It's a soup, its a smoothie, its a Vita-mix!

My mom certainly does get me some odd gifts from time to time, but every Christmas, she winds up getting a bizarre gift that winds up being one of the most useful things I have. Last year, she gave me a set of nonstick pans from Todd English (called the Green Pan). She bought them at HSN at a really good discount.

Quite confused, I asked her, "Mom, are you trying to tell me I need to cook more?" I always thought that Christmas was a time to get gifts for recreational time. PResents like shoes, music, clothes, electronics, wine, baked goods, etc. So when I received a set of pots and pans, I was thoroughly befuddled and a bit beside myself.

Well, over the past year, those same pans have saved me over  50 hours of soaking and scrubbing pots and pans, giving me that much more relaxation time in my days. I think that qualifies as a great gift!

This year, two giant boxes appeared my doorstep a week before Christmas. At he time we were working on cleaning out the living room for renovations. So when two large boxes appeared, they were not exactly welcomed with open arms. I refused to even open them until after I returned from visiting my family for Christmas. I finally opened it on January 3rd and first used it on the 8th to make a smoothie. I have made a morning smoothie between 3 and 5 days per week ever since.

Two weeks ago, I made black cherry and vanilla icecream.
Last week I made sweet potatoe soup and fresh pasta sauce. (exponentially better than the jarred ones at the store or even the ones from Italian restaurants!)
This week I made more soups, ground my own rice flour for bread, and made pesto.

What will I make this week? maybe orange sorbet? Maybe a quiche? Maybe all of the above!