An update to this pricey piece of equipment that Jan the Gadget Queen just had to have. Was it just a flash in the pan or does it continue to be the most amazing piece of equipment ever. Has it lived up to the hype, is the thrill gone???
Well, let me tell you, it’s not a flash in the pan, it is truly amazing and it was worth every single penny. I use it all the time, not for smoothies, I prefer to eat my food rather than drink it, but I use it for all sorts of things, anything you would use a regular blender for, this one does it with gusto. But my favorite thing to use it for is soup. I make soup in it several times a week, and it’s so fast and easy, I precook raw ingredients, and then put all the ingredients in the Vitamix, set it to the soup setting, walk away, and a few minutes later it shuts itself off and I have hot, steaming soup with no effort. That’s the key, no effort, so I tend to make more soup than I normally would.
Since we eat low carb, I make a lot of soup with vegetables and if I want it a bit chunky, I leave out a portion (I always precook my raw veggies) and pulse them in at the end. When I first started making soup I had issues with it being foamy, but I quickly learned from the Vitamix Community to just adjust it to setting #1 and run it for a few seconds to finish it off and the foam dissipates.
I got mine at Williams Sonoma, they are less expensive now than they were a year ago, this model is now $599 instead of $750, but when I bought mine I got 20% off, so that helped. It’s a huge decision buying a Vitamix, there are a lot of models to choose from, but since I only planned on doing this once I got the top of the line with all the presets and I’m glad I did. It’s such a workhorse, rivaling my beloved Cuisinart DLC7 Food Processor that’s still going strong since 1978, my All-Clad Slow Cooker (a Christmas surprise a few years ago from my son, Ryan, another kindred foodie soul) and my WolfGang Puck Pressure Cooker. I use all of these appliances multiple times weekly, they are my favorites and all are simply awesome.
I was a young bride when I bought my Cuisinart Food Processor, it was the first expensive piece of kitchen equipment I ever purchased. It cost $175, that was a lot in 1978, but I obsessed over that food processor, and dear hubby coughed up the money and bought it for me. I fell in love with it instantly, and still love it to this day. I woudn’t dream of replacing it with a new model, he’s asked repeatedly if I would like a newer one, but this is the best model Cuisinart ever made and it works great, why would I want to update it? That’s where my love of cooking and gadgets started, with that food processor and then when Silver Palate Cookbooks came out and Abby Mandel’s Cuisinart Cookbooks, that’s all it took for me to be a die hard foodie. I’ve been obsessed with cooking and cooking gadgets ever since, and even though my way of cooking has changed dramatically since we no longer eat flour, sugar or processed foods, I still enjoy it tremendously and am always amazed at what I cook that is good for us.
So this morning hubby and I were out running errands, it’s rainy and chilly in Heavensville, perfect soup weather. I came in the house, grabbed two cans of italian style diced tomatoes from the pantry, a block of cream cheese from the fridge, dumped them in the Vitamix, added a heaping teaspoon of sweet basil leaves, a teaspoon of garlic powder, a teaspoon of onion powder, and turned it on. It took me less than sixty seconds to make soup. Then I made grilled cheese sandwiches (using Netrition Low Carb Bread Company Bread) and I used my friend Nish’s trick, combining slices of both Swiss and American cheese, and by the time the sandwiches had grilled the soup was ready. See what I mean, so, so easy. And I had to give credit to my buddy V, who is a tomato soup afficiado, this woman knows her soup. I sent her home with a quart of my tomato soup this fall, asked her how she liked it, at that time I wasn’t adding the extra basil, onion and garlic powders, and she told me that it would be a solid “10” if I just tweaked it with these ingredients. So I did, she was right and it’s just delicious.
If you don’t have a Vitamix, you can presoften your cream cheese in the microwave, and then simmer it with the other ingredients on the stove. Just be sure and get the cream cheese soft ahead of time so it doesn’t clump. You can leave it chunky, or blend it with an immersion blender, or put it in your blender to puree - It’s wonderful soup, even if you’re not a tomato soup fan, you may just change your mind.
And that’s my Vitamix Update, actually I’ve had this for a year and a half now and I’m still as excited about it as the day I got it.
Do you think you might want one? Buy the best, you’re worth it, and it will last forever. Mine is Candy Apple Red, because I ‘m just that kinda girl :-)
Here’s the link so you can see it for yourself...
~ Jan ~
