No, Protein Enhanced (look closely!!) Salad is not on my list.A few days ago I was lounging around in my pajamas (a pair of Target special flannel PJ bottoms and a free YMCA sweatshirt so big I could belt it and call it a dress – remember this, it will be important later) and eating a wheel of brie while paging through one of my love-to-hate fitness magazines when I came across one of the ubiquitous New Year lists. This one was “Five Healthy Must-Have Products for the New Year” – the “new you” is implied for those of you who failed Marketing 101.
Item 1 on their list was loungewear, specifically a Donna Karan “lounge dress” in gray jersey with spaghetti straps, a plunging neckline and lots of floaty layers. In addition to being chilly – seriously DK, no woman “lounges” in lingerie even if it is made out of cotton – it was a cool $200. For that kind of cash I’d expect that dress to double for a black-tie formal, my next stint as a bridesmaid and the princess ballgown that the mice and birds are going to stitch for me after they finish cleaning my kitchen.
Just like their idea of loungewear was a far cry from what real women actually lounge in, the other four items on the list were similarly extravagant, idiotic and vaguely Victoria’s Secret. But the real issue for me is that I couldn’t figure out what any of them had to do with being or getting healthy. (Point about lots of nookie being healthy duly noted, men.)
Sure a Paris Hilton nightgown makes for good reality television but how will it lower your blood pressure? Lip butter is a bonus for dry skin but unless you have psoriasis of the mouth I hardly think it qualifies as a health product. This got me thinking: there are tons of great products out there that actually do more than just lift and separate. So it is with much love I present to you Charlotte’s 5 Products For a Healthy New Year. And the best part of all of these is that they are freefreefree if you win them on my site! Not mention that you won’t have to worry about a single one of them clashing with your fuzzy knee socks.
A Giveaway A Day Keeps the Doctor Away!
Each day this week I will be featuring one of my favorite health products – each of these is something that I personally use, love and endorse. (And you all know I’ve tried some rather dubious things in the past so you can relax, these are all good ones!) I’ll announce a new product and giveaway each day and each contest will run through Friday, Jan 1st at midnight. Winners will be announced on Saturday. All you need to do to enter is to leave a comment about whatever topic I give you.
Monday’s Giveaway: The VitaMix 5200!
No this is not the crazy robot from The Black Hole, ’80’s space movie extraordinaire (Can you believe that thing was a Disney movie?), this is actually the coolest blender in creation. This blender could go head to head with that scary blender-handed hell robot and win, is what I’m saying. So ice is obviously no problem for it. It also mulches nuts, grinds grains, and makes sorbet, in addition to the 52 other healthy ways you can use it. It makes healthy cooking with whole foods much much easier. It is also the most reliable blender on the market . Singing birds and talking mice that clean up afterwards weren’t mentioned in the brochure but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they pop out of the box too.
To enter to win this sweet little kitchen machine of love, go to the VitaMix site and then leave me a comment here telling me which of the 52 ways you would use to make something healthy. It won’t get you an extra entry but if any movies involving blenders come to mind, you know I want to hear about it! And be sure to check in every day this week for other cool giveaways.
PS> Speaking of ’80’s movies, for the longest time I thought Goonies was a horror flick because of that scene where they threaten to put one of the little kids in a blender. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I figured out it was supposed to be funny. The VitaMix 5200 would never ever puree a child.
i havent gotten my blender yet 🙁
Its ok, I really just wanted to make margaritas- I suppose thats not a very riteous thing to complain about
Kelly Turner
http://www.everygymsnightmare.com
oh my gosh, this was hilarious, “…my next stint as a bridesmaid and the princess ballgown that the mice and birds are going to stitch for me after they finish cleaning my kitchen.”
word.
I would use this heavenly blender to de-texturize foods I find impossible to eat right now. Sipping fruit sounds SO much better than eating it.
(plus, reason #52 was my favorite. Cleans itself in seconds? My favorite feature.)
Cleans itself in seconds
That is the most fabulous feature I have ever heard of!
#28 Get your greens in a smoothie
Sara (rost0037 at umn dot edu)
Katieo, you don’t like fruit???? Wow.
You know I’m using that VitaMix for all 52 plus a few! Besides, I busted BF’s beloved CuisinArt food mixer earlier this year during one of my cooking experiments gone awry, and lost the blender to one too many breakfast smoothies. For the last 6 weeks before I deployed we were only using the rather die-hard Magic Bullet for EVERYTHING.
