New Appliance

I love kitchen appliances. I would love to own a waffle maker, a crock pot, a juicer, and most of all, this:






I am also intrigued (and often perplexed) by appliances that have a very specific purpose:




I'm into the yogurt maker, because yogurt seems like something that would be a little labor intensive otherwise. I eat a lot of yogurt so it might be economical in the long run. However, the slider maker and the egg cooker would be useless to me.

Anyway, I don't have room for any of these electronics- useful or not.

However, when I found this, I couldn't pass it up:


This thing is AWESOME. In case you can't tell from the image, it is a single serve blender made by Hamilton Beach that is small enough to store easily. It only costs around 20 bucks and it makes fantastic smoothies. I will never pay 5 dollars for a smoothie again. I love smoothies. They're great in the summertime, but they also make ideal breakfasts and pre/post workout snacks. When you make them yourself, you can ensure that they aren't filled with unnecessary sugars, etc.

Things I Like to Blend in My New Blender:
Bananas (sliced, frozen or not)
Frozen Strawberries, Blueberries, or Mixed Berries
Milk (Soy, Almond, Coconut or Skim)
Orange Juice
Peanut Butter
Soy or Whey Protein Powder
Flaxseed
Yogurt
Honey or Raw Agave (although I think you get enough natural sweetness from the other ingredients)

Any fruits would be good. I do not recommend adding sugar because it's really not necessary. If you like a sweeter drink, honey or agave nectar would be better options. If you are drinking a smoothie for nutritional purposes, it needs to have fat (milk, yogurt, etc) and protein in addition to the fruits. In the future I will be trying more adventurous ingredients such as spinach, avocados and perhaps some raw eggs.