Vitamix Wet Chopping

I've had my Vitamix blender for a couple of years now.  Of course when I first got it, we were making smoothies daily.  Then I've moved away from eating too much fruit so I haven't been blending or using my Vitamix as much as I'd like.  I remember sampling a tortilla soup at a Costco demonstration.  It was delicious and very easy to make.  At the time, I'd just figured I could google the recipe and make it at home.  Of course after searching it, I couldn't find the one they'd made.  Urgh!  I know this dang blender can do so much more than smoothies and I really want to use it more.

So when a friend told me about this "wet blending", I was intrigued.  She said she blends all of her vegetables this way and it's amazing.  You just coarsely chop up whatever veggie you're using and fill the blender with water.  Pulse the blender a few times and then strain it and you have perfectly minced veggies.  I tried it with cauliflower since I love cauliflower rice, but rarely feel like going through the effort with my food processor.  It literally took seconds!  I was amazed.  And it turned out fabulous!!

We've all talked about sharing recipes.  Someone at the gym even has a recipe for the tortilla soup!  I can't wait to get my hands on that one.  What's your favorite way to use your Vitamix?  I'd love to try some new things with mine.

November happenings

Where did the month go?  It was a busy one, but great.  We knew Stephen would be coming home for a visit but didn't have exact dates.  It came down to how the water polo team performed.  With  Ali's birthday falling on Thanksgiving this year, we had to have her party the weekend before.  She wanted to go ice skating and then have everyone come back here to hang out until around 10:00.  She was planning to have the girls all sleep over that night.  I convinced her to skip the sleep over part because she was leaving the next day for camping at the beach with Paige.  We also were in high risk for rain that day which scared the heck out of me.   What was I going to do with 20 or so kids locked in my house for 8 hours?!  Thankfully the weather held out and there wasn't a drop of rain.

They were so cute.  On their own, they piled up their cell phones and left them on the table.  It was a great day!  Then they all went home, Ali slept late, then woke up and headed down to camp at Huntington Beach with her friend Paige until Wednesday.  She got home just in time to enjoy Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving day gave us another task to get done.  Stephen was leaving to go back to school in a few short days and wouldn't be home until Christmas break.  So we had to head outdoors for their annual Christmas photo.  Luckily it was a beautiful day.

We took these photos and several more in about 10 minutes.  Then I had to run inside and finish getting ready before everyone arrived for Thanksgiving dinner.  The girls asked if they could keep my camera to take a few more shots, and boy did they ever.

They had a lot of fun doing their photo shoot.  And it ended it a yummy meal shared with family.  That was just a bit of the fun from the month.