Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup: Hello Vitamix! Hello Humidity! Goodbye Ten Pounds!

Day One. I waited like a child on Christmas Eve for dinner to roll around. I had my new Vitamix Blender unpacked. I watched the "How-To All Things Vitamix" dvd with Michael Symon (Food Network dude). I set my ingredients out for our Vitamix christening--Mr. Thyme's favorite:

Warm Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup

 1-28 oz. can whole tomatoes

5 cloves garlic

 1 package cherry tomatoes

1 chopped green pepper

1/2 avacado (for creamy texture)

1/2 onion

1 stick celery 

2 carrots

4 stems fresh basil

3 stems fresh oregano

1 veggie boullion cube

 3 cups water

fresh ground pepper

dash of chipolte seasoning

dash of cayenne pepper

Press On. Turn dial to 10. Flip from Variable to High Speed. Hold there for five minutes. Wait for steam to begin coming from the top. Viola! Soup's on--and it's warmed!  

Hello new Vitamix blender! This was purchased at a nicely appointed store (Williams Sonoma) which my credit card had never seen the likes of before. . . and won't ever again for a while. Cripes, this cost as much as my scratch and dent Maytag stove I bought two years ago. Gulp. I tried to locate a Vitamixer at an Everything's A Dollar store, but alas, they don't stock it there. Darn. Well, as you can see, my kitchen lacks space! And no, the cookbooks are not moving. And no, I don't need a fifty thousand dollar kitchen remodel--thank you very much. I love my cozy little cooking lab: a sink, stove, fridge and bookshelves.

Day Two. I waited all morning for my first Green Smoothie. The apple is not peeled, nor cored. You can toss the whole thing in! (Just be sure to peel off that sticker code.) We were in for some hot-hot-hot and humid weather. I was in for some major pounds to melt off as I spent all day Saturday and Sunday outside, planting, mowing, weeding, trimming, running, walking. St. Louis decided to skip spring and jumped right into the July-ness heat and humidity this weekend. Let me tell you, it takes stamina to be a Southern Midwestener.

Mmmm. Green Smoothie for breakfast. After a hard five-mile run with my Saturday morning running group. Starts at seven sharp. Forty-five minutes later, we are all just covered in sweat--good pound melting sweat! A smooth as silk smoothie awaited me when I got home. Deeelish!

Then Sunday rolled around. I went out to get the paper in my half fog, sleepy head self, only to stop in my tracks to look closer at this grey blob on the ground. (My specs were inside.) After I got my glasses on, I realized I missed stepping on this little punkin' pie by about two inches! OMG, he's one of the baby cardinals mama cardinal had kicked out of the nest! Ready for the new world and wondering who I was and why I didn't have chewed up bird food to spit up into its mouth. . . isn't that the most adorable thing in the world? (The baby, not the spit up bird food!)

After our smoothie and pancake breakfast Sunday, we went for a hike. (Yes, I said smootie and pancakes--we had some miles to cover!) A beautiful, lush Mississippi River waited for us. The rains we've had have contributed to some flooding along the river banks. Regardless, nothing is more beautiful than the Mississippi River in the morning. Okay, a little muddy. But still.

Who is that super energetic couple over there? They act like they've just had a green smoothie breakfast in their Vitamixer!

I spotted this blue heron along the lake in the park. (Mr. Thyme calls me "Crow Woman". I can spot things like a crow because I'm so far-sighted.) I stopped and tried to walk really close to it. My photo attempts were hard to grapple with because my specs were at home, so I handed the camera to MT and he swung the lens up just in time to capture this beautiful bird taking off in flight. They are breathtaking birds to watch and we'd never been this close to one before. 

Okay, so we went with the Vitamix Blender. No, this is not a paid ad. (I wish.) But allow me to say, I am quite thrilled with my purchase. I had no idea how this might sound, look or perform. I had done my research and read about as much as one sane woman could handle on the ins and outs of blenders for freaks like us! The Oster blender I got at Wal-Mart is like child's play compared to this mega-monster. I mean, literally now I think, what's the point. Either you blend, or you don't. And prior to owning this: we didn't.

Now, this is not the Cadillac version of Vitamix blenders. That would be the six-hundred dollar one that had some sort of insta-ice cream making device and insta-soup making thing. But you can do the same with this one for about a hundred and fifty less. It comes with a beautiful cookcook. A wonderful DVD and the rest is up to you.

I'm interested in trying out some raw foods eating, too. (The jury is still out for Mr. Thyme as he said to me: "If you start that Raw Food stuff, that means I'll have to stop and get a snack on the way home to keep from starving.") Marriage is so fun. This will help in that raw food cooking area. But I don't want to live like I'm in a nursing home on my last legs either--liquid diets and all. So we will not be "blend-a-holics" with our food stuffs. Just a blend here and there.

The thing I love about this machine--and it is a machine. Health benefits abound! I mean, we are already vegan, right? Not much further "out there" in eathing we can go unless we begin the "wheat grass" journey. Uh, there will be no wheatgrass going on here. But on the health-o-meter, I think we just leaped about five points up the "good-for-you scale". Regarding other aesthetics. It sounds like a very smooth running motorcycle on its "high" level. I was expecting something much louder the way folks on other sites described it. I'm not wearing ear buds for protection yet, but if we go for like two or more times a day of blending, I might invest in a pair. I love it's somewhat compact size. I love how easy it is to clean. And we even made hummus in it--cleaning was a breeze. I am sure when I begin "nut butter" making, we might find some cleaning challenges. I also love the versatility. That heating capability owing to its blades running 240 mph, well, you can't knock not having to heat up your house and dirty another dish for some fabulous soup in about five minutes. Unbelievable. That to me is perhaps the most impressive part of this blender: hot soup in minutes. This thing takes the work, too. It has a temperature control thingy that shuts off if your machine is getting too hot. It also comes with a seven year warranty. Love that!  

Things I don't like so much. The "foamy-ness" of the end results. With the tomato soup, we had some foam as you can see in the photo. And this can contribute to a bit of "bloat" if that is something you are extra sensitive to--not to mention the incredible increase in fiber consumption. (We keep Bean-o in stock in this house like we keep ibuprofen.) But after storing the leftover soup in the fridge and the next day having it cold for lunch--Wow. And bubble-free! Some of the best, smoothest, restaurant-quality cold tomato soup we've ever had. When I say we loved it, we loved it! Other than that--I don't really have any complaints. I was a bit afraid I might need to re-wire an electrical outlet for its use--nope. Works just fine in my current kitchen plugs.

My next experiment is going to be with the making of ice cream and sorbet. We shall see. Oh if I can conquer vegan ice cream in my house--look out! No more four dollar pints for me! Hooray! (Plus I can use the extra money for paying down on my blender.)