I’ve never made applesauce before, but that sound pretty delicious! And I have to agree with Kelly, that I’d also be all about the margaritas 🙂
OMG.. thx for posting the link to 52 ways. I do have a super duper Indian blender (http://www.perfectpeninsula.com/EcoChef.html).
But it cannot make hot soup for me.
Suganthi
PS I just read your other posts and your post about your shoot for “FIRST” made me laugh. 🙂
winter soups!
ok, as usual, I had to look at the picture several times to get the point! Eew! Not even my paleo self would eat that (not yet anyways).
number 40… I hate chopping onions!
I’d use it daily for my usual #1 “Blend fruits for healthy smoothies” and #8 “Juice whole fruits and vegetables”
I would use it for ice chunk free smoothies. But obviously I would also use it for whatever I wanted since it seems like it is the “all around use for everything” machine!
I’ve seen some “loungewear” suggestions myself this year. Whatever. It doesn’t even impress a husband after a few years (or ever, if you have my luck) anyway 😉
This is a great giveaway, Charlotte! I have so many more than one way – nut butters, guac, coleslaw, green smoothies, chopping veggies, marinades… even grinding meat?! I could get rid of my just okay kitchen-aid blender and my chopper!
I dream of the The Vitamix-er.
Hmm…what wouldn’t I use it for! I really want to juice fruits and veggies and make soups. And green smoothies.
Oh, I would LOVE to have a Vitamix to make green smoothies (#28)! I just saw this web site with 70 green smoothie recipes (http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showpost.php?s=1d2f22a3c371bae99efe8c33ac9a8b84&p=438347&postcount=1) and my pathetic little blender cannot handle most of them.
When It comes to a knife, as a surgeon, I’m afraid I have to think of the NRA motto about prying it out of my hand 🙂
I just love your description of the Vitamix!
Honestly, I would use it for a whole lot of the reasons the website gave, but I think the one I’ll have to post is ‘Frappe fabulous frozen coffees’, purely because my husband is addicted the 500+ calorie frapuccinos from Starbucks, and if I could get him to drink a healthier version, that would totally make my day!
Wow, that Vitamix looks like so much fun! I’d certainly let it clean itself … maybe even read a book while it did … eating some of my homemade salsa and raw applesauce!!!
I know it looks like I’m slacking to pick #2 on the list, but seriously, one of my goals for the new year is to learn how to make good soup from scratch this year. A woman at my church has done several for our retreats that were to-die-for, and I got a vegetarian cookbook for Christmas with a whole section of soup recipes, and all I need now is the VitaMix…
OH my gosh, what wouldn’t I do with this thing??? First I would make playdough – just because it’s cool, then I would make some hummus (I can eat it by the spoonfuls), then I think I would blend up some tasty margaritas and salsa. I would be drunk with power (and ritas) while using this blender!!
This blender could make all my dreams come true!!
# 20, I want to make homemade hummus.
I would take one of those stupid magazines that suggests $200 nightgowns would make a great fitness gift and throw it right in the VitaMix.
My formerly favorite health magazine is turning into a magazine about instant weight loss, make-up, and fashion–and it drives me nuts!
I would love the Vita-Mix for many of those 52 reasons… but if I had to pick just one, I’d use it to make nut butter. I am in love with my peanut butter and sunbutter (made from sunflower seeds), but I’m itching for more variety in the nut butter world and this would give me that opportunity!
I’m glad that I’m not the only noe who feels that my lounge wear shouldn’t cost more than my professional wear (which perhaps speaks to the quality of my dress clothes). I have to date refused to even try on any Lulu Lemon for fear that I’ll like them too much…
And while I want to drink more green smoothies, and making my own play dough sounds AWESOME, think the cleans itself option just gave me goosebumps….
i didn’t realize it could do so much!!! as someone who doesn’t have a blender, i would totally pimp it out 🙂
milling your own grains and beans–how kewl is that???
Great point on the magazine’s ‘must have’ items…pfft. Flannel jammies are the best loungwear ever. Although when I tried to trap a stray cat over the weekend, it peed all over me and my flannels, so they are not so good for work invloving potential fluid expulsion…which with my current machine includes blendering (is that a word?)
I’d like to have a decent blender for ice, as you mention and a friend of mine told me a great recipe for warm summer days – cut up a watermelon and put the chunks in the freezer. Once frozen, blend up for a tasty slushy drink!
Jennifer from Newfoundland, Canada – if I win I’ll send you an email 🙂
How exciting! But do I really have to decide between #5 (Make Fresh Nut Butters) and #31 (Make Your Own Play-Doh)? OK, I choose Play-Doh.
