Here in the Pacific Northwest, Harvest is a sprint. We don’t have the luxury of slowly rolling in produce from April to October, like our Southern neighbors. Here we line up at the starting line around early June, wait for the gunshot alerting us of Strawberry season, then go hard through the berries—Blue, Rasp, Boysen, Sylvan, Marion—catching our breath long enough to lug home peaches before hitting the blackberry bushes and finally army-crawling across the finish line with apples and pears galore.
We then rest all winter long, happy with our freezers full, hibernating until we have the energy to do it again.
Yes, it’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it. Northwest produce is like nothing else.
But all this investment of time, money, and energy makes me want to ensure I’m making the best use of all this fabulous produce. We all have different frugal goals, but my family’s goal is primarily to eat whole, healthy food on a budget. This means limiting sugar and cooked, processed foods, opting instead for raw, no-sugar-added options.
This can be tricky during the winter, when most fruit-preserving recipes call for cups of sugar and thorough cooking. (Not turning up my nose at these, by the way. I never met a strawberry jam I didn’t like!) But I always wondered how I could make better use of all the nutritional gold stocked in my freezer.
Insert a Vitamix blender.
We, like many people, went back and forth for several years on whether or not to make the Vitamix investment. The $500 price tag seemed obscene. If ever there was an unnecessary luxury, this pricey blender was surely it.
But, surprisingly, it was when our budget became tighter that we finally made the plunge. We changed jobs, cut our income in half, and tightened our belts in the grocery budget department. But because we couldn’t afford as much fresh produce, we noticed our health wasn’t as top-notch as before. When faced with the option of medication, we chose instead to beef up our health with an increase in fresh, raw foods. We pooled our Amazon gift cards and referral credits, found the lower-priced version, and paid $120 out-of-pocket for a Vitamix TurboBlend.
Alternatively, you should also check out the Blendtec blender — runs about the same price and accomplishes basically the same purpose.
We fell in love.
Why a Vitamix or Blendtec blender is great for our health:
1. We can consume WAY more raw fruits and veggies than ever before by making fruit and veggie smoothies.
2. We can use water kefir as the base liquid, pumping powerful probiotics into our bodies every day.
3. We can sneak things into our kids’ drinks (think kale and chia seeds) that they’d never otherwise eat.
4. It’s becomes our “fast food” go to when we’re pressed for time. Instead of grabbing bread or packaged food, we can make a complete meal in five minutes, and even drink it in the car if needed.
5. The blender wastes nothing! All the pulp and good fiber is included and beneficial for health.
Why it’s great for our budget:
1. We can use all the inexpensive summer produce (often u-picked for $1 per pound or less) all year long. Find tips on how to freeze summer fruit here.
2. We can toss half-eaten or otherwise undesirable produce into a freezer bag and sneak it into smoothies later. No wasting those bruised bananas, mushy apples, or pithy oranges!
3. We buy less pre-made food because smoothies provide for our “convenience” food needs.
4. We can take advantage of store sales, stocking up and freezing any fruit when it’s available. (Like the $1 pineapple at Fred Meyer earlier this year!)
Tips for delicious (and nutritious) smoothies:
1. Spinach and kale are sometimes referred to as “invisible” greens. They pack a powerful nutritional punch, yet you can’t taste them.
2. Frozen peaches are magic! They blend incredibly smooth and give great texture. (Freeze peaches like this—no prep needed!)
3. Pineapple, bananas, oranges, grapes, or apples are must-haves. Using one of these each time will add the sweetness that most kids crave.
4. Frozen bananas and peanut butter makes a fabulous protein-packed, no-sugar-added dessert!
Here are some additional resources: Green Thickies and The Blender Lady. Also keep an eye out at your local Costco for Vitamix demonstrations! They can show you all the different ways a Vitamix is awesome.
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If you love smoothies but want to find a way to streamline the process, check out our post on how to make super healthy Make-Ahead Smoothie Kits!
What is your Vitamix or BlendTec experience? How have you incorporated this appliance into your frugal-living lifestyle?
Kari Patterson is a frugal-living enthusiast who juggles the hats of pastor’s wife, homeschool mom, conference and retreat speaker, writer, friend, daughter -– occasionally dropping them all on her crumb-covered floor. She celebrates the Sacred Mundane over at KariPatterson.com.
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I’m almost convinced. But when I Google Vitamix, there are several models! I don’t make huge batches of anything, so which one will work for me?
I know this post is 3 years old, but I just had to add my thoughts:
I have known about Vitamix for decades (yes, I’m THAT old!) but could never come up with the price or actually justify it. Didn’t know about Blendtec until recently. After trying a juicer which wasted juice and pulp, and after ‘trading’ my Oster for a KitchenAid, and not being happy, I finally broke down and bought the Vitamix with tax refund $$. I am SO GLAD I did!!! Vitamix had a sale so I got the shorter version to fit under my counter, and added the dry grinder for flours and other dry ingredients. I LOOOOOVE it!!! No more wasted juice or pulp I get both (and if you do research, the skin and outer portions of fruit and veggies are actually what have the serious vitamins and good stuff for you if washed properly and if you get organic) I have used the dry grinder for blending herbs for seasoned salt in large quantities, also good for blending up things like my laundry soap, dishwasher detergent, and other blends. This thing is a workhorse! It can do almost anything and after using a KitchenAid, it actually works! Cheeses, hard and soft are wonderful shredded in it; making soups and sauces; I can’t list all of the great things here. I would pay the price gladly again, knowing what I know now and how useful it is for everything. The only improvement I could make is if it had a single serve container like a Magic Bullet for making one serving smoothies. It is WELL worth the price for all it does.
