice creams, and sorbets, and smoothies silky smooth (without the grittiness of little berry seeds), and for us the Vitamix makes far better quality than anything else. All I can say is that until you try it for yourself you can't really know the difference.

Since I've had mine, I now understand why many many chefs, bars, smoothie shops, and restaurants all keep their multiple Vitamix machines so busy.

Oh, and it is a dream to clean, you give the container some water and a drop of soap, turn it on and it heats the water while washing itself clean. Dump and rinse and you're done.

When we got our first Vitamix (a 3600 model from the early 80's that we bought used off of Craigslist AND we are still using it at our beach house!), our biggest change was how many frozen drinks we were making ... Mango Daiquiris, Strawberry Margaritas, Pina Coladas, etc. Haha !! But seriously, frozen drinks are soooooo much better in the Vitamix. The consistency of the drink is so smooth. No ice crystals at all. Another thing we like to make is frozen coffee frappes and also frozen ice cream and sherbet/sorbets.

After we had our Vitamix for really long time, we finally "discovered" fruit & veggie smoothies. We like to make smoothies in the morning for breakfast. Like Smiling, we freeze what fresh fruit & veggies we don't use immediately at the peak of their flavor.

For example, around here, organic spinach & organic spring lettuces are so much less expensive if you buy 1 lb box at a time. When we were eating them in salads etc, we would often not finish the box before they started going bad & slimy (yuk). Now we save some for salad, but take most of it and blend in the Vitamix as soon as we get home. Then pour into ice cube trays and pop into a ziplock bag once frozen. When we are making a smoothie, we toss in a few cubes of spinach or lettuces or kale with our fruit to make it a healthy green smoothie. We also throw other veggies into our fruit smoothies as well, not just greens. I like that we are getting more fruits & veggies in our daily diet.

We also buy the discounted bananas and freeze as soon as we get home or the next day. Or we buy big bunches and wait until they are at the perfect ripeness then freeze.

kksmama, one of the differences in the Vitamix is there is no fiber/pulp to throw away. The Vitamix pulverizes the fruits and veggies at the cellular level. You are drinking the fiber/pulp in your smoothie.

Smiling mentions a lot of uses on Sun, Nov 17, 13 at 21:30. Another thing the Vitamix does well not mentioned above (besides smoothies & soups) is chop cabbage for coleslaw. Or really anything you need chopped. Oh, and salad dressings. And homemade apple sauce. yum.

tinan, My dad was like you until I gave him one as a gift. He had never tried one before. You should have heard him at the last family get-together. He is a convert !! See if you can find a Vitamix show somewhere near you and taste the samples they make. They have them often at Costco & Whole Foods. You can search for demos on the Vitamix website ... https://www.vitamix.com/Where-To-Buy/Find-Retailer-Live-Demo.

Snookums, the models mostly have to do with where the Vitamix is purchased (direct, thru QVC, at Costco, etc), the size container(s) that comes with it, and the recipe books that come with it. Beyond those differences, the model numbers will also tell you which motor you are getting and if you have variable speeds and pre-set buttons. There are 4 machines that I recommend that cover about 16 different model numbers (the 2hp with or w/out presets and the 2.2hp with or without presets). I go into more detail on the different model numbers near the bottom of this thread http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0910504121564.html

I do not recommend the 2-speed models. I also do not recommend the 6000 model which ONLY has timed settings with no speed control. All of the other models have variable speed which is important IMO.

The model I have at our primary residence is the 2hp without the presets. It is one of the least expensive models and will do everything you need it to do ! You do not need to feel like you have to get the newest most expensive model they make.

Just as an FYI, I can get anyone who wants a Vitamix free shipping plus two more freebies(!) on any VM ordered from the manufacturer (new or reconditioned). Send me a private message from 'My Page' above if interested. Also, as sarah82 mentioned above, the reconditioned models are currently an extra $30 off.

Thank you for the briefing, Angela! I knew there was probably more than what the demonstrator told me at the supermarket. He said there was the two-speed and then all the others were the same other than having pre-programming or not, or colors. All the same motor etc. Hopefully I'll be able to sort through all the models better now! And I appreciate your suggestion for motor speeds!

