Green Smoothies - Fast Food for on the Road

Two weeks ago we purchased a Blendtec Blender - it was a hefty investment but Green Smoothies are such a huge part of our life and we have been through 4 blenders in the past 5 years. None of them have stood up to our daily use and when we decided to make Green Smoothies three times a day we knew we would have to purchase a blender that could keep up. After much research we chose the Blendtec and have thus far been thrilled with its performance.

We have used this blender at least 3 times a day for the past 2 weeks and it has surpassed our expectations. 

It efficiently blends everything to a drinkable consistency - full length carrots, kale, whole apples, flax seeds - we've tried many other various fruits, vegetables and seeds too and they have all been blended into a smooth, drinkable consistency.

It is so simple to clean - the Blendtec has a wide base making it a breeze to clean, unlike traditionally shaped blenders where things get caught in the narrow base. We rinse under hot water and then put a bit of water in it and pulse and it's clean - this was especially helpful over the past weekend when we took our blender with us on our trip. 

Paul blending at our campsite on Grand Isle

Paul told me he'd like to bring the blender along with us on our anniversary trip and while I initially thought it a bit weird I am so glad we had it - it helped us maintain a healthy, regular diet which made the trip so much more enjoyable!

We kept a cooler full of greens, carrots, fruit, eggs and ice. Our initial plan was to simply use our power converter in our car, but it wasn't strong enough to power the blender so our backup plan was to seek out truck stops along our way to use the outlets in the trucker lounges. 

While there are signs up saying "Truckers Only" we were welcomed into all of them, if you try this yourself I would advise making certain that you aren't disturbing or annoying anyone by your non-trucker presence. :)

Traveling with the Blendtec made for inexpensive, convenient and nutritious meals and we have decided we won't be traveling without it. While we did end up paying more for fruits and vegetables as we picked up exactly what we wanted on the go (as opposed to purchasing them in bulk and on sale) and we occasionally picked up overpriced convenience produce (pre washed greens or cored pineapple) none of the smoothies rang up at over $5 for a blender-full that was more than enough for Paul and myself to share.

That is $2.50 per person for breakfast, lunch or snack! You can't beat that price and you'd be hard pressed to beat the nutrient packed meal at any price from a restaurant.

I am working on writing down exactly what goes into our smoothies so I can share recipes - it's hard to do as Paul and I both have a tendency to throw things together, hold our breath and hope it works.

Both our boys adore these smoothies - in fact Wesley woke up hungry in the middle of the night and when I brought him into the kitchen and asked him what he'd like to eat he asked me for a smoothie. The boys have no idea that they are eating about 4oz of Kale or Spinach, 1-2 carrots and various other fruits and vegetables each day - they just love their "Smoovies".

And we love them too.