Nothing like having a typo in the title!

Yesterday I happened to catch on PBS America's Test Kitchen testing blenders.

Adam Ried and Christopher Kimball was evaluating various blender based on this method:

In each of the blenders with a pre-mixed liquid, they drop a few drops of red, blue, yellow food coloring in the mixture. Then they turned on the blenders simultaneously. The one that mixed the colors the quickest was the one they rated highest.

To me that was foundamentally wrong way to judge a blender. Because the one with the dullest blades will mix the quickest.

It is understandable, Adam Ried's background is in liberal arts and Christopher Kimball's degree is in Primitive Art.

I also find it questable that most blender comparison tests are done on brand new machines. I believe all tests should be done on machines with may be 4 months' heavy use. How long a blender's blades can remain sharp is very important, and blender motor's performance changes after the carbon brushes seats and thrust bearings or sintered bronze bearings wear out somewhat.

dcarch

Madielee's Margaritas!

Frozen Margaritas
1 (6 oz) can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed, UNDILUTED
3/4 Cup tequilla
1/4 Cup Triple Sec
Crushed ice
Fresh lime wedge & salt (optional for salting glass rim)

Combine first 3 ingredients in a blender, blend well. add crushed ice to fill blender container 3/4 full...Blend well. serves 4.

Great idea Boo!!!

I do make smoothies in my blender occasionally. In fact I have two bananas which just reached their prime yesterday sitting on my kitchen counter and I plan to do peanut butter-banana smoothies with them on Saturday. I think this combo was posted by Annie some time ago and IIRC it was just Milk, Ripe Banana, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Syrup. Delicious!

Cathy (mustangs) also has a wonderful Mocha Smoothie recipe which I've posted below. Cathy, I'm ashamed to say that I got ultra lazy and haven't made the mix in a while. Instead I just combine the coffee ice cubes, milk and either premade chocolate milk powder or chocolate syrup. I'm bad!!

I'm not a coffee drinker so when someone comes over who wants coffee, I make a whole pot (10 cups) and freeze the leftovers in ice cube trays. Then drop a few ice cubes into the blender, milk, and Cathy's mix (or my lazy alternative) and blend. Very refreshing!

I have the same blender I received as a wedding gift in 1980. It's still going, mainly because it has gotten very little use over the years. My younger son did start to use it fairly often for ice cream shakes before he left for college, but alas, not enough to kill the beast. I want that thing to die so I can justify buying a new one. It's an ok machine, it works, but it just doesn't do as good a job really mixing everything as it should. Things tend to get sort of stuck at the top and I'm constantly haveing to stop it and stir it up a bit manually in order for that top stuff to reach the blades.

Maybe if I get enough great recipes here I can work the thing to death soon and buy me a new one! LOL

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Cathy's Iced Coffee Smoothie

First you make up a batch of the dry ingredients:

Ingredient-Measurement-Calories
Fat Free Half & Half - 8 tbls - 100
Instant Coffee - 1 tray - 18
Godiva Cocoa - 3 tbls - 110
Hershey�s Cocoa - 1 tbls - 20
Splenda - 4 tbls - 0
Total - - 248

Put 8 tbls liquid half & half in blender
Put dry ingredients in blender (once you make a batch, you add 8 tbls of the dry mix)
Blend
Add one tray of coffee ice cubes ( I put the ice cubes in a ziploc bag and pound them to crush the cubes)
Blend to a smoothie consistency

Dcarch, you are my Gadget Guru!

I have three blenders: Cheapo Hamilton Beach Wave Station Express Dispensing Blender-it's been used on average of once a week to make smoothies (with frozen fruit) for 4 years and still makes great smoothies. I bought it because of the dispensing spout (which doesn't work) so I was hoping it would die but it's still going strong.
High-priced Vitamix-works good but it's too big to keep in the kitchen so I would have to drag it in from the garage pantry to use it and I forget that I have it.
Ninja-my favorite for processing food. I haven't used it for smoothies. This is my second unit as I didn't follow instructions-I ran continuously instead of pulsing.

Ooops, I just reread the OP and see that recipes are being asked for! See-I went to the gadgetry aspect rather that the foodie aspect of the post. Okay, let me think of what I use use to make smoothies. 8 frozen cubes mango pulp or banana nectar
1 cold cubed fresh mango or banana (or frozen fruit)
splash of mango or banana nectar
1 carton of yogurt

Add fruit, yogurt, and splash of nectar to blender. Start blending then add frozen cubes one at a time.

*I fill ice cube trays with nectar or pulp and keep frozen cubes on hand. No water ice cubes in my smoothies!

I should have posted a recipe to go with the thread. This is my latest kick. It's very simple to make.

