Vitamix Professional Series 300.

Blown away. Our Professional Series 300 Vitamix is everything I've always wanted in a kitchen appliance. The 300 is a newer model that promises restaurant quality blending, with a 2.2-peak HP motor compared to the 2-peak motor. We also chose the 300 because of the newly designed 64-ounce container: It's wider and looks more modern and the blades measure 4 inches in diameter compared to 3 inches of other models, it also has a new ergonomically designed handle. I've tried out other models in the past, and while they're all amazing machines, this one just seems...burlier. It's incredibly powerful. The Pro Series 750 is pretty much the same except it has pre-programmed settings, which we just didn't find necessary for our uses.

I'm not sure how we made it this long without a Vitamix, but I am very, very happy with this recent addition to our kitchen. We've mostly been making smoothies and salad dressings, but I whipped up a batch of the creamiest hummus in just a few seconds, incredibly smooth mashed sweet potatoes (hello baby food),  and Josh experimented with a whiskey "snowcone". Stay tuned for many recipes that require little-to-no-chewing, Living on the Vitamix style. Sort of kidding.

For now, our 1# smoothie essential is Garden of Life Raw Sprouted Brown Rice Protein Powder in Vanilla. Things we like about it: the taste (not too vanilla-y), 100% Vitamin D, probiotics, essential amino acids, easy to digest. We don't add it to every smoothie, but it does help in getting you through to lunchtime. I also really love to add coconut butter to smoothies for texture and satiety, and we are big fans of cacao nibs in non-green smoothies. 

Favorite Green Smoothie

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup filtered water

1 frozen banana

1/2 cup frozen mango

4-5 kale leaves

1 thumb size piece of ginger

Josh's Breakfast Smoothie

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 frozen banana

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

2 tbsp cacao nibs

1 tbsp raw almond butter

1 scoop Brown Rice Protein Powder

[image via Vitamix.com]