In today’s world of fast food, take out, and lack of nutrients overall it is hard to meet your daily requirements.  One of the easiest ways to catch up is by juicing.  Or in this case, blending.  I’ve always been an advocate for juicing whether it is a nice smoothie in the morning or a protein shake right before a workout.  Though, my perspective has been opened to an entire world of blending I never thought possible.

This is all possible due to a company that sets a standard in blending, VitaMix.  The company treats blending with such care and development I think they could even open their own VitaMix University!  Being in health & fitness and having peers who are body builders and professional athletes, I’m no stranger to the blender.  In 2009, many of these friends were raving about their VitaMix and how it would change my idea of blending altogether.  So I decided to see what all the fuss was about and opted for the CIA Professional Series which retails for $499.

You might’ve heard of VitaMix when going through Costco, a distributor of the high end blender.  Here, you may even have witnessed a demonstration of a man plopping an entire apple – core & all – into his machine to see it whipped and splayed into a million pieces.

That was the first thing I tried when I got mine.  I’ve had blenders for years and never would’ve thought to put an entire apple into the machine.  That’s blender abuse, right?  Not with the VitaMix.  The machine has two switches on it and a dial in the middle.  The far right switch is simply the power switch.  Down for off and up for on.  I wish this would’ve been a push button as to not be confused with the far left switch which controls the blender speed.  The left switch has a low & a high setting.  While on the low setting, you can make things that any typical blender would make.  The dial in the middle can be increased as needed while on the low setting for dynamic control of how much power is on your contents.  This is nice to get just the right smoothness to a drink. 

Then, when you flip the left switch to high, get ready.  This is what I call Murdermode.  Anything in the blender will become obliterated.  Yes, obliterated!  And those stainless steel blades never seem to dull, no matter what you put in it.  Even better?  They aren’t even that sharp.  I’ve had some wimply blenders with super sharp blades but not very much power.  So with the CIA Professional Series you don’t have to worry about poking your fingers when you put a sponge down inside to clean it.  Though the professionals, and my girlfriend, would recommend you simply fill your VitaMix with water & a little soap and put it back on the base for Murdermode once more to clean the interior.  Brilliant!

So just as the guy in Costco demonstrates, yes, you can obliterate an apple.  Ah, the feeling of power you get as you hear that apple splatter against the walls of your blender.  A grin emerged across my face the first time I added an entire apple into my smoothie.  This was no easy task, though.  The blender comes with a plunger which goes right down the middle of the lid.  You can use this to push your apple down closer to the blades.  It also gets rid of that annoying air bubble that forms in the middle of the blender when you have the setting on too high.  What a smart invention.  I always got annoyed when I’d have to take my blender off the base and shake it around a few times before it blended everything.

VitaMix boasts you’ll get more fiber and nutrients with their high powered device, but I was really happy to not have to peel the thing and chop up anything beforehand.  My new trusty blender did all the work for me.

Not only did I receive a high grade blender with laser cut stainless steel blades and a new murdermode that was handy for everything from apples to oranges to 8 full length carrots, but it also came with a GREAT instruction book.  This is why I say they could open their own University.  The blender includes two recipe books, Create and Recipes and Techniques from the CIA Master Chefs, with more than 300 delicious and easy-to-prepare recipes.  You’ll also receive a one-hour instructional DVD, hosted by celebrity chef Michael Symon which ncludes 16 bonus recipes.

You see, I’ve had the blender for four months already and I keep telling myself, “Matt, you need to write that review of the VitaMix Blander!”  But each day, something new happens with my blender that I want to write about.  Whether it’s the day I forgot to take my fork out and the blender gladly blended it up while in murdermode. The fork came out wrapped around itself and the trusty Vitamix was unscathed.  Or the day I made my own salad dressing from ingredients found at the local farmers’ market and bottled it.  Or the day I made pancake batter with almost 2 cups of oats in the blender and she performed like it was nothing!  The stories go on and on.

I finally came to a realization the CIA Professional Series in my kitchen is not just a blender I can write about and be done with.  It is now part of our family.  It has successfully gotten me to eat twice as many veggies as I used to – secretly blended into my smoothies.  It has also given our household the convenience of having a reliable blender for protein shakes to salad dressings to pancake batter and so much more.  We’re excited to learn even more from the recipe books and DVDs.  Keep in mind this is after over 15 years of using other blenders in every variety from the Magic Bullet to your standard $30 blender from KMart.

This is yet another investment in your health that sets a standard in how you take care of yourself.  So hold off on getting those new Prada shoes or that Louis Vatton Purse a few more months and make a VitaMix the gift to yourself next time you are in the mood for something on the nicer side of life.

Happy Blending!