SMF

Well, daughter has me trying smoothies. So far, so good. Had a Mango pineapple one and a butternut squash (better than it sounds). So the issue is what sort of blender to get. She says Vitamix but I dont cook much and well, $499 is too much. I have heard of a Nutribullet, the Oster something Professional one that is like $250, and a Belville brand if memory serves me.

Also, how are they with yogurt added?

Suggestions, recipes?

Sam, I have a smoothie every morning as breakfast a love the. After going through a couple of blenders (Kitchenaids and Cuisinarts, plus an old zoster)- and being unwilling to part with the money for the outboard that is a Vitamix- we have settled on a Ninja. After a year and a half it is still going strong, especially for $50.

My main recipe is stolen from Alton Brown:
1 ripe banana
4 oz each wild blueberries, strawberries and mango or peach or pineapple, all frozen
1/2 cup acai or pomegranate juice
1.5 cups milk or soy milk

Blend till smooth.

I use kefir for the base of our smoothies which we have been having exclusively for breakfast for two years now. Other than that, I go very basic/simple. A cup of kefir, a cup of frozen berries of whatever you happen to like, a tablespoon of flaxseed oil and a tablespoon of blue agave syrup. It just works.

What is the benefit of flaxseed oil?

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natu ... xseed-oil/

And there are benefits beyond what the link states.

jww wrote:I use kefir for the base of our smoothies which we have been having exclusively for breakfast for two years now. Other than that, I go very basic/simple. A cup of kefir, a cup of frozen berries of whatever you happen to like, a tablespoon of flaxseed oil and a tablespoon of blue agave syrup. It just works.

I forgot to mention that the contents are for a single serving -- just multiply it by how many people you want to serve.

Brian already called out the answer to Sam's flaxseed oil question above.

http://www.consumersearch.com/blenders

I love this website and it has not let me down yet.

function wrote:http://www.consumersearch.com/blenders

I love this website and it has not let me down yet.

Nick,

I got the Breville Hemisphere for Christmas from my daughter. I use it for more than smoothies. Make olive tapenade, various types of hummus, soup and other stuff needing blending. Could not see spending $500 for the Vitamix so I went with the Breville Hemisphere based on a recommendation from America's Test Kitchen. Made some olive tapenade yesterday and it worked just great.

Bryce, I liked the reviews on the Breville, and also the Ninja, but some say it wears out, but hey, we are talking $50. Since my divorce, it is just me so we are talking just a smoothie in the morning. Nothing fancy at first, and I doubt I would get coffee beans to grind, I don't even have a coffee maker. I was looking at the Nutribullet also.

What is Kefir?

Sam wrote:What is the benefit of flaxseed oil?

You may consider taking fish oil for the same reasons - although not in your smoothie of course!

dosco wrote:

Sam wrote:What is the benefit of flaxseed oil?

You may consider taking fish oil for the same reasons - although not in your smoothie of course!

Agreed ..... the main reason we go in for any of these oils is because our eating regimen doesn't have much fat in it -- and you need to have good fat, which you can get from fish or flaxseed oil.

Sam wrote:Bryce, I liked the reviews on the Breville, and also the Ninja, but some say it wears out, but hey, we are talking $50. Since my divorce, it is just me so we are talking just a smoothie in the morning. Nothing fancy at first, and I doubt I would get coffee beans to grind, I don't even have a coffee maker. I was looking at the Nutribullet also.

What is Kefir?

I hear ya Sam. The Breville might be over kill for your purposes. So maybe a less expensive one would work best for you. I use mine for smoothies sometimes but also for stuff like the tapenade and for making soups that require liquifying the ingredients. Also for making hummus.

Sam, think of Kefir as drinkable yogurt and you pretty much have the idea.

ShadowsDad wrote:Sam, think of Kefir as drinkable yogurt and you pretty much have the idea.

The stuff we get is actually just like buttermilk .... Other than in smoothies, I can like to take it plain in a glass with some ground pepper and sea salt. Reminds me of the days drinking with my grandmother -- she loved buttermilk and put me on to it as a very young lad --- no one else in our home would touch the stuff besides the two of us, so we always knew whenever someone ever did the last of the stuff in.

Wendell, my dad would also drink buttermilk, crumbling salt-rising toast into the glass. He could never hook me, although I enjoy buttermilk ice cream.

To make good smoothies, you need a blender with some "oomph".

jww wrote:

ShadowsDad wrote:Sam, think of Kefir as drinkable yogurt and you pretty much have the idea.

The stuff we get is actually just like buttermilk .... Other than in smoothies, I can like to take it plain in a glass with some ground pepper and sea salt. Reminds me of the days drinking with my grandmother -- she loved buttermilk and put me on to it as a very young lad --- no one else in our home would touch the stuff besides the two of us, so we always knew whenever someone ever did the last of the stuff in.

That's what I meant Wendell. Most buttermilk today is cultured like yogurt, it's not real buttermilk. I figured everybody knows what yogurt is, but not everyone knows or likes buttermilk. I have no idea what the technical difference between cultured buttermilk and kefir would be; or even if there is a difference other than spelling. I know we have flavored kefir in our supermarket. Maybe that's the difference between it and buttermilk? IDK.

I recall, while reading here, that when I was just a little fellow, my parents, just off the farm (literally) would get a glass of buttermilk and crumble a slice of cornbread into it. I didn't care for buttermilk, but I did like doing the cornbread thing with a glass of cold whole milk. I am recalling a salty/sweet crunchy taste, and it's great because I haven't remembered these specific experineces and details for quite a few decades.

I have a Vitamix but if you're just making smoothies it's probably overkill. I guess it depends what you want to put in it though. Seems to me it will shred most anything.

How about an immersion blender? My Bamix is on its way. It's a great immersion blender and can definitely make smoothies but probably not as quickly as the Vitamix. I also plan to use it for grinding spices and other things to use when cooking. It's first use will be to mix up a big pot of Haleem.

Barry

jww wrote: and a tablespoon of blue agave syrup. It just works.

I'm a great believer in the health benefits of agave myself.