There’s nothing worse than a cheap blender.
You know, the kind that grinds, rattles, and shakes across the kitchen counter every time you go to use it?
Not to mention, you don’t have the time to fuss with a kitchen appliance that’s supposed to do it’s job. I mean, that’s why you bought the darn thing!
Just blend.
Luckily, I have a surprise for you.
The Better Blender
Compliments of Wolf Gourmet, one lucky winner is going to receive a brand new high-performance blender!
Let me tell you- it blends everything from soup to nuts (literally). You are going to love it!
Recipe Ideas:
- puree soups
- make delicious creamy smoothies & juices
- chop veggies
- whip cream
- make butter (yes, really!)
- grind nuts and seeds into flour
- make nut butters (homemade Nutella, anyone?)
- crush ice
- make frozen cocktails
- frozen desserts
- salad dressings
I’ve had some time to test this blender out and it boasts several cool features. One of my favorites is the LCD control panel with timer. It tells you exactly what’s going on as it blends; time, speed and setting.
The container is also BPA free and shatter proof. I like that. It’s great for households with busy kids (and clumsy cooks).
Plus, this machine fits underneath most standard-sized kitchen cabinets which is both convenient and decorative.
You can peruse their additional features, here.
Make-Ahead Mornings
High-performance blenders are perfect for smoothies.
Here’s a great time-saving shortcut to speed up your morning routine: prep your smoothies in advance.
Here’s what I do:
Stuff a few ziploc bags with your favorite fruit, nuts, seeds and even a few leafy greens (I love baby kale). Label and freeze the bags until ready to use. When ready to make a smoothie, simply add liquid to the blender, a dollop of yogurt (if preferred) and blend away! I prep at least 2 weeks worth in advance.
I’ve included 3 tasty recipes for you to try: Cherry Berry, Coconut Mango & Pineapple Kale.
Make-ahead smoothies not only saves precious morning moments, it allows you to save fruit that’s about to go bad. Soft fruit is wonderful for smoothies (think: brown bananas, bruising pears, smushy clemtines etc.). Just chop it all up and throw it in the freezer.
That’s money back in your pocket.
The Giveaway {NOW CLOSED}
**Congratulations to our winner, Lorrie Chiarello!**
To enter: for your chance to win a new Wolf blender (retail value $599!) simply leave a comment below. Tell me what you would like to make with your new gift.
This offer is open to blog subscribers only (if you haven’t signed up yet, click here).
The winner will be announced on January 19 2016. Good Luck!
*This post is in partnership with Wolf Gourmet. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only (thanks for understanding!). All opinions are my own.
Kitchen Notes
Tips: Frozen fruit works best with smoothies. In a pinch, add a few ice cubes to the blender to make it cold.
If you struggle with cutting mangoes (like me!), check out my Instagram page for some great tips from all over the world. Thanks to everyone who joined in the conversation! You might want to watch this video from Foodie Crush, and when all else fails, try this mango pitting tool.
Make-Ahead: Prepared smoothie bags can be frozen, 3-6 months (or until freezer burn sets in).
Once blended, pour any leftover smoothies into silicone muffin cases and freeze. Transfer to a ziploc bag when frozen solid (my friend Kelly taught me this trick- it’s genius). To use, simply take out a ‘muffin’ add liquid and blend.
Substitutions: For each smoothie, about 1 cup of liquid plus more to taste is required. I’ve listed my favorite choices and what I think works best. But as always, substitute with whatever you’d like. The coconut milk (referred to below), is the kind that comes in the box (not the can) and can be found in the grocery store next to the nut milks.
Printmake-ahead smoothies
Ingredients
Cherry Berry
- 1/2 cup frozen cherries, pitted
- 1/4 cup frozen mixed berries
- 1 cup apple cider (my favorite), boxed coconut milk, or almond milk, plus more to taste
Coconut Mango
- 1/2 cup frozen mango cubes
- 1/2 frozen banana
- dollop of yogurt
- 1 cup orange juice or boxed coconut milk, plus more to taste
Pineapple Kale
- 1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks
- 1/2 banana
- handful of baby kale or baby spinach
- dollop of yogurt
- 1 cup boxed coconut milk, plus more to taste
Garnish
- Shelled hemp seeds, crushed almonds, or a mix of your favorite nuts and seeds.
