You may have forgotten that you even own a blender, but if you dig back far enough in the cabinets, there it is. Often we buy a blender for a special occasion and simply never think of how else they can be used so they get pushed back under the cabinet in the appliance graveyard. It is time to resurrect this appliance and put it back to use.
If you cannot find a blender in your cabinet, then perhaps it is time to invest in a new one.
If you have a baby, try making your own baby food. You can place small quantities of the food that you have made for your own family in the blender and puree so that the baby can eat it. It is a much healthier alternative to canned baby food. Soups, stews, vegetables and even chicken breast can all be pureed into baby food in a blender.
Make your own fruit smoothies. Just add some fresh fruit into the blender and blend. Add a few ice cubes, sugar or artificial sweetener and milk. Blend everything up and serve for a tropical treat.
Grind coffee beans. Somewhere along the way, we have got the idea that it takes a special appliance for every task. A blender on the low setting makes a great coffee grinder. Fresh ground coffee has that great taste of all those wonderful coffee shops. Be sure not to blend too long or you can burn your coffee beans.
Grind spices. Once again, use the low setting and grind your own fresh cinnamon, black pepper, cloves, nutmeg or other spices. Freshly ground spices have a much more intense flavor.
You can use your blender to chop nuts. A short blend time will give coarsely ground nuts, a few more seconds gives the fine ground variety. If you want fresh peanut butter, then try making your own in the blender. Add a some roasted peanuts and grind until they turn into peanut butter. Add a few peanuts after the butter forms and grind a little longer for chunky peanut butter.
Try making fluffy scrambled eggs or omelets by using the blender to whip the eggs. You will think you are eating a a really good restaurant for breakfast.
For perfect gravies with no lumps, fill the blender jar half-full of your cooked gravy and blend for a few seconds. The resulting gravy will be perfect every time.
Of course, a blender is great for mixed drinks. It is an essential part of margaritas and pina coladas. Try virgin versions for those who do not drink alcohol. Additionally try freezing juice in ice cube trays and blend with unfrozen juice to make healthy slushies.
One way to ensure that your blender gets more use is to find it a prime place on top of the counter. Unfortunately, sometimes blenders are out of site, out of mind appliances. If you put yours where it can easily be seen, it will remind you of all those great things you can do with a blender. Blenders are great appliances and very useful if you just do not forget that they are there.
Mandy Rogers writes a best blenders blog. She would like to share with you reviews of blenders and how to choose the best blender for your kitchen. She has also included some blender tips in her blog.