Mango Lassi Recipe

Ingredients

* 1 cup plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt)
* 1/2 cup milk (can omit if you like it thicker)
* 1 cup chopped mango (peeled and stone removed)
* 1 tablespoon sugar, to taste
* A dash of ground cardamom (optional)

Method

Put mango, yogurt, milk, sugar and cardamom into a blender and blend for 2 minutes, then pour into individual glasses, and serve. Can sprinkle with a little cardamom.

The lassi can be kept refrigerated for up to 24 hours.

Yield: Makes about 2 cups.

This is a very good idea, Boo!

I have a blender, one that I got as a wedding gift in 1974. I've eused it maybe 5 or 6 times since receiving it, but Ashley did make those "power shakes" essentially a peanut butter and banana smoothie as mentioned by May/Lowspark. One banana, One heaping spoonful of peanut butter, a squeeze of Hershey's syrup and a cup or so of milk. Blend. I don't like banana, so I don't drink 'em, but kids love them. I'll bet you could freeze them too, now that I think about it.

Anyway, I don't care for smoothies, don't drink margaritas, never make milkshakes. I tried making Jessica's lime/chipotle marinade in the blender and the fresh cilantro got all gummed up in the blades, so I use my food processor for that and hummus.

So, I'll be watching this to see if I can find a use for that blender or if my food processor is all I need. The blender "lives" in the basement anyway, I don't think I've used it in at least two years.

Annie

I have a Vitamix and I love it! Worth every penny.

One of my favorite treats is to open a young thai coconut, scoop out the flesh and use that plus the coconut water and blend it with frozen pineapple. Delicious and healthy.

And for a non-drink blender recipe, I make Pioneer Woman's salsa all the time in mine (makes a lot!). It's my favorite salsa. She uses a food processor but I prefer my blender. I pulse it on high speed for a second at a time to chop everything without turning it to liquid.

Restaurant Style Salsa (The Pioneer Woman)
Ingredients:

1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)
1/4 cups Chopped Onion
1 clove Garlic, Minced
1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
1/4 teaspoons Sugar
1/4 teaspoons Salt
1/4 teaspoons Ground Cumin
1/2 cups Cilantro (more To Taste!)
1/2 whole Lime Juice

Preparation Instructions

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you'd like.

Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pioneer Woman Salsa Recipe

My lunch almost every day:
1 banana
1 cup whole-milk plain yogurt
1 6-oz. can pineapple juice

Using whole-milk yogurt is important. I hate this drink with low-fat or reduced-fat yogurt, because they all have some kind of thickener that gives the drink a disgusting texture ("mouth-feel"?), so much that if the wrong yogurt gets bought it never gets used.
I blend it in a blender from the '70's, so I can't say the machine didn't last! The blade assembly is loose, though, and sometimes leaks.

I have a question about the mocha smoothie. The dry ingredients are just cocoa and sugar, right? The "instant coffee" refers to the tray of frozen cubes?

I "invested" in an Oster Blender the summer after I graduated from high school (1970) for my Hope Chest (do young women even have those anymore???), and it was fine for the amount of use it got all those years - including baby food for two kids, etc. It performed well until I started using recipes from "No Wheat Grinder Wheat Recipes" by Cindi Van Bibber. You use cooked wheat berries in the recipe instead of flour. Hubby loves the peanut butter cookie recipe from the book. My ancient Oster just didn't do a good job for mixing these recipes, so I did some on-line searching and seriously considered a Vitamix, but couldn't justify the cost, and ended up getting a Ninja Pro System 1100 (40-oz. bowl and a 72-oz. bowl).

Talk about rocketing into the 21st Century.... I can do so many more things with the Ninja, and do them surprisingly well. It comes with a great cookbook to get you started.

I'll share the link for the book "No Wheat Grinder Wheat Recipes" (see below) and a recipe from "The Splendid Grain".

OAT GROAT PANCAKES
(makes about 15)

2/3 c. oat groats
1/3 c. buckwheat groats, toasted
1-1/4 c. milk
3 large eggs
2 T. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 t. sea salt
2 T. Sucanat or light brown sugar
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. grated nutmeg

Combine the oats, buckwheat, and milk in a blender container. Cover and let soak refrigerated overnight or for 8-hours.

[After soaking...] Blend until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and process to combine. Preheat a griddle. Drop the batter by the ladleful onto the griddle and bake for about 2 minutes on each side, or until golden. Serve hot with the usual accompaniments. (Note: You can substitute millet for buckwheat and wheat for oat groats.)

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Cindi's Lifestyle Treasures

Cloudy,
right. The dry ingredients = the two cocoas and the splenda. It makes a very nice rich flavor to combine with the coffee ice cubes & cream.

May. Thanks for posting my mocha smoothie recipe.
I shared it with May a long time ago because neither of us drink coffee and this was a way of us having a "daily cup of Joe". What do you mean it doesn't qualify?? You use 8 oz of coffee!
May, McDonalds copied this recipe and sell it as Mocha Frappe. LOL

CC, Yes the dry ingredients are cocoa and Splenda. I make a batch of the dry ingredients then spoon it into the wet ingredients in the blender.

