Tricia I hope you enjoy your new tool and hope it helps with your ability to enjoy food. I usually hang out in kitchens and appliances. I love my Vitamix and use it to make smoothies, soups, pasta sauce, hummus and more. I do recommend ear plugs. My husband bought me shooting plugs that are connected with a solid band. They really help. My smoothies are a lot of fun(but not as crazy as my friend who makes and drinks his 21 ingredient 64 oz smoothie everyday) Mine vary but I start out with 8-12 oz water Squirt of cherry juice concentrate. Add a squirt of lemon or lime juice. 1/2 apple Carrot, celery, parsley, and a quarter of a beet(improves color) Then I add some greens - spinach, lettuce, kale or chard - I freeze leftover greens, tomatoes etc and either use fresh or frozen) A few tomatoes (grape size), cuke or summer squash. Now for some sweet I froze lots of fruits and just open the freezer and add a variety. Blueberries are great for color - so almost always add them 2 strawberries, chunk of pineapple, grapes, peach, cranberries raspberries or whatever you want Scoop of protein powder. I run it on smoothie and check the consistency. I add ice if needed and run it again. This lasts a couple days unless DH joins me. Soups are one of my favorites. I use the Vitamix recipes for several of them. Have fun!

Hubby talked me into buying one last year, and we both love it. We have green smoothies every morning (current favorite is spinach, pineapple, orange and flax seeds) and I can add the flax seeds, nuts, or whatever we want without having to pre-grind because it pulverizes them along with everything else. As for recipes, haven't bought ice cream since we got the Vitamix, I've exclusively used frozen bananas, strawberries, raspberries and other frozen fruit to make sorbet. No sugar required, nothing except the fruit and a little bit of almond milk. You do need the tamper though. Another thing I like to make is liquefy a couple of oranges, divide between 2 large glasses and top off with lots of seltzer. Very tasty and you get the fiber as well as the juice. Hubby's favorite is a strawberry drink made from fresh or frozen strawberries processed with some spring water until they're completely pureed and then topped off with ice cold seltzer. You can add a bit of sweetener or leave it out. Have used it for soup, but I don't care for the texture of the soup if it's been made entirely in the blender. If we want a pureed soup, I do use it to liquify everything once it's been cooked. I've also whipped cream in it and have attempted to make nut butter, but that didn't go too well. They do sell a separate container for grinding dry nuts and grains and prepping/kneading dough, but I just have the regular container. Have also made crepe batter, whipped cocoa, almond milk, salad dressing, apple sauce, tomato sauce, fruit toppings and probably other things I can't recall right now. I use it at least once a day, often more than that. So all in all, expensive, but a really great investment.

"Wouldn't just using a good quality Greek yogurt give you the protein you need to get through the morning?" I like to supplement my protein intake because I am very active and am always trying to build more muscle. I don't eat any meat and only have fish occasionally. Protein shakes are an easy way to make sure I'm getting protein. I keep track of my nutrient intake and without a protein supplement, I would fall short most days. Back on track to the smoothie diet, I bought that book a few weeks ago (10 day Green Smoothie Cleanse). The diet is not just smoothies as other things are allowed, too ... hard boiled eggs, crunch vegetables, apples, a handful of nuts or seeds, peanut butter, etc. I saw it more as a way of cleansing your system to get back on a good nutritional track than as a way to lose weight, though most of the testimonials included weight loss.

I've had a NutriBullet for a couple of years and make 2-3 smoothies a week with it. Be sure to get the one that has at least a 900 watt motor though. It pulverizes pineapple, kale, spinach, and frozen peaches, plus a few ice cubes in seconds. That's my go-to ingredients most days, plus a bit of protein powder and Barlean's ground chia/flax/coconut seed. Plus the liquid of course. DH uses it for his Advocare to make sure it's mixed well.