This post was edited by snookums2 on Mon, Nov 18, 13 at 20:49

I am also on the road and I am really missing my vitamix.
I used to make terrible soups but with vitamix the next soups are wonderful
I also make absolutely wonderful hummus and tomato sauces are fantastic
also
I love making my almond milk ice cream and of course all the smoothies. It is so cool that you could add some greens in the ice cream and hide the vegetables although I did get busted what's when a piece of kale stuck to an ice cube. Now that I've mastered the amount of moisture and ice cubes I never have that trouble anymore.
I divide the cost of the blender by eight years and then it doesn't seem so bad.

Angela, thanks for the tip that should be obvious but did not occur to me before. I was shying away from buying kale anymore because it was getting slimy before I used it all. Now I will have to find some ice cube trays...

I did cube some zucchini and eggplant from my garden to use in this manner-no one knows I'm sneaking them in, and I love it!! Thanks again.

We have had our Vitamix for about a year now. It came in sooo handy when we were canning this past season. A tip I had read somewhere here on the GW, said don't bother seeding/blanching your tomatoes when making sauce. Just toss them into the Vitamix and blend. You can't even tell the seeds were there. Cook and season as you usually do and then can or freeze. When you have bushels and bushels of tomatoes to do, it saves so much time eliminating that step.
I agree, other blenders or processors can't touch the Vitamix in smoothness (we have them, I know). We have always been from scratch cooks for our family. We are growing more and more veggies and herbs each year in our small garden. Shopping local farms for eggs, meats and veggies we don't grow. We are definitely eating more healthily and it is easy to clean. It stays out on the counter now, along with the coffee maker and toaster. NancyLouise

Yeh, freezing the fruits & veggies sure make life a lot easier. : )

Something else you may not have thought of is the variety of fruits & veggies you use. It is easy to get into a rut and use the same ingredients in your smoothies every day. This will not give you much nutrient diversity of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and antioxidants. Also, by eating the same 2 handfuls of spinach (or kale, or whatever) every day for months, you could start building up alkaloid toxins that could interfere with thyroid function, and etc.

Instead, you should rotate your greens based on what plant family it is, for example eating one or two greens for a week or two then switching to something different. Here are the green familes :
Crucifers: kale, collards, arugula, cabbage, bok choy, radish greens, mustard greens, broccoli, turnip greens
Amaranth: spinach, chard, beet greens, lambsquarters
Asteraceae: dandelions, leaf lettuce, Romaine lettuce
Apiaceae: parsley, cilantro, anise, celery, chervil, cumin, dill, fennel, parsnip, carrot tops
Poaceae: wheatgrass

Smiling, I just saw the post about the Vitamix recipe book download that I linked in the other thread. You're welcome !! I love having 250 new recipes of things to try.

angela, that is a very good point about mixing up the greens. Unfortunately, the supermarkets around here don't seem to have variety in mind when stocking their organic produce. Every time I go to the store, and I frequent a few different markets, they have exactly the same things, day in and day out. The exception is Whole Foods, but their prices are through the roof, double or triple what the other markets charge for exactly the same things with the exact same labels on them. I think I need to make the effort to hit up a few of the local farmers markets to see if I can find some variety. Thanks for the reminder to not get stuck in a veggie rut!

I am the ULTIMATE picky eater. I need to use my Vitamix.

I am an adult and my sons, age 20 and 23, eat better than I do. I hate most vegetables, or at least the idea of them. I hate the feeling of pulp, seeds, and skins. I hate the smell of broccoli. I never tasted many vegetables to be honest because I don't like how they smell or their textures. I spent so many years not eating vegetables that I think I am afraid to admit I might like some that I haven't tried. I do eat beans, potatoes, corn, green beans, peas, tomatoes (as a sauce) and some lettuce, but not the really leafy fancy types. Carrots and celery don't bother me when they are well cooked and chopped in soups.

I don't like tropical fruit flavors (pineapple, mango, coconut etc) or even watermelon. Haven't eaten the actual fruit, but I don't like the flavors in candy so I know I won't like them for real.

I have a Vitamix and have made berry smoothies, strawberry, blueberry, grape, raspberry, apple and banana. I have added orange, apply or grape juice also. I intended to "hide" veggies in there so I would sneak them into myself, but I haven't been able to convince myself to do it.

