The answer is yes it does !
Quite a few have attempted the smoothie routine and given up because they found it was simply not practicable and too time consuming.
But if you get it going rightly it’s practical and saves both money and time. Money because the ingredients are cheap and you eat less of other stuff. Time because once the routine is established you’ll find it really easy and you’ll spend less time at the bakers, the 7/11 or hunting for snacks in the cupboards late at night.
There is a planning and shopping routine, a smoothie routine and a cleaning and storage routine that all have to come together.
Here I will write a little about the blender, as it is essential for establishing the routine. Once the blending works the rest will sort itself out, – is my belief.
During our Christmas holiday I was confronted with a “normal” blender with 500 Watt, – not the 2200 W powerhouse that I’ve become accustomed to use.
The blending was cumbersome, and it took a long time to reach a satisfying result. The blender (a Bosch) broke down after a week.
I reflected on my blender history and remembered how I used to struggle with the expensive 700 W Kitchenaid and the inexpensive 600 W Elektrolux blenders. And how they eventually broke down after many repairs.
The smoothie routine is not gentle on your blender and because it is so important for your health, you really should save some trouble and get the right blender from the start. I give this advice even if you are not doing smoothies as an everyday routine yet, because it will help you tremendously in getting the routine thoroughly established.
I was also asked my advice before Christmas a couple of times about which blenders to get.
My own experience is that the most important issue is power. I have a 2200 W (or 3 hp) Blendtec Classic that I got on a sale a year and a half ago and it really does a great and fast job, – the smoothies are enjoyably smooth and the tastes of the ingredients really come out. My brother in law has a Sage Boss from Heston Blumenthal, also 2200 W and it is equally good (perhaps better because it makes less noise). Both have 8 year warranty. Vitamix, Bosch and others also make powerful and really good blenders and even though they are relatively expensive,- with daily use, – given the many health benefits and long warranty, the investment will be returned many times.
My mother though uses an inexpensive Wilfa blender (1700 W) and I have to give her it actually works well, – but that too is quite a powerful blender. Once you start looking for good deals on the internet you will see that there are many exiting choices. My general advise is to, go for power and long warranty. I also recommend reading customer reviews and test results.
To get a good blender will draw you to the kitchen and start you up. Once you get going you will soon acquire a lot of experience and what seemed a cumbersome and impracticable procedure will turn out to be no more so, than emptying the dishwasher or grinding coffee beans and making coffee.
A colleague who had been struggling to lose weight finally got around to buying a Blendtec Classic in December (I found it on sale for 2.600 DKK/ 400 US$ on the internet) and he is now providing himself and the family of 4, with fresh smoothie every day. There is an added benefit; both teenage boys are awoken abruptly when the 3 Hp blender with frozen ingredients is fired up at 6.05 every morning.
To counteract the noise from these machines (and they are noisy) I put a bath towel over mine while running the smoothie program. It has the added benefit that should the lid come off (which has been known to happen,- especially when overloaded) I do not have to repaint the kitchen but only wash the towel.
Yesterday I made a smoothie with 11 ingredients. My smoothies tend to become more and more complicated the more I experiment. With the intense smoothie action the blender provide, the complex tastes and blends intensify and really manifest. Somehow strawberries and beetroot, carrots apples ginger and citrus amplify each other to really enjoyable taste experiences.
11 ingredient smoothie :
- A beet root
- An apple
- An orange
- 3 carrots
- 100 g pointed cabbage
- 5-10 leaves of peppermint (fresh)
- 5 g of turmeric (fresh)
- 15 g. of Ginger (fresh)
- 5-10 strawberries.
- 100 g. green peas (frozen)
- 1/3 lemon.
I hope you will be inspired and will take up the challenge and come up with even more exiting taste compositions as your own routine is established.
Healthy greetings
Ole
