VitaMix L-O-V-E

I think my Vitamix is the only kitchen gadget that I use every single day. Literally. Sometimes I use it 2 or 3 times a day. I *LOVE* it.

Yesterday I used it to make a huge amount of applesauce. My parents brought a ton of apples when they came to visit, and they were sitting out in the garage. I used about 1/3 of them to make applesauce yesterday and then canned it (and I have plans to make the rest into applesauce as well, but I can only get so much done while taking care of 3 little boys). It's SO much easier in the Vitamix because you don't have to peel the apples! I just used an apple slicer, sliced/cored the apples, cooked them, tossed them in the Vitamix, and BAM...APPLESAUCE! Yum. Then I poured it right into the canning jars straight from the Vitamix!

John (the official breakfast-maker) uses it to mix up pancakes (or waffles) and scrambled eggs. Today I used it to make tomato soup from fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes. The boys (and John) LOVE tomato soup, but the kind that they love unfortunately has high-fructose corn syrup in it (not to mention the BPA in the cans). We've found an organic variety that they like okay, but it's just not the same. So today I tossed a bunch of tomatoes in, a quarter of an onion, some spices (salt, pepper, basil, oregano), and a little milk...and 4-5 minutes later, out came steaming hot tomato soup (or "tomato smoothie" as it was dubbed by the boys).

When I finally get enough tomatoes from the garden (soon...hopefully soon!) I plan to make tomato sauce and maybe tomato soup to can - I am sure it will be a piece of cake since I won't have to peel the tomatoes, either. We'll see how many tomatoes my little garden produces though. And let's hope they ripen up before the first frost!