- Lime wedges
Optional Ingredients: a small handful of oats, soaked or unsoaked cashews, and flax seeds can be added to any of these smoothies.
Instructions
- For make-ahead smoothies, cut the fruit into chunks and add to a ziploc bag. Add the baby kale or baby spinach, and any optional ingredients. Label, date and freeze until ready to use.
- To make each smoothie, add all of the ingredients to a blender (respectively). Process until smooth and creamy. Add additional liquid if necessary.
- Top with your choice of garnish.
- Serve right away.
Comments
Carmen says
My children love smoothies. I plan to teach my teenage daughter your make-ahead smoothie idea-she’ll love it! Thanks!
Corinne B. says
I would love to make some soups and dressing with this blender.
ali says
this time of year i’d love a new blender to make some great soups!
Linda | The Baker Who Kerns says
I almost broke my blender trying to blend dates! It just didn’t have the power to do it and it overheated! I would DEFINITELY make some wonderful date paste if I got this blender! For date butter or date cookies or even date jam! Yum!
MaryB says
Hummus! Then smoothies and tomato puree. Looks like an awesome blender.
Ruth-Anne Hayes says
Great give-away! Thanks for the opportunity!
Teresa M says
Smoothies! And I would try nut butter….again.
Asha says
Your pictures are stunning and what a fabulous idea of making the ziplocs ahead. I just started doing it and it’s such a time saver. Love it and I can’t agree more, nothing worse than a cheap blender.
Kelly W says
smoothies!
Sarah S says
I would love to make my own almond or cashew milk. Great giveaway!
Emily says
Pesto, nut butters and smoothies galore!
Sara @ Cake Over Steak says
I’ve been on a MAJOR smoothie kick, and my blender is starting to sound like it’s nearing the end of days. So I would make alllll the smoothies with a new blender!
Lisa Brown says
I would like to make a batch of chipotle salsa. Thanks for the chance :)
jslbrown2009 at aol dot com
Mary says
I would make horchata aND other types of nut milks.
heather jacoby says
My daughter became a vegetarian this summer. She has gathered many recipes that require a blender. This would be perfect for her!!
Allison says
I would love to make better soups, smoothies, and hummus. I do not have a blender now and feel so stuck when a recipe calls for a high-performance blender. This would be on my wish list!
Adele says
Love love love the idea of make ahead smoothies!!!
Kristen says
I would make pecan tarts. I would chop the pecans in the blender!
Kate says
I just made my first smoothie this week and am hooked on them. There are so many variations and I can’t wait to try everything!
Trish says
Clever Carrot, you certainly ARE clever! And timely!!!! On Saturday I made a salad dressing for a recipe a student shared with me for a Greek salad. Garlic, fresh basil, and rosemary were among some of the ingredients, and I don’t have a blender. :( I don’t need to tell you how much easier the dressing preparation would be with a blender. Pick me! Pick me! to receive the new Wolf Blender!!!!!! I’ll put it to wonderful use. :)
Annette says
I like your idea of putting all the smoothie ingredients together in bags – such a time saver. I currently use two blenders. I love to make soup, but my high powered one doesn’t let you blend hot items, so when I need to puree I use the not-so-powerful blender. This lovely Wolf blender would replace both of them, letting me make my soups that I enjoy so much.
Nancy says
Would love the Wolf blender to make healthy organic baby food for my 5 month old grandson who gets to eat “real” food soon!
Brittney Welch says
As a student in the nutrition field to become a registered dietitian and then continuing my education with culinary nutrition, I would love to make a ton of new recipes to share with others that I cannot possibly make with a regular blender. I have recently started a blog about modifying recipes to become more nutritious and ways to incorporate food in fun creative ways for yourself and children. As a mother of two, I understand the importance of getting small children to eat a well-balanced meal. Sometimes, a nutritious packed smoothie is just the way to go.
I would like to reach out to every type of person with my recipes including those with Dysphagia. I believe a great blender like the Wolf blender would help make the right consistency for this diet and therefore improve the time spent needed to puree and the taste. With all this being said, the Wolf Blender is such a versatile kitchen gadget that would be used in every aspect of my life and I would love nothing more than to be able to share exciting new recipes with the world.
Christina says
I’m looking forward to making your Pineapple Kale smoothie!
Maryn Faski says
My son is undergoing chemotherapy and this blender would come in handy making his morning protein shake. I could even sneak some green veggies in without his noticing! I have been struggling with my old cheap one for years but can’t afford to spend a lot on a blender right now.