#32- make all-natural quick breads
thanks to #52- cleans itself in seconds!
as a frequent baker, i’d be thrilled to never have to clean a mixer again!
AHHH. I’d love to make hummus and bean dips and pesto 😀
Ya’ll (sorry, I’m Southern) are overlooking a huge Vitamix feature.
It COOKS the eggs.
Like, actually cooks them. For real? That gives me a brain cramp a little bit. How does it do it? Could my own blender ever accomplish such a feat? Should I try it? That’s the first thing I would do with it, whether I was hungry or not. I must watch my magic blender cook something!
I’ll take reason #48! Lean ground beef costs a ridiculous amount per pound. I had no idea you could grind your own at home.
All 52 look great, but I’m most interested in doing smoothies, making nut butters and grinding lean meats. #50, cold composting, looks pretty interesting, too.
Healthy = Protein Shakes
Unhealthy = Margaritas
Charlotte – welcome back. Missed you! I don’t want to be entered in the Vita-Mix giveaway because i already own one: http://heathereatsalmondbutter.com/2008/12/22/ode-to-my-vita-mix/
They are amazing! So excited about a week of giveaways 🙂
I’m torn between #31 make your own playdough and #46 make your own marzipan. I’d probably go with #46–they were right about the jolly good chance I’d never made it at home–because of its ability to double as playdough in a pinch.
#27 Emulsify low-cal salad dressings sounds really tasty! Plus, I need to eat more salads! Sans frog, si vous plait!
First time visitor and while I’m not in the need of a new blender, I wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading your blog! Looking forward to future posts 🙂
Happy New Year!
Susan
I would finally be able to make my awesome mulligatawny again–something I haven’t done since my blender BROKE. Oh I m totally crossing my fingers AND my toes for this one.
I’m all over #35–Crack Whole Grains. You gotta love the potential in those three little words!
Fun! I am looking forward to hearing about your favorite products:)
This blender looks amazing. I’d love to use it to make smooth hummus- my current blender leaves whole chickpeas so its really chunky. I refer to it as “homestyle hummus” when I serve it when people are over.
Looking at all the things this blender can do, is there anything it CAN’T do?
I would probably use that blender to make most of these 52 food feats. (The only one I can’t see doing is making playdough.) I’m mostly interested in #28- Getting my greens in a sweet smoothie.
How I’d use a vita-mix: 52 suggestions and 52 weeks in the year?? I’d blend up a blog: the Great Blender Experiment!
Combine the healthy blender with healthy whole foods (and maybe some of these recipes: http://www.101cookbooks.com) and you’ve got yourself a year of blendtastic blogging!
I’m all over the easy smoothie making. I currently use a plain old blender, and I often wind up with big chunks that clog up my straw.
Did you ever see The Brave Little Toaster? There’s a scene in an appliance repair shop, and I’m just about positive there was an anthropomorphized blender in there.
I’d love to make my own almond butter 🙂 But honestly i’d love making anything in it simply because it’s not mine that can’t even mush up an avocado!!
I’ve always wanted to try making my own nut butters, so number 5 is my choice, “Make fresh
nut butters”. But really, all 52 uses sound amazing.
http://fitgoddess.wordpress.com/
I would definatly use it to make fresh nut butter! YUMMMM
I would definatly make fresh nut butter! YUMMM
I don’t even have a microwave in my tiny kitchen, but I’d definitely make room for a vita-mix, all the more so considering my last blender died while making sweet potato pudding at 3am for Thanksgiving – yikes. So what would I use it for? Soups and puddings and smoothies and hummous and yes, margaritas. Definitely margaritas.
Oh I’d make spaghetti sauce for sure. My husband is from a very strong Italion family and I plan to put their sauces to shame! Hehe.
I would love to have it to make frozen coffee or smoothies or guacamole or low fat ice cream or play dough…..wowza…is there anything this thing can’t make????
Liz…in hilo, hawaii
Wow – I want to try the fritata recipe the Giada does in the video (very funny when the host does not know how to work the blender).
On a side note – thanks so much for trying out the TRX. I bought one for my husband for Christmas and he loves it. He did a full workout with it yesterday (after spending a day cutting holes in our beams to mount it – a bit scary) and says that he is sore in places he did not know he had (and he is already in great shape).
My top fav would have to be making “Fresh Salsa” (# 9)!!! OO, that sounds SO yummy!
Apparently it cleans its self in seconds which is pretty amazing!
Who could pass up #12 – melting chocolate for fondue? Or better yet, just for spooning directly into the mouth?