Obviously I need to do this, and I should probably start slow.

Tips please!!! And how much is really necessary to consume for me to benefit? Will I REALLY not taste it? Or "feel" the fibers, stems etc?? No tropical stuff please, because I do know I don't like those flavors.

Thanks.

Cindy, candy flavors are poor replicas of real fruit tastes, so you really should taste the real thing before deciding you don't like them ... you might be pleasantly surprised.

You will not feel any fibers, stems, etc. after blending in the Vitamix ... it will all be as smooth as cream. I would advise starting small, just adding a small handful of a leafy green to your mostly fruit blend. I love celery, but hated it in a smoothie ... it overpowered everything.

Have you been wanting a dry grains container ? Or maybe one of the shorter 32oz or 48oz containers ? I just saw that Vitamix is now offering $50 off ALL containers Today through Dec 1. The reconditioned Vitamixes are still $30 off through Dec 1. (It is possible these specials may be through Dec 2, I am unclear on that, so Dec 1 to be safe : )

Send me a private message from 'My Page' above if interested and I can get you free shipping on your Vitamix plus two more freebies(!) on any VM ordered from the manufacturer (new or reconditioned).

I don't like my food as smooth as cream - would seem like baby food to me. I prefer to eat my fruits and veggies mostly intact, and when I have smoothies I like seeds and chunks. Yay for me, no benefit to spending lots of extra money.

Me too, Tinan. I can only think of a couple things I want to be smooth. Now, I do use my food processor to make bread crumbs or crush nuts . . . But my small food processor is significantly smaller and easier to wash than a blender.

Cindy, I had a reply for you but lost it because the window closed accidentally. I will type it up again sometime over the weekend.

Anyone who messages me, please include your email address. Ilene, I got your message but could not respond from your My Page or by replying to the email. Please message me again from My Page above and include your email address. Everyone else who has messaged me should have a reply from me now.

Angela, I sent my email. Thanks in advance for the help.

Years ago, my cross country ski coach told me the healthiest way to shop was never go through an aisle - I think of this whenever I shop for my Vitamix.

a2gemini, I love that way of thinking !

I just went on Vitamix website and see the Vitamix sale has been extended to Today for cyber Monday. Reconditioned units are on sale and the containers are $50 off. And I found out the code I am sharing should get free shipping on containers too as well as some freebies with that supposedly too.

I was searching for new ideas for smoothies and came across these posts on how people used their Vitamix for Thanksgiving . . .
- made mayo for the deviled eggs,
- finely chopped carrots to add to my rice,
- chopped celery for my dressing,
- chopped pecans to add to the topping mixture for my sweet potato casserole,
- mixed up the filling for a pecan pie. The pecan pie called for chopped nuts, so I added them after I finished the rest of the mixture and with a few quick pulses, I had chopped pecans mixed in with the filling. I could then pour it straight into my pie crust.
- made a cranberry-orange relish
- cashew gravy for my dressing
- cashew cream for my pumpkin pie
- pumpkin pie filling blended in vitamix
- sweet potato casserole - blended sweet potatoes and spices
- Chop onions and celery twice - once for dressing, once for lentil loaf
- Pumpkin Smoothie for breakfast
- Dry chopped apples and cranberries for cranberry apple salad
- doing the "peel the garlic" trick (only works on a Standard Generation model) - put garlic cloves in a VM on Variable #1 and it will bounce the paper/peel off!


I have made some cheat sheets to carry with me to the grocery store ... of which fruits/veggies it is most important to buy organic (dirty dozen), which are safest (clean fifteen), and other ones in between. And also a cheat sheet list of greens to use in the Vitamix including what info I could find online of which ones are mildest and easy to blend and which ones are most bitter. Happy to share with anyone ! (send me your email address, it's in a pdf format)

By the way, I'm not a Vitamix demonstrator. But I just LOVE my Vitamixers !!

(edited to say send me email address for me to share : )

This post was edited by angela12345 on Mon, Dec 2, 13 at 21:16

" Happy to share with anyone !"

Yes, please!! ... do share your list of mildest greens and most bitter.

