We recently bought a Vitamix 6300 and so far really digging it. Amazing how easy smoothies are to make and how little calories they have.

If you have been using one for a while, please share your tips and recipies.
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Bob (Chainsaw13) has one! Sounds cool. I know he does soups in them.
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I mostly use mine for making homemade peanut butter. Roast off 1lb of peanuts in a 425F oven for 16-18 minutes, stirring every 5-6 minutes to get an even roast. Let cool for a couple of minutes after taking out of the oven, then blend away. Takes about a minute for the smoothest PB youve ever had. Key is listening for the change in sound as it blends.

I have made soup a couple of times, using the recipes from the book that came with mine. Love being able to just dump everything in there and have hot soup in a matter of minutes.
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Another good drink to make is almond milk. I meant to make some last night to try and hone in on the right ratios. But with some simple flavorings, this sort of reminds me of Mexican horchata. This should get you started.

1c water
1/2c ice cubes
1/4c raw almonds
1/8tsp cinnamon
1/4tsp vanilla extract
4 drops liquid stevia

Blend until smooth.
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We've made almond milk a few times. It's best to soak the almonds overnight in lightly salted water. This morning we had a spinach with strawberry, almond milke, cucumber and something else smoothie for breakfast. Quite good and satisfying. Keep me going for 5 hours without wanting to eat anything else.
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Wife is driving me nuts to get her one.
Just trying to justify the cost as this thing is a pretty buck.
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Have to buy at Costco when they have a rep there. I saved $150 over buying on Amazon. Elys was driving me nuts with this too and I finally caved in. Actually, it's quite nice. So easy to make a smoothie, and quite cheap. Buy frozen fruit, freeze ripe bananas and you make $5 drink for 50 cents!
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I need to get back to making more smoothies. Great way to get even more fruits/veggies into the diet. I tried doing some kale smoothies when I first got it. You can't use a lot of that in the beginning. It's a really strong flavor and won't break down as easy as spinach.
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Anyone ever happen to have used both a Vitamix and a Blendtec? If so, I'd be curious to hear your thoughts comparing the two.
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We have the Blendtec which is awesome, but have not used the Vitamix so I can't compare but I doubt you could go wrong with either :-)
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Not me Adam. But I've heard the Blendtec's are another good choice and were on my radar. I ended up getting a killer deal on a closeout Vitamix which was hard to pass up.
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I got a ninja blender after researching and wanting to get something to make healthy smoothies. It's not nearly as nice as a vitamix or blendtec, but you pay a fraction of the cost too. So I knew what I was getting myself into and have been pretty happy with it.

I made a smoothie the other day just winged it.

1 orange, whole, just peel off the outer layer and leave the pith
1 cup of baby spinach
2 peeled carrots
1/2 water
ice cubes

Makes a smoothie that tastes like orange juice but you're getting an extra 3 servings of veggies and even taking advantage of the nutrients in the orange pith. What I've noticed with these high end blenders is that you can extract more out of your ingredients. Like using avocados (whole, peel and seed too), cantaloupes (whole), strawberries (keep the green part on top), Oranges (pith and seeds), so you get even more nutrients than if you ate them and left those parts out. When they are blended, they don't affect the taste at all.
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Are you sure about the avocado seed? Seems like it might be a bit too hard. I won't try though myself, can't stand avocados. Upsets my stomach something fierce.
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Yep, some don't use the peel, but the seed is ok and high in fiber.

Another one is banana peels - add those into a smoothie, but make sure you buy organic ones.
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http://youtu.be/Ax2BOCoVDJk
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Interesting article comparing the two, Blendtec and Vitamix.
http://smallapplianceshortcuts.com/b...er-comparison/
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Interesting article. My model Vitamix has three programs, plus the variable speeds.
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Mike, Bob, can you think of any real shortcomings of the units you do have? Cavitation problems with lighter/thinner liquids? Any experience blending lots rehydrated seeds? (like from peppers). I'm looking to eliminate the step of a hand cranked food mill for some sauces.

Wicker chairs are high in fiber too. Just saying. :-)

Thanks Carlos. I like the fact that the author of that article went and compared the specification differences between the two, but after reading it, I'm left wondering if the author has ever seen the operation of, let alone used either one of the blenders.
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I will say that the Blendtec must have quite a bit of liquid to get the job done or it just spins it's wheels (literally), hell my wife had trouble making ice cream the other night because it got too thick and wouldn't blend :-)
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Only regret so far is I don't have the counter space to leave it out all the time. It'd get more use that way. I've not made any lighter/thinner mixes in it so I can't comment on cavitation issues there.

I'll give it a shot this weekend with some rehydrated peppers this weekend to see how it performs. I'm guessing from the results I've seen with other things, those will get mixed up rather finely.
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