Truly, grinding flaxseeds works really well with the VitaMix – much better than any coffee grinder I’ve ever seen!
#2 Soup! I’d make soup!
#30) Smoothies make
healthy freezer pops…so that may dear children’s teeth may no longer suffer from all the sugar in traditional sugar popsicles.
P.S. You are the “Dooce” version of fitness. I’m so happy to have found your web site! (www.dooce.com)
Wow, that blender is definitely neat-o. All 52 things sound pretty amazing, but my fave was definitely that it grinds wheat AND kneads the bread for you! I love homemade bread, but I’ve never had much luck with kneading…and it always irritates my poor eczema-riddled hands… 🙁
Loved this post Char! And that picture? Eeeek!!
I have some online gardening friend’s who rave about that mixer.
I still have the same mixer that my mom gave me when I went away to college…
“Unless you’ve got psoriasis of the lips” made me laugh out loud. Thanks for the giggle.
Are you kidding? “Cleans itself in seconds!” That would mean I could make several healthy dishes a day! I could make a smoothie for breakfast, some coleslaw for lunch, and grind my own beef for hamburgers for supper.
If only everything I owned would clean itself in seconds!
I’d make smoothies. And also, I want to crush ice with the touch of a finger.
totally missed you over the holidays (like OMG)!
what great way to kick off the week… prize a day… yeeeehaw!
after scanning the 52 ways, i must say i was drawn to #52 (but was afraid to look like a nerd and choose that one… low self esteem and all) so i re-reviewed and thought #11 margaritas! (but then couldn’t choose that one… afraid everyone would think i had a drinking problem… remember, self esteem issues… yah, that could go either way on this particular issue… moving on…) then i found #34 cooks scrambled eggs… and was astounded… cooked?!?!?!
i watched the video and had to laugh at the hawker dude “cheeky little monkey” is he for real? made me laugh anyway.
ahem. my official answer is … #31, no, wait #49, well or #51.
hope i made you laugh like you make me laugh
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! : )
stacy from detroit
Nut butters!!! Any and every kind. I have and will continue to covet the Vita-mix until someone I know and love gets it for me.
I would do all of those things especially make homemade nutbutters!!!!
I’d like to try making my own flout. All of those specialty flours are insanely expensive in the health food stores. I’d also make margaritas, of course.
The Vita Mix is one of the greatest inventions EVER!! I used to have one (lost it in a break up!) and making broccoli cheese soup is AMAZING!!!
I hear GREAT things about Vita Mix! I’m partial to #47 – I like meat, but why chew? 😉
Just a note to check my post from today. I have 3 workouts coming up where I’m looking for buddies: #1-Intervals at the Dome tomorrow. #2-Indoor track meet on Thursday. #3-Stairs by the JJ Hill House on Saturday. You’re invited!
Green smoothies are by far the best use for a vita-mix!
I grind almonds to make almond flour and flax seed to make fax meal to cook my low carb treats! Works great!
i’m going to have to go with #10, make great guacamole or #20 make hummus…two things i would eat by the spoonful if nobody was watching (and even if they are sometimes)
GREEN SMOOTHIES!!
I would be all over these in a minute if I had a new Vita-Mix. No chucks or lumps… just yummy greenie goodness! Oh… and then I’d probably move onto a margarita or two…. or three…
Ummm, I love me some fresh salsa. Honestly though, my crappy blender usually makes what I call the “post workout drink” of frozen fruit blend (strawberry, mango, papaya, pineapple), sugar free margarita mix, and vodka. Not every day of course, but it’s a hit at the parties.
I totally give up the right to be picked for my virtuous entry here. 🙂
I probably don’t qualify since I’m not in the USA, but I’ve been coveting a Vitamix for the last year! I’d make nut-butters, ground flaxseed, green smoothies, and fruit puree for my oatmeal with it… And of course blend my soups, chop my veggies (especially onions) and graciously allow it to clean itself!
Oooooo, I never win anything, but I just learned you can make *and cook!* soup in this thing – stupendous!!
OOh, definitely soups! I’ve been yearning for an immersion blender to make creamy, healthy vegetable soups!
pick me pick me
I shamelessly plea.
my blender brokedown
from toomuchuse you see.
I do one a day
ok maybe two
proteinshakes I LOVE
gotta recipe for you!
dump in some powder
ADD IN MUCH FRUIT
& perhaps some spinach!
green always looks cute.
As I age I know
how important food is
so please please a blender
begs this shameless Miz.
