The Goods (Recommendation) - Vitamix

I do not get paid to advertise for Vitamix, but I probably should.  Within a month of buying my first Vitamix a few years ago, at least six friends also purchased machines based on my recommendation.  What is a Vitamix, you ask?  Vitamix is the manufacturer of a high-power blender.  This high-power blender comes with a 2 horsepower motor and a 7 year warranty and will set you back somewhere around $400 (depending on model and accessories).  On the face of it this seems like a lot of money for a blender (and it is) - but with the changes Ingrid and I made to our diet, buying a Vitamix was by far the cheapest alternative and the overall best value.  So if you are thinking about making a dramatic change to your diet, a Vitamix blender is a must.

Vitamix, 48 oz., 64 oz., & Dry Grains Containers, Tamper, Cookbook, Smoothie Cup

We use our Vitamix almost daily for a number of reasons including:

1. Making Smoothies

We started to make green smoothies on a regular basis to increase our consumption of whole fruits and vegetables.  By making these at home, we had control over the ingredients (primarily to limit the sugar and increase the organic content) and to reduce the cost (versus buying smoothies at a juice bar).  Nowadays we rarely make a smoothie without some sort of green ingredient to boost the nutrition content.

2. Blending Sunflower Seed Butter
After cutting our peanuts and treenuts (almonds, cashews, etc.), one of the greatest discoveries was sunflower seed butter. In addition to being difficult to find in our local grocery stores, sunflower seed butter is expensive. The version that I make at home is much cheaper.

3. Milling Gluten-Free Flours
 The last reason that a Vitamix was the best value was because we bought the dry grain blender and milled our own gluten-free grains (rice, millet, sorghum, etc.) in bulk and grind them into flours for gluten-free baking.   We still buy some commercially prepared flours, but for the basics like rice flour, our homemade versions are much less expensive.

4. Making Babyfood
We grind rice into rice flour to make rice porridge for our daughters and use the Vitamix for grinding up fruit and vegetable mashes for our little ones.

I also advocate for the Vitamix because of the reputation of the company for producing a quality product and having excellent customer service.  One of the biggest factors in the quality of any motor (and hence the longevity) is the amount of metal used. More metal equals more money. The high cost of the Vitamix in addition to the 7 year warranty tells me that the motor is of very high quality. And every review that I have read in addition to my own warranty experience has verified Vitamix as a trustworthy company that stands by its warranty.