How a Blender Changed My Life

I’ve been writing professionally for several years now, and I’ve received quite a few products to review. There are, of course, some that don’t make the cut, but most of the items I accept for review are pretty good; great, even. Like, I would spend my own money, gladly, to have them.

And then sometimes, I review a product that’s truly life changing. Like my new lover blender*, the HealthMaster Elite.

You may recall that, for a month or so, I was on a liquid and soft foods diet due to a wonky jaw. I started out using my old blender, which I think I’d had since I started college—those margaritas weren’t going to mix themselves! And while it did the job, it wasn’t without a good bit of effort on my part. I was always stopping the blender, moving things around, hitting different speeds, and even then, sometimes I ended up with a big clump of frozen spinach in the middle of my smoothie.

I tried another inexpensive blender, thinking newer would mean better, but there was no improvement. I started asking around, and everyone I knew was pushing blenders that I thought were out of my price range. I mean, how am I going to justify spending hundreds of dollars on a blender when I can get one for $25 bucks? Sure, the one I got for $25 bucks was sitting in the box, unused, because it sucked, but still!

So, when the folks at HealthMaster came calling, I was thrilled. This would be my chance to determine whether a pricier blender was worth the investment! The first thing I realized was that the Living Well | Montel HealthMaster Elite ($239.92, available here or here) was way more than a blender. I mean, it’s great for making smoothies and shakes (and margaritas!), but it can also be used to process dough, make nut butters, puree hot soup, chop veggies…you get the idea.

But let’s be clear—my most pressing concern was how efficiently it could make the smoothies that, at that time, were the bulk of my diet.

You guys, the first smoothie I made was like a dream. Where before, I would’ve had to start at a slower speed to chop up the frozen bits, run that for a minute, stop