Batch of Dry Mix: 1 - 17.4 oz can Godiva Dark Chocolate Truffle Cocoa Mix
1 cup Hershey's Unsweetened Dark Cocoa
3-4 cups Splenda (to your liking)

Mix dry ingredients very well. Store in airtight canister.
8 tbls of dry mix for each smoothie.

Thanks, May and Cathy. Sounds good. I can't wait to try it. I don't have Godiva cocoa. I wonder if just using Hershey's changes it too much.
Did you notice that I unconsciously changed the Splenda in the recipe to sugar in my question? LOL.

Easy Blender Mayonnaise (recipe from 1961)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 cup salad oil

Break egg into blender container. Add mustard, salt and vinegar. Add 1/4 cup of the oil. Cover and blend on low speed. Immediately uncover and add remaining oil in a steady stream. Makes 1 1/4 cup.

Homemade mayonnaise may be flavored to taste like garlic or herbs. Lemon juice may be substituted for vinegar. Half olive oil and half corn oil or peanut oil makes a delicious dressing.

I have a Vitamix and it fits on my counters under the cabinets and we use it daily.

Here's lunch (Although I do understand it's an aquired taste:

Emerald Ecstasy Green Smoothie Recipe
Put Ingredients into the Vita-Mix in the following order:

1-2 cup of Green Grapes
1/4 of a large Pineapple or 1/3 of a small Pineapple
One whole large Banana
Half of an Apple
4-5 cups of Spinach
2 cups of Ice
This will make 2-3 LARGE servings or 4-5 smaller (juice glass size) servings.

Blend until the icy slushy mixture turns into a smooth liquid.

This is a "beginner" Green Smoothie. As you get used to the taste of the greens, you can increase the proportion of greens to fruit, try out some of the "stronger tasting greens" (remember, Spinach is one of the "magic veggies"), and use fruits that are not as sweet - like berries for instance.

And here's my kids absolutely favorite breakfast - their friends sleep over just so they can have...

Sweet Crepes (served with Nutella and sliced strawberries)
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
6 tablespoons water
1 cup bleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for brushing pan

1. Mix eggs and milk in blender. With blender running add all ingredients except melted butter and flour. Still with blender running, SLOWLY add flour. Mix for 3-4 seconds, add melted butter. Mix for 3-4 seconds more. SMOOTH, LUMP FREE BATTER. Transfer batter to covered container; refrigerate at least 2 hours or, if desired, up to 2 days.

2. Gently stir batter if ingredients have separated. Make crepes

3. Spread crepes with Nutela and sliced strawberries, roll up and "inhale"

Loves2cook4six,

I made your crepes today. I filled them with strawberries and creme. Yum! Just fantastic! I had never made crepes before. I thought they were fancy and difficult, but I got the hang of it right away! DH loved them. Thanks so much!

OOH, boo. We had the same breakfast today. YUMMM!!

I make flan in my blender..
Flan...or creme caramel
You need a 1 1/2 qt straight sided dish to make this in...I use a souffle dish
Melt 2/3 cup of sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat until it turns caramel color. Pour into your baking dish and tilt the dish so it covers the bottom and goes part way up the sides. Set dish aside.

In a blender (or you could use a bowl and a mixer) mix:
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
2 t pure vanilla extract
1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 3/4 c. milk
2 oz cream cheese
Mix until smooth...pour into prepared dish. Bake in a water bath in a pre-heated 350 oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes clean. You may have to tent it with foil during the last 15 or 20 minutes to keep it from getting too brown.
Cool one hour than chill at least several hours...better overnight. Turn upside down on a serving plate...one with sides, the caramel makes a sauce and will run down the sides. Serve in wedges like a cake, topped with strawberries if you want.

Water bath: set your baking dish in another larger pan and fill the other pan with boiling water 1/2 up the side of the baking dish.

And also popovers....
POPOVERS
1 1/4 cups milk
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs + 1 egg white
Preheat oven to 425�.
Put milk, flour and salt in a blender...pulse until just blended. Add eggs and white one at a time and pulse until blended. Allow to rest about 20 minutes while the oven preheats to 425. grease popover pan ( this recipe makes 6 large) and bake 20 minutes, reduce temperature to 325 and bake additional 15 to 20 minutes until nicely browned. Serve immediatly!
Linda C

ali, Thanks for the opening to add another link for alternative blender use. Dcarch, I Immediately thought of the Bass-O-Matic after your post for testing methods. Did it cross anyone else's mind?

Here is a link that might be useful: This might be useful?

LOL!!!!

This one is funnier than the guy who made cell phone smoothies.

dcarch