Angela- I think you are the vitamix queen! I used mine to chop the onions, celery, and chestnuts for the stuffing and the made a wild rice, mushroom soup with the leftover turkey.
I was on the road for a week- and was having vitamix withdrawal.

I've joined the club!
Thanks to all the great posts here, I'm a happy new owner and have used my VM 750 for three days now. Smoothies, daiquiris, and potato soup so far. Children aren't loving the color of berry smoothies with hidden spinach but we'll keep working at it. They were also picky about the soup, saying they prefer my regular recipe. But I prefer the VM version, it is so creamy!

My lid arrived with a warped lid, so I have to be a little careful about liquid rising up and leaking out the top, but they say a new one is on the way. I love how easy it is to clean and that it fits under my counter.

Congrats on your new Vitamix, kksmama! I'm sure you're going to love it.

It is kind of hard to get used to the green color of smoothies, but they often taste much better than they look. One thing I've found that greatly improves the taste of any "questionable" smoothie is a few chunks of frozen pineapple. I buy fresh pineapples and cut them up into chunks and freeze them. It saves me from having to scrap some of my more adventurous concoctions ... a little pineapple and they are miraculously palatable.

Happy blending!!

Thanks, jellytoast! Pineapple has been on sale and my kids love it, so we have been working it in. Pretty amazing that even the core can be used in this machine! It is "just" the color that is a problem. Adding blueberries helped yesterday's smoothie (cherries, yogurt, bananas, spinach, chia seeds) go from brown to deep purple. Hurray for Costco frozen fruit! But I think Santa may have opaque cups with lids and opaque straws for my children. Funny that I thought we were done with sippy cups when we were done with car seats.

KK. - welcome aboard!
Another trick is to add a little lime juice or a small slice of lime with the pineapple.
Might have to get my DH one of those sippy cups. I got "busted" once when he found a chunk of an ice cube with a piece of kale stuck on it. Oops!
I was a terrible soup maker and now I like my soups!
I also love the grain blender. - I grind flax, corn, etc. my niece thought it was great that we ground up corn for the corn bread.

Welcome to the club kksmama ! It's a much better club to belong to than the ABB club, haha.

A2, that wasn't all me - I was searching for new smoothie ideas and came across those posts of how other people used their VM for thanksgiving. : )
But it does show how this machine is so much more than just a smoothie maker.

Jelly, please send me your email address. My greens list is in a PDF format.

Thank you, angela! I believe I'm set up to receive emails through GW. Let me know if it doesn't work.

Through GW, I cannot send an attachment, so I would need to send it by email directly to you, not through GW's emailing system. I will send you an email now so you can reply directly back to me.

I've joined the Vitamix club! My 16-year-old son and I made smoothies this afternoon, starting with every fresh and frozen fruit we had in the house...and then my son asked if we could throw in some spinach or kale. We didn't have any, so we added some romaine lettuce. He guzzled it and asked me to buy some kale.

Tonight we made milkshakes -- naughty ones with ice cream, peanut butter, and chocolate syrup -- no hidden veggies. They were yummy. Tomorrow, we'll go back to healthy smoothies.

And then we'll start playing with soups, etc.

One thing that amazed me with the cookbook that came w/ the blender is that it looks like there are soups and sauces that start out as raw ingredients. and then actually get heated up during blending. Are they really hot enough to eat without heating further??

I will say that I like some soups to be chunky. Split pea, for me, should be somewhat chunky. I like the peas, chunks of potato and ham, and shreds of carrot. But for others, smoothness will be great -- like sweet potato or asparagus. Looking forward to playing around with it!

" Are they really hot enough to eat without heating further?? "

Yes, you will be amazed at the hot, hot soups made from all fresh ingredients. If you prefer a few chunks, just save them out and add at the end (corn kernels, peas, small black beans, small items will warm while you dish out the soup).

Scooter - it is amazing - Sometimes I cheat and use warm liquids to start the process. I also like to warm the bowls to keep the soup warm longer.
Also, I always keep some chunks to add at the end on a low setting if I don't want smooth as smiling also said.
For our annual King's Day party, I think we will have dueling Vitamix machines. One of my friends bought one and all he can talk about is his Vitamix and green smoothies.