Tortilla Soup

Recipe:
1. Place all of the following ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid.

• 3 cups low sodium chicken, beef, or vegetable broth
• 1 Roma tomato, halved
• 1 carrot, halved
• 1 stalk celery, halved
• 1 thin slice of onion, peeled
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1 thin slice of yellow squash
• 1 thin slice of red bell pepper
• 1 thin slice of cabbage
• 1 mushroom
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon taco seasoning
• dash cumin

2. Select Hot Soups program.

3. Press Start.

4. Allow machine to complete programmed cycle.

5. You may add the following optional ingredients and select Variable 1.  Remove lid plug. Press Start.

• 1/2 cup diced cooked chicken breast
• 1/2 fresh jalapeño
• 1/4 cup pitted olives
• 1/4 cup unsalted canned corn, drained
• 2 ounces baked tortilla chips

6. Drop in chicken, jalapeño, olives, corn, and chips through the lid plug opening

7. Blend for an additional 10 seconds.
Source: Create Recipes for Professional Series 500

My Recipe:

When choosing which broth to use, I used the chicken broth.  I chose not to add the slice of cabbage or the mushroom.  For the optional ingredients, I added the cooked chicken breast, the canned corn, and the baked tortilla chips.

I really liked this recipe and I will definitely make it again.  Everyone in my family also liked it.  We will definitely be making it again.  The next time I make it, I will probably add the fresh jalapeños to add more spice, but it was good without it as well.  This is my favorite out of the other soups we have made. Definitely try this!

Banana Bounce Smoothie

Recipe:
1.  Place all ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid.

• 3/4 cup skim milk or soy milk
• 1 cup low fat vanilla yogurt or soy yogurt
• 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup
• 1 banana; peeled, frozen (if using fresh banana, add 1 cup of ice cubes)

2.  Select Smoothies program

3.  Press Start.

4.  Allow machine to complete programmed cycle.

Source: Create Recipes for Professional Series 500

My Recipe:

I followed this recipe exactly and chose to add the fresh banana with the ice cubes.  If I made this again, I would not add as much yogurt as the recipe calls for.  1 cup may not sound like a lot, but it was a pretty big portion of the smoothie and cancelled out the taste of the banana and chocolate.  About half of the people in my family liked it, the other half didn't.  If I made it again with less yogurt, I think most of them would like it.

It is also kind of strange because it is a smoothie but seems so much like a milk shake because of the chocolate added.  The difference is that this smoothie is much thinner than a shake.  I kept adding ice so it would not be so watery.  You should give it a try, but don't follow the recipe exactly.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Milkshake

My Recipe:
1.  Place the following ingredients into the Vitamix container and secure lid.

• peanut butter
• 2 bananas
• 2% milk
• chocolate ice cream

2.  Select Frozen Desserts

3.  Press Start.

4.  Allow machine to complete programmed cycle.

I made this recipe immediately after I made homemade peanut butter (for a recipe on how to make that, check out this link.).  After making the peanut butter, I had a hard time scooping all of it out of the Vitamix container.  Instead of worrying about wasting it, I made this milkshake.  I am not sure exactly how much peanut butter remained, but it was a pretty good amount.

This recipe tasted delicious.  It went really well with the peanut butter I had just made as well.  This is definitely my favorite thing that I have made so far and I am already planning to make it again.  It is easy and tastes great, so try it!

Peanut Butter

Recipe:
1.  Place the following ingredients into the Vitamix container and secure lid.

• 3 cups (440 g) unsalted roasted peanuts

2.  Select Variable 1.

3.  Press Start and quickly increase speed to High, using the tamper to press the ingredients into the blades.

4.  In 1 minute you will hear a high-pitched chugging sound.  Once the butter begins to flow freely through the blades, the motor sound will change to a low, laboring sound.  Stop machine.

5.  Store in an airtight container.  It can also be frozen for longer storage.

Caution: Over-processing will cause serious overheating to your machine.  Do not process for more than 1 minute after mixture starts circulating.
Source: Create Recipes for Professional Series 500

My Recipe:

I followed this recipe exactly how it was written.  I really liked this and found it tasted great with mini bagels, pretzels, and apples.  It tastes a lot different than regular peanut butter because it tastes exactly like the roasted peanuts.  Next time, I might add some salted nuts as well.  I am definitely going to make the recipe again.

Watermelon Berry Smoothie

My Recipe:
1.  Place the following ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid.

• fresh strawberries
• fresh raspberries
• fresh watermelon
• 1 and 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
• 1 cup frozen strawberries

2.  Select Smoothie program.

3.  Press Start.

4.  Allow machine to complete programmed cycle.

This is a unique recipe because I decided to add watermelon.  This was the first time I tried that and I wasn't sure what to expect.  The smoothie ended up tasting good, but the watermelon did not have a very prominent taste.  I could definitely taste the raspberries.  This could be because I chose to add a lot of raspberries and fewer strawberries.  For each amount of ingredient, just choose how much you feel is necessary and what fruit you like the best.  This smoothie would be a lot of fun for a Fourth of July party as well, since it really is bright red.

Spinach Fruit Smoothie

My Recipe:
You can make any fruit smoothie and just add spinach to it to make it green and healthier.  Here is the smoothie I chose to make:
1.  Place the following ingredients into the Vitamix container and secure lid.

• 2 bananas
• 1/4 slice of fresh pineapple
• 1/2 cup of fresh spinach
• frozen pineapple
• frozen tropical fruits (including strawberries, bananas, passion fruit, and pineapple)

2.  Select Smoothie program.

3.  Press Start.

4.  Allow machine to complete programmed cycle.

What better way to make a fruit smoothie even healthier than by adding some spinach?  I did not add a specific amount of each fruit, but put in as much as I wanted.  I also avoided adding the strawberries that were in my bag of frozen tropical fruits.  The reason for that is that I did not want my smoothie to turn out brown.  It would probably still taste good, but if you are going for an appealing smoothie, I would avoid anything red or purple with the spinach.  Enjoy drinking something with the same taste but with some added vegetables!

Strawberry Shake

Recipe:
1.  Place the following ingredients into the Vitamix container in the order listed and secure lid.

• 3/4 cup skim milk
• 1/2 cup vanilla frozen yogurt or ice cream
• 1 cup fresh or frozen unsweetened strawberries
• 1 tablespoon sugar or other sweetener (optional)
• 1/4 cup ice cubes (if using frozen strawberries, you may not need to add ice)

2.  Select Frozen Desserts program.

3.  Press Start.

4.  Allow machine to complete programmed cycle.
Source: Create Recipes for Professional Series 500

My Recipe:

I followed this recipe almost exactly, but I decided to double the recipe.  If I had not, it would have made about 2 and 1/2 cups.  I also chose to use frozen strawberries and still added a bit of ice, to make it a thick milkshake.

I am really happy with this recipe and will definitely make it again.  I will probably try other milkshakes, but I like this one because of the fruit I added to it.  I am sure it is more healthy than the chocolate shake.  It's definitely a great mix of a yummy fruit smoothie and a milkshake.  Enjoy!