I am so happy, after years of dreaming about a vitamix, I finally got one yesterday. It is so powerful, nothing like my sturdy little immersion blender, which will always be remembered 😉
One month ago I had ordered a certified refurbished vitamix online from amazon Usa (they cost half the original price, but are as good as new). Unfortunately I later understood that you can’t put a simple adaptor on the electrical plug to make it work in Europe, because the motor is so strong that as soon as you’d turn it on it would break. So, reluctantly, I had to ship it back. After this sad episode I had resigned myself from getting one, but then I put all the pros together and decided it was worth it, and oh boy after just one day I’m so glad.
Apart from doing all the stuff it does, from juices to hot soups, from nut butters to sauces etc., the cool thing is that it cleans by its self. You just have to put some water and a couple drops of soap and turn it on, and just rinse it afterwards. That is a real plus. Nothing like having to clean all those machines every time you use them.

I’m going to post my second recipe I did with it (first was a yummy carrot-turmeric-tofu soup) which is a simple hazelnut milk, great to make smoothies with, cappuccinos, to add to your breakfast cereals/oats and more.
At home we go through so many nut/grain milks, it semas less time-consuming and easier to buy them, but the taste of homemade milks is so much better and you know exactly what went into them, by soaking all your nuts/seeds before hand you make a much healthier version too.
I made it simple with just hazelnuts and water, but the options are endless, you can add 1 tsp of cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla, 1 tbls honey, agave, maple syrup…
•INGREDIENTS•
→ 1 cup hazelnuts
→ 3 1/2 cups filtered water
→ a pinch of sea salt or Himalayan salt
→ 1 tsp of spices (cinnamon, ground cardamom or vanilla), optional
→ 1-2 tbls sweetener (honey, maple syrup, agave, rice malt), optional

Start by soaking your nuts in a bowl/cup, covering twice the amount with water, for at least 4 hours (this will make the nuts more digestible by eliminating the growth inhibitor). Rinse and drain.
Put the nuts, water and salt (and spices if using) in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth for 1-2 minutes.
With a cheesecloth sieve the milk into a bottle. with your hand squeeze the cheesecloth to let all the milk come down. The hazelnut mixture left can be used to add to cookie blends or cakes, or like me, I give it to the dogs 🙂

The milk looks like real cow’s milk, I don’t know if it was because of the new blender or the right ratio of ingredients, but it came out really delicious.

Store in the fridge for 5 days, shake every time before using.

Here is an example of smoothie utilizing the hazelnut milk:

Ingredients:-1 cup frozen mixed berries
-1 banana
-1 cup hazelnut milk
-1 orange
-1/2 cup oats
-1tsp spirulina (optional)
-2 tsp coconut flakes(optional)
-1 tbl chia seed (optional)

Blend everything except coconut flakes and chia, which can be added on top to make it prettier and give it a bit of texture.
Theoretically it was for 1 serving (my breakfast), but then my mother saw it and I had to share it, and it was good for 2 small servings 🙂