Susan says
We like smoothies and it is a good way to get my 88 year old mother to have her fruit and veggies!
Maria says
I would love to make creamy soups with the Wolf blender.
April says
Dressings, smoothies, and soups, oh my! :)
Shawnie W. says
I would make smoothies, soups, sauces and hummus…yum!
Amanda G says
I have just recently come across your blog and am in awe of all the delicious and simple recipes you’ve created. It is nice and greatly appreciated not to feel overwhelmed by complex ingredients and steps. I haven’t heard of Wolf Gourmet until today but it looks AMAZING! So many possibilities!!! We recently got ourselves a Costco membership and avoided the produce because I didn’t think we could eat it all before it went bad. Freezing them for smoothies is a great idea! I would also make some hearty soups (dying to try Carrot Ginger) and some nut butters!
xo,
Amanda G
Sarah L says
I would love to make soups! It’s that time of year in our house for lots of soup. What a great giveaway!
Emily says
After saying goodnight to our rattling old hand-me-down blender, we thought our favorite (though lumpy) smoothies were a thing of the past….
I’d love to add that healthy option back to our breakfast roster. But with a blender so powerful, one must experiment with more! Salad dressings for my fiancé’s aquaponics farm-grown lettuce, to start. Frozen banana chocolate ice cream. The creamiest soups one could dream of! Homemade gluten-free flours, and nut butters! And, someday, goat butter from our very own goats. What a great giveaway!
Emily says
I forgot the BEST pesto! With basil from my man’s farm. I’m just going to keep thinking of things!
Tina Hutton says
Smoothies for me.
Jen T says
Love smoothies! My 1 year old daughter has been getting into smoothies – she loves anything with blueberries!
Meredith Childress says
From Bulletproof coffee to blueberry smoothies, I would love to have this Wolf blender to use!
Sheri says
My go to is soup, I love to make all kinds, its a lot of work and clean up without the proper tool for the job:)
Lary says
I would be making nut butters! Lots of nut butters…
Traci B. says
I would love to win this Giveaway! I would use this Wolf blender for my daily morning shake/smoothie! Currently I’m limited in the ingredients that I can comfortably add to my ‘regular’ Waring blender, as I am worried I’ll burn out the motor! This Wolf blender would certainly allow me to expand my ingredient list greatly!!!
Ale says
I think I would just make things happen, make magic and fun and meaningful experiences in the kitchen with family and friends!
Mary says
Smoothies and more smoothies. Oh and some blended soups.
Liz - Inspired by the Seasons says
Can’t wait to puree some soups with this!
Mrs K says
I love these recipe ideas! I’m a big fan of even dumping ingredients into my (cheap-hops-across-the-counter) blender the night before, and storing the big carafe in the freezer overnight, to save time. It didn’t occur to me to make many blendable pre-measured bags! this is so much better!
I can’t wait to try these!
Sharon says
I would love it for nut butters, soups, and salsa.
Toni says
Great time saving suggestion on freezing the ingredients Emilie, I can’t wait to try your recipes. For anyone that wants to add protein to their smoothie and doesn’t like the taste of protein powder I discovered that adding egg whites is absolutely undetectable – at least so far. My daughter really doesn’t like the taste of eggs or protein powder but egg are such a great protein for athletes that I resorted to adding them (undetected) a year ago – so far so good.
June Halliday says
My grandson takes a course in construction and has to leave house daily at 5:30 am! I’m teaching him to prepare his breakfast and take-out lunch the night before the blender is beautifully helpful for making smoothies, soups, sandwich sauces and all kinds of simple healthy Delish meals…. And even preparing a full weeks worth ahead. Thanks for the tips!
Amita Bhalerao says
I would love to make Guava, Passion fruit in coconut milk. Yumm
Jane Macomber says
Thank you for your tips on smoothies. We just started juicing and are looking for new recipes. I also want to make hummas. I love your website and have gotten many compliments on your recipes
cathy b says
I would make some yummy healthy smoothies and soups with the blender!
Ashley says
I would make a chocolate smoothie with spinach and blueberries! Thanks for the opportunity to win!
pat says
Love your site and recipes.I would love to try making smoothies and your recipes sound awesome!!
tara pittman says
I would make smoothies and hummas