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.
A blender can be used to make a fruit smoothie or even a blended iced coffee. Add ice cubes, artificial sweetener or sugar and milk. Blend and serve for a nice cold refreshing treat.
Speaking of coffee, use that blender to grind coffee beans. There is no need to invest in a coffee grinder, the blender works great on low. By grinding your own beans, there you get the fresh taste of the coffeehouses. Do not blend long enough to overheat the beans and burn them.
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.
If you want fluffy omelets or scrambled eggs, place the eggs in the blender and allow the fast speed of those whirring blades incorporate air into them.
Perfect gravy without any lumps is made possible by blending the finished product. Be sure that your blender has a glass container and do not fill over the half way mark to prevent overflow.
Yes, you can still use the blender to mix drinks. It is a must have for margaritas or pina coladas. Virgin versions are great for non-drinkers or kids. Slushes can be made by freezing juice in ice cube trays and blending with juice that has not been frozen.
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.