I have had a Blendtec for about 18. I have had to replace the blender jar just once. I love it! I do not know much about the Vitamix so I do not have an opinion on that. I love how quick the Blendtec makes purees and drinks. A MAJOR smoothie juice store uses the Blendtec in their stores.
I had the Blendtec for 18 years.
We love our vitamix! Worth every penny. Thankfully with coupons, we had the extra money available to purchase one.
We went back and forth between the Blendtec and the Vitamix deals at Costco. At the time the Blendtec was $160 less than the vitamix, and we just couldn’t justify the extra. We have said almost from day 1 however, that we wish we has just paid the extra and gotten the vitamix. Just having the tamper feature would be worth it. Just our experience!
Hello Kari,
I don’t know what I was “Googling” but I came across your blog, and was thoroughly enjoying your article when I saw that you linked to my Blender Lady website – THANK YOU! I am humbled, and very pleased to know that the information is helpful! 😉
Good idea 😉
We love our Vitamix! After going through 3 “regular” blenders in 3 years from our smoothie-a-day habit, we too decided to go for a Vitamix. Love it! In addition to our fruit smoothies, we modified what I call a “Green Dreamsicle”: 1 cup Darigold French Vanilla creamer, 1 cup skim milk, 1 1/2 cups ice, 2 handfuls fresh spinach(big handfuls), 1 scoop Tang. Blend and drink right away, as it separates. Deeeeliciousness!
Yum! Thanks for the idea!
Wow! I’m still at freezing peaches whole. I can’t wait to try it. Thanks for the info.
Do it! That one little trick has saved me SO much time. I’m embarrassed to admit I bought 120 lbs. this year, because freezing them is so easy you can just drop them in a bag and stick ’em in the freezer! Right now is the prime time to buy peaches, so go get ’em! 🙂
We have struggled with this. Does it smooth out blackberry, pom, rasberry, etc seeds? We are not suppose to eat those.
It grinds out everything. You can even dump in almonds and it comes out completely smooth. But is there a dietary reason you’re not supposed to have them? If so, probably still need to avoid… I don’t know.
On this issue of making lower sugar jam. Have you tried Pomonas pectin? You can tailor the sugar to you liking and it works very well. I even use stevia to make my jams.
I purchased my vitamix in 1980. I has gone back to the factory once for new blades and a tuneup. still awesome! very powerful. I don’t like the quality of it’s grain grinding, but otherwise, it does everything it is advertised to do, and is built to last.
we freeze most fruits raw and in a single layer on cookie sheets. we pour them into containers after freezing. because they are individually frozen, I can take out just the amount I need. for most veggies, I steam blanch and then freeze on cookie sheets. some things that I use just a bit of at a time, like tomato paste or sauted onions, I freeze in ice cube trays, and pop into a container when frozen. very convenient.
Wow. Um…. you bought your vitamix the year I was born. Sort of embarrassed to admit that, but that’s awesome!! Way to go! Thanks so much for sharing; what a great testimonial. 🙂
I finally bought a Vitamix after the hubby nagged and nagged for years. It is a great investment 🙂 My kids no longer ask for Jamba Juice at the mall since they can have it anytime at home. I use it at least five times a week.
I’ve had mine for 5 years and love it. It is different that other blenders. I am always on the look out for fruit at a discount and freezing it. Like a few months ago when Fred Meyer had their pineapples on sale for $1 each, I bought 16. I kept cutting them up and freezing them. In the end it makes for a pretty cheap, extra healthy meal.
That’s what I did too. 🙂
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my Vitamix! I am convinced that our frozen-from-the-summer-harvest of fruit and berries mixed up in a morning smoothie have kept us healthier during the cold and flu season these last 3 years. I also hesitated at the expense, however after borrowing a friend’s machine, I was convinced that it would be well worth the investment. Costco often sells them several times a year for around $400. Along with the manufacturer’s 7 year warranty and Costco’s wonderful return policy, I know that it will be sitt’n pretty on my counter for a good long time. 🙂
I was going to say- Costco has an excellent price for both of these machines.
Great!! So glad you enjoy yours!
Question … what do you find is easiest for freezing fruit?
I haven’t frozen a lot of fruit before (except for bananas for banana bread).
Thinking for strawberries, pineapple, etc. … probably best to cut up and put on a cookie sheet in the freezer and then put it all in a Ziplock bag when it’s frozen.
Is that the best way? Appreciate any good tips?
See emmer’s great tips below. I too have frozen berries whole on the cookie sheet & then put in to plastic bags-works great.
KC, I know most people put theirs on cookie sheets, etc. but honestly, I just wash and dump straight in the bag. They stick together some, but I just hit the ziplock against the counter top and it breaks them all up. 🙂 I know, not as fancy and doesn’t look as pretty, but it works for smoothies and takes only a few minutes to dump them in ziplocks!
We’ve used our BlendTec for years and it works great.
But for just a single smoothie, I got a NutriBullet last year and love it.
Thanks for the info. My daughter was just asking me last night why I don’t buy a Vitamix and I laughed. Maybe I will look into it now!
Ha! I know it’s not for everyone, but worth checking out. Maybe borrow someone’s and see if you use it!
We have had a Vitamix for many years and love it. I used to run apricots through a Victorio strainer to remove the peels in order to make jam. The Vitamix purees everything including the peels.
I have used the BlendTec for four months and didn’t like it as much as the Vitamix. The BlendTec has a tendency to drip down the sides due to the design. It may be shorter, but that doesn’t make up for the mess.
You can’t go wrong with either for blending though.
Glad you’ve enjoyed yours!