For our family Christmas presents with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law, we draw names and buy the person a gift, it has been fun the last couple of years, takes the pressure off shopping for several people, and allows me to be somewhat creative or thoughtful in my gifts (I hope they think so anyway). This year my dad drew me and got me the Cuisinart Stick Blender. I'm not sure if this is really a present for me or Ceci, prior to Christmas I had started her eating smoothies everyday as a way to fill her with fruits and had been making them in the blender. This Stick Blender streamlined my blender process beyond belief! It comes with a large plastic cup that I dump all my smoothie ingredients into, put the Stick Blender in on top, sink it into the liquid and hit the on button. Within less than a minute the ingredients are pulverized into a delicious drink that Ceci asks for several times a day. It's also so simple to clean because it's stainless steel.
Now that it's so easy to make Ceci her smoothies, I've started adding veggies and veggie juice to be sure she is actually getting some in her diet. If you have read some of my other posts, this kid is a picky eater, if you even put one veggie on her plate she will kindly pick it up, hand it to you, and say "No Thanks You." I've managed to hide some veggies in Spaghetti sauce, but how often can i really feed her spaghetti sauce? I guess if it were up to her, everyday, but that's not realistic to me. Here on Long Island in winter the produce selection becomes horrifying so we started buying frozen fruit and making smoothies to help her get lots of yummy things for her tummy. After I realized she loved them we bought Bolthouse Carrot Juice to add in, and this week I was inspired by G-free Mom's De-tox January posts of Green smoothies, and added Brussels sprouts to Ceci's smoothie. She drank it right up, no questions asked!
I can't wait to start using this Stick Blender for all sorts of other things, soups maybe? There are lots of other suggestions in the book and it comes with fun accessories, like a tiny food processor and a whisk. I tried the whisk to froth milk for lattes it was a bit messy but worked out eventually. I've used this everyday since I opened it, and am not really sure how I lived without it. Plus clean up is so easy, I do like the food processor for some things, but it is a pain to clean 5 different parts, the Stick Blender is easy to clean because it's only the one attachment and the cup if you choose to use it.
Thanks for the great present Dad! So glad Ceci is eating such yummy things, I guess I should mention I have been eating the smoothies too, it's nice to feel full for so long and know that it's all good food in there.
