I changed my mind: I'm going on account of I'm taking some friends. Pollen better perform because these friends need renovated bodies.
The place was so packed, I couldn't get in for the talk. The students outside were talking about how it was going to be podcast on the Stanford network afterwards so those who couldn't get in could see/hear the talk later.
I did find this lecture about his new book In Defense of Food in MP3 format recorded on Jan. 10, 2008 which I started listening to.
The place was so packed, I couldn't get in for the talk.
It was genius. We got there at 7:10 and had to force our way through the crowd and take our chances with the fire marshall by sitting on the floor way up front. We didn't get kicked out. It was an incredibly great talk. He had us laughing and on the edge of our seats all night.
Instead of making Anne's muffins, I decided to make pancakes for the treat I was craving after not having any cookies the other day. They came out really well. I don't usually like pancakes, so I don't know why I was craving them, but I'm content now. I made some potatoes to go with them which I'll also describe here. It was a great big weekend breakfast this morning.
I showed this picture to my boys and I swear they all salivated like Pavlov's dogs and then asked if we could have breakfast at IHOP. I said no , and then copied the recipe for them. They're in the kitchen now scrambling up ingredients. I think they're going to sub the wheat flour with taro, because they're all on a taro kick lately and that is what we've been using for our batter. We'll see how it pans out; they have a tough act to follow given how juicy YOUR pancakes look!
And for me, this weekend was the first time we tried spaghetti squash. Amazing! I may never eat pasta again.
It IS amazing, isn't it?? I love the stuff. We had it recently, too:
and fortunately for us, my cooking is better than my picture-taking!
Even when it's just one or two of us eating, I'll buy and prepare the largest squash I can find because it yields the thickest (most spaghetti-like) strands. And since the squash reheats so well, it never goes to waste at our house.
It IS amazing, isn't it?? I love the stuff. We had it recently, too:
and fortunately for us, my cooking is better than my picture-taking!
Even when it's just one or two of us eating, I'll buy and prepare the largest squash I can find because it yields the thickest (most spaghetti-like) strands. And since the squash reheats so well, it never goes to waste at our house.
Yum! that looks awesome! I'm going to have to pick one up very soon! :drool
Someone mentioned that they don't like their kids to drink much juice. We give our kids fluoridated water in between meals, then for meals unsweetened soymilk, carrot juice and sometimes smoothies. Lately we've been vitamix'ing apple juice with handfuls of spinach and stick it in a sippy cup. They go DOWN on it.
I never would have thought apple juice and spinach here is another one for you to try with your 2 year old. I made it a ton when the kids were younger because I wanted the healthy fats from the avocado. Allergies run in my husband's family so I also wanted the (locally produced) honey as a way to slowly acclimate and build up my kids' immune system to our local flora/fauna. It's a great pick-me-up and natural energy booster, perfect for "busy" days - you get a sugar rush from the honey, followed by "good" energy from the avocado ... no spike and subsequent letdown as can be common with the fruit or wheat products we typically eat in the AM. In the warmer months I freeze it and make "ice cream" popsicles out of it.
1/2 - 1 avocado
1/2 - 1 tsp natural (organic) vanilla extract
1-2 Tbsp raw, local honey OR raw agave nectar
pinch of sea or Himalayan salt (optional but recommended)
2+ cups of water
1/2 - 1 cup ice (optional)
Toss the first three or four ingredients into a blender. Cover with the water (and ice, if using). Blend. Add more water if preferred, to desired consistency. Drink! Sometimes I add banana for a creamier drink; this requires a bit extra water. Can sub milk for water. FWIW I've been making this for years now, but prior to that I hated avocados. This drink converted me from a lifetime of avoiding avocados. It's magic, I tell ya.
My birthday was last week, and my son brought me and the baby breakfast in bed. I had midterms that day, so he knew what to make
I am feeling the peer pressure to check out this VitaMix thing ... someone push me over the edge.
Will I really use it? I have a ton of appliances, but rarely use any of them. The kids use the pampered chef chopper thing, but other than that everything else is pretty much collecting dust. Excepting the rice cooker, of course (!) I make random smoothies in a blender, and probably only make those a few times a week. Is it worth it? What else do you use it for? I've seen some of you mention juicing whole fruits/veggies but I'm not a huge juice drinker. Maybe I could become one . Are the juices as sweet as storebought juices? (I hate those) Help a girl spend or save her money ...