Oh my goodness, the salsa, the salsa! I LOVE salsa! I put it on everything! I should really learn to make my own. With a Vita-Mix!
I guess I’d use the blender to “Make Fresh nut butters”
that sounds delicious!
I think I’m going to have to go with the making chocolate fondue feature. Maybe not the healthiest of food options, but if you share with friends then you’re building relationships and that’s part of a healthy lifestyle. Right? At least that’s how I would justify it.
please, please, I beg you, let me win this! I want it to make fruit smoothies (#1, duh!) – you know I’m on a spinach and mango smoothie kick. My blender at home stinkazoids. PLEASE!!!
I want to make soup. I want to make so much soup that I can fill my bathtub up and swim in a sea of corn chowder or tomato basil
I would like to make guacamole but…ewww? compost and food wioth the same blender?
first smoothies, 2nd soups
Wow, that thing sounds amazing. So many choices! I would use it for #18-to mill gluten-free grains and beans. It would be especially fantastic if it were quieter than my current grinder. I would also use it for making smoothie popsicles for the kids. My blender always gets jammed when there are big chunks at the bottom.
#7. Kneed dough, hands-free. I always want to make bread, but the hand-kneeding turns me off! Wow, this blender looks amazing!!
Hello! I would be making “healthy” ice cream every single day if I had this bad boy.
You have some seriously great giveaways going on here! I’m so glad I picked today to try blogging again. =)
I just found your blog, and I must say, it is fantastic. How could I resist the giveaways? I’m a big fan of the facemask recipe vitamix suggests (i think it’s #36?). And of course, the self-cleaning feature is nice, too.
-Laura
selah(at)ku(dot)edu
I would seriously use the VitaMix to make smoothies, fresh soups, and to grind wheat and make wholesome bread.
speaking of 80s children’s movies that seemed like horror movies at times … i think “the brave little toaster” had a blender in it near the end.
and i love smoothies. i miss them. i would make breakfast smoothies.
Homemade hummus! Yummmy…
I would use it to make home made pesto and tomato sauce. I have to go on a crazy low iodine diet once a year (I have thyroid cancer), and everything I eat has to be sans salt, so home made stuff is just easier!
Well, I like them all… but I think #6 – fresh raw applesauce – is the best. Yum!
I say yes to guacamole and hummus. While I don’t love pureed soups, I will whip up some of it and add it back to the pot for a little thickening.
Can’t wait to make Margaritas!
Curiosity had me go back to watch Giada’s episode, but more than the host’s glitch, I was more intrigued by Giada’s pronunciation of Asiago, which sounded incorrect to my Italian student ears.
I love Giada and the cute little way she says Spaghetti, but ahs-see-AH-goh is a cheese and ah-SAH-joh is a taste or sampling.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist!
I have been drooling over this blender since I started on my weight loss journey. But with 4 kids I just can not afford the luxury. So I keep on with my $19.99one from Walgreens. A huge factor in me finally losing all my weight was my change to healthy eating which included a green smoothie every morning to start my day. Although I have gotten used to the chunky texture of my green smoothie it would forever change my tastebud life to have a “smooth” smoothie. In addition I would use it for homemade soups, hummus, nut butters…omg my list could keep going forever. I would also love to use this blender on my new blog to show all the things that can be made from home instead of bought at the store.
I might one day try #31, making my own playdough, but realistically I’d probably use it for smoothies and soups.
I would have to go with #28 – "Get your greens in a sweet smoothie". I just found the green smoothie challenge and really want to eat more greens & veggies… the vitamix would be awesome to really leave the smoothie smooth (I have a very strong gag reflex and certain textures are just intolerable).
Hummus, applesauce, smoothies – great time for this giveaway, obviously! But The “cleans itself” factor gives me chills! Woo!
All 52 uses are pretty amazing, but #52, cleans itself in seconds, oh yes please!
How to choose… guacamole, ice cream, smoothies…
I think #21, Tahini might be my favorite (at this moment…).
I don’t know if I would try the nut butters or the low fat ice cream first. Sounds amazing!!
I’d use it for #4 to grind grains! What fun!
#8 for me–craving shots of fresh-juiced ginger and lime to wake my winter butt up!
I meant, “wake my winter-weary butt up” as in , something has to help me get me in gear!
I would have to go with #13 – frozen coffee concoctions. No more Starbuck’s for me – and healthier!
I would make guac and grind meat to make tacos! 😀
I am not sure if it would be drinks with alcohol (#11) or coffee drinks (#13). OK, I know which one it would be but I am trying to sound better than I really am!
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