That's funny, I thought the narrowness of the stair/seat you had was what kept you on the edge. It was indeed a great talk. Hopefully it will get posted on the Stanford iTunes store soon. <a href="http://itunes.stanford.edu">http://itunes.stanford.edu</a> for the link to the iTunes store.
The things that I use my VitaMix for that I don't believe would work nearly as well in a standard blender are:
1) Sorbet (1/4 cup liquid (juice or water, 1 piece dried fruit (pineapple, mango, etc.), 10 oz. frozen fruit). They are friggin' awesome. The tamper is required, as far as I can tell.
2) Lentil/Walnut Pate. I need the tamper for this.
3) My hummus -- I put whole sesame seeds in instead of tahini, and I just don't think a standard blender would make it as smooth. I cannot tell that I started with seeds. They are completely blended in. The tamper is really helpful for this, but I have managed to make it without.
Everything is smoother in my experience. Mike Lane seems to have a good blender, and I'd be curious to see the two side by side. But there are the things above that just really benefit from the tamper.
So, should you replace an existing blender with it? Maybe. If you're buying a new blender anyway, should it be a VitaMix? Probably. Do I love mine? Absolutely!
The things that I use my VitaMix for that I don't believe would work nearly as well in a standard blender are:
1) Sorbet (1/4 cup liquid (juice or water, 1 piece dried fruit (pineapple, mango, etc.), 10 oz. frozen fruit). They are friggin' awesome. The tamper is required, as far as I can tell.
2) Lentil/Walnut Pate. I need the tamper for this.
3) My hummus -- I put whole sesame seeds in instead of tahini, and I just don't think a standard blender would make it as smooth. I cannot tell that I started with seeds. They are completely blended in. The tamper is really helpful for this, but I have managed to make it without.
Everything is smoother in my experience. Mike Lane seems to have a good blender, and I'd be curious to see the two side by side. But there are the things above that just really benefit from the tamper.
So, should you replace an existing blender with it? Maybe. If you're buying a new blender anyway, should it be a VitaMix? Probably. Do I love mine? Absolutely!
A tamper would be handy, but not $400 handy. I've had absolutely no issues wrt smoothness of anything I've blended. I haven't tried any of the 3 on TO's list, but I wouldn't do those particular things enough to be able to justify $400 for a blender either. If you're curious, I'll try any/all of those in my £75 blender to see how they turn out.
I'm not as rabbidly anti-Vitamix as I come off. I've got a very good reason not to get one at the moment: we're moving back to the USA in just under 2 years. Why spend an outrageous amount (the UK version is much more expensive) when I'd just have to turn around and do it again in a couple of years? Also, I'm not convinced the vitamix is better than the blendtec which has more power (3hp vs 2hp), a better shaped container (shorter and wider rather than taller and narrower), has a different blade design which they say means you won't need a tamper (don't know if that's a fact or not), and is quieter among other things. I may get one or the other eventually if I can't find a US blender that I think would suit my needs (my blender doesn't come in a US variety).
That help muddy the waters?
Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.
I could definitely imagine a design that would not rely on the tamper as much, and I'd like to try a BlendTech. But at the same time, I'm committed to the VM as it is! Also, having bought that amazing Breville juicer, I am interested in their blender, as well, which is cheaper than the VM and BlendTech.
And as a last point, Mike. You are no fun. Only extreme and supremely biased opinions are going to make this argument any fun! Otherwise, it's just an informative discussion.
And as a last point, Mike. You are no fun. Only extreme and supremely biased opinions are going to make this argument any fun! Otherwise, it's just an informative discussion.
er, uh... I mean:
Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.
FWIW, I just remembered that we have a consumer reports subscription. The $400 Vitamix got an 85 out of 100 (downgraded for convenience - guessing big container - and for noise). The $400 Blendtec got a 79 (less good on icy drinks, more convenient, and noisier - so I was wrong about that), the $200 Breville got a 75.
The $50 Braun Powermax MX 2050 got a 72. It was very good across the board and excellent at smoothies.
Just saying.
Y'all don't want to hear me, you just want to dance.
My food processor and my pretty good blender take care of all the tasks I need them for. I also have a stick blender I use both as a stick blender and with the food processor attachment. I've never had a Vitamix though so maybe if I had one I would want to get rid of the others. I do wish I had a better tool for jamming stuff down into my blender. I chopped up my favorite spatula the other day
I also love my VM. It does everything I need it to do... and it will do many things that I don't ask of it. I'm never afraid of dumping things in there because I know I'll get a consistent, creamy smooth texture each time. When we travel out of town and use our backup blender (don't ask), I'm always disappointed in the chunkier morning smoothies that result.
I'm sure that there are great, lesser-expensive blenders out there like some of the ones that Mike mentions. And I'm sure that if you crunch the numbers you can get a better value and pay less up front for a blender that will perform similarly. But that is a big headache on top of already having to worry about what to make for dinner each night, so I sprung the money and bought a refurbished VM. Peace of mind, baddabing, baddaboom.
(I type this as I'm eating my anti-cancer soup for lunch!)
3) My hummus -- I put whole sesame seeds in instead of tahini, and I just don't think a standard blender would make it as smooth. I cannot tell that I started with seeds. They are completely blended in. The tamper is really helpful for this, but I have managed to make it without.
Did I miss the recipe for this??!
Scott and I have each attempted hummus in the last week or so. I wouldn't call the results complete failures (they were edible)... but let's just say we'd like to try a recipe that works.
Scott and I have each attempted hummus in the last week or so. I wouldn't call the results complete failures (they were edible)... but let's just say we'd like to try a recipe that works.
-Anne
It's in the tastebook. It's thicker than traditional hummus, but I like it that way. I add sundried tomatoes, but you could just as easily leave them out.
Scott and I have each attempted hummus in the last week or so. I wouldn't call the results complete failures (they were edible)... but let's just say we'd like to try a recipe that works.
-Anne
This is a hummus recipe that we just love and it takes only minutes to make. It was actually part of another recipe, but we make just the hummus now and have it with whole grain pita bread as a snack or appetizer.
2 cups cooked and drained garbanzo beans
⅓ cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup sesame tahini, raw or roasted
2 gloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon mild paprika
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons water
Put everything in the blender and purée until smooth. Can be eaten immediately, but the recipe says it's even better if you let it sit a few hours for the flavors to blend even more. We make a double batch and keep it in a bowl in the refrigerator and it gets eaten over the next few days.
It's in the tastebook. It's thicker than traditional hummus, but I like it that way. I add sundried tomatoes, but you could just as easily leave them out.
This is a hummus recipe that we just love and it takes only minutes to make. It was actually part of another recipe, but we make just the hummus now and have it with whole grain pita bread as a snack or appetizer.
2 cups cooked and drained garbanzo beans
⅓ cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup sesame tahini, raw or roasted
2 gloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon mild paprika
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons water
Put everything in the blender and purée until smooth. Can be eaten immediately, but the recipe says it's even better if you let it sit a few hours for the flavors to blend even more. We make a double batch and keep it in a bowl in the refrigerator and it gets eaten over the next few days.
Nice! This'll give me another one to try. You can never have too much hummus (as long as it tastes better than the stuff I've been making lately, that is. )
Okay I went and did a search on ITunes Stanford for Pollen and got one hit that I figured I would share... Pollen on The Ethics of Eating on American Public Radio
I am downloading it now I have not listened to it, I am saving it for tomorrow's plane flight.
Nice! This'll give me another one to try. You can never have too much hummus (as long as it tastes better than the stuff I've been making lately, that is. )
-Anne
Anne, what have you been doing? Seriously, isn't it pretty hard to screw up hummus?
I do think that making it healthy (i.e. no salt, oil) takes a little getting used to, but heck, we're all over getting used to the healthy versions of old standbys. Like your beany meatballs! (which I really want to try).
Anne, what have you been doing? Seriously, isn't it pretty hard to screw up hummus?
I do think that making it healthy (i.e. no salt, oil) takes a little getting used to, but heck, we're all over getting used to the healthy versions of old standbys. Like your beany meatballs! (which I really want to try).
Yeah, you would think that hummus would be a breeze to make. And I have had oil-free hummus from the store that I love. So I don't think that's the problem. (Also, my husband says that sometimes I have "health buds" and not "taste buds". In fact, I made what can only be called Garbanzo Bean Paste on my last attempt and I sat down and ate it with a spoon because I knew it was healthy and it wasn't *that* bad. )
So far, the toughest thing has been getting the consistency down. Smooth and creamy (but not watery) (and not so thick it's just bean paste) seems to have eluded me so far.
My husband is less of an ETL-er, and he even followed a recipe that included oil and tahini... and roasted red pepper for flavor. It was only so-so. Maybe it's the way I pressure-cooked the garbanzos? I'll give your recipe a shot and see how it goes.
Comments
The place was so packed, I couldn't get in for the talk. The students outside were talking about how it was going to be podcast on the Stanford network afterwards so those who couldn't get in could see/hear the talk later.
I did find this lecture about his new book In Defense of Food in MP3 format recorded on Jan. 10, 2008 which I started listening to.
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I showed this picture to my boys and I swear they all salivated like Pavlov's dogs and then asked if we could have breakfast at IHOP. I said no
Thanks for both the recipe AND the picture
It IS amazing, isn't it?? I love the stuff. We had it recently, too:
and fortunately for us, my cooking is better than my picture-taking!
Even when it's just one or two of us eating, I'll buy and prepare the largest squash I can find because it yields the thickest (most spaghetti-like) strands. And since the squash reheats so well, it never goes to waste at our house.
Yum! that looks awesome! I'm going to have to pick one up very soon! :drool
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I never would have thought apple juice and spinach
1/2 - 1 avocado
1/2 - 1 tsp natural (organic) vanilla extract
1-2 Tbsp raw, local honey OR raw agave nectar
pinch of sea or Himalayan salt (optional but recommended)
2+ cups of water
1/2 - 1 cup ice (optional)
Toss the first three or four ingredients into a blender. Cover with the water (and ice, if using). Blend. Add more water if preferred, to desired consistency. Drink! Sometimes I add banana for a creamier drink; this requires a bit extra water. Can sub milk for water. FWIW I've been making this for years now, but prior to that I hated avocados. This drink converted me from a lifetime of avoiding avocados. It's magic, I tell ya.
My birthday was last week, and my son brought me and the baby breakfast in bed. I had midterms that day, so he knew what to make
I am feeling the peer pressure to check out this VitaMix thing ... someone push me over the edge.
Will I really use it? I have a ton of appliances, but rarely use any of them. The kids use the pampered chef chopper thing, but other than that everything else is pretty much collecting dust. Excepting the rice cooker, of course (!) I make random smoothies in a blender, and probably only make those a few times a week. Is it worth it? What else do you use it for? I've seen some of you mention juicing whole fruits/veggies but I'm not a huge juice drinker. Maybe I could become one
That's funny, I thought the narrowness of the stair/seat you had was what kept you on the edge. It was indeed a great talk. Hopefully it will get posted on the Stanford iTunes store soon. <a href="http://itunes.stanford.edu">http://itunes.stanford.edu</a> for the link to the iTunes store.
The things that I use my VitaMix for that I don't believe would work nearly as well in a standard blender are:
1) Sorbet (1/4 cup liquid (juice or water, 1 piece dried fruit (pineapple, mango, etc.), 10 oz. frozen fruit). They are friggin' awesome. The tamper is required, as far as I can tell.
2) Lentil/Walnut Pate. I need the tamper for this.
3) My hummus -- I put whole sesame seeds in instead of tahini, and I just don't think a standard blender would make it as smooth. I cannot tell that I started with seeds. They are completely blended in. The tamper is really helpful for this, but I have managed to make it without.
Everything is smoother in my experience. Mike Lane seems to have a good blender, and I'd be curious to see the two side by side. But there are the things above that just really benefit from the tamper.
So, should you replace an existing blender with it? Maybe. If you're buying a new blender anyway, should it be a VitaMix? Probably. Do I love mine? Absolutely!
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I'm not as rabbidly anti-Vitamix as I come off. I've got a very good reason not to get one at the moment: we're moving back to the USA in just under 2 years. Why spend an outrageous amount (the UK version is much more expensive) when I'd just have to turn around and do it again in a couple of years? Also, I'm not convinced the vitamix is better than the blendtec which has more power (3hp vs 2hp), a better shaped container (shorter and wider rather than taller and narrower), has a different blade design which they say means you won't need a tamper (don't know if that's a fact or not), and is quieter among other things. I may get one or the other eventually if I can't find a US blender that I think would suit my needs (my blender doesn't come in a US variety).
That help muddy the waters?
http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
And as a last point, Mike. You are no fun. Only extreme and supremely biased opinions are going to make this argument any fun! Otherwise, it's just an informative discussion.
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
The $50 Braun Powermax MX 2050 got a 72. It was very good across the board and excellent at smoothies.
Just saying.
http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
I
I also love my VM. It does everything I need it to do... and it will do many things that I don't ask of it. I'm never afraid of dumping things in there because I know I'll get a consistent, creamy smooth texture each time. When we travel out of town and use our backup blender (don't ask), I'm always disappointed in the chunkier morning smoothies that result.
I'm sure that there are great, lesser-expensive blenders out there like some of the ones that Mike mentions. And I'm sure that if you crunch the numbers you can get a better value and pay less up front for a blender that will perform similarly. But that is a big headache on top of already having to worry about what to make for dinner each night, so I sprung the money and bought a refurbished VM. Peace of mind, baddabing, baddaboom.
(I type this as I'm eating my anti-cancer soup for lunch!)
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
Did I miss the recipe for this??!
Scott and I have each attempted hummus in the last week or so. I wouldn't call the results complete failures (they were edible)... but let's just say we'd like to try a recipe that works.
-Anne
It's in the tastebook. It's thicker than traditional hummus, but I like it that way. I add sundried tomatoes, but you could just as easily leave them out.
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
This is a hummus recipe that we just love and it takes only minutes to make. It was actually part of another recipe, but we make just the hummus now and have it with whole grain pita bread as a snack or appetizer.
2 cups cooked and drained garbanzo beans
⅓ cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup sesame tahini, raw or roasted
2 gloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon mild paprika
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons water
Put everything in the blender and purée until smooth. Can be eaten immediately, but the recipe says it's even better if you let it sit a few hours for the flavors to blend even more. We make a double batch and keep it in a bowl in the refrigerator and it gets eaten over the next few days.
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Hmm... guess I shoulda checked there first.
Thanks!
-Anne
Nice! This'll give me another one to try. You can never have too much hummus (as long as it tastes better than the stuff I've been making lately, that is.
-Anne
I am downloading it now I have not listened to it, I am saving it for tomorrow's plane flight.
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Anne, what have you been doing? Seriously, isn't it pretty hard to screw up hummus?
I do think that making it healthy (i.e. no salt, oil) takes a little getting used to, but heck, we're all over getting used to the healthy versions of old standbys. Like your beany meatballs! (which I really want to try).
Dgrin FAQ | Me | Workshops
Yeah, you would think that hummus would be a breeze to make. And I have had oil-free hummus from the store that I love. So I don't think that's the problem. (Also, my husband says that sometimes I have "health buds" and not "taste buds". In fact, I made what can only be called Garbanzo Bean Paste on my last attempt and I sat down and ate it with a spoon because I knew it was healthy and it wasn't *that* bad.
So far, the toughest thing has been getting the consistency down. Smooth and creamy (but not watery) (and not so thick it's just bean paste) seems to have eluded me so far.
My husband is less of an ETL-er, and he even followed a recipe that included oil and tahini... and roasted red pepper for flavor. It was only so-so. Maybe it's the way I pressure-cooked the garbanzos? I'll give your recipe a shot and see how it goes.
-Anne
Canned beans may be cheating, but they work!
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http://photos.mikelanestudios.com/
I don't consider it a cheat at all. I find my hummus tastes better when I use canned, and also when I use tahini instead of raw unhulled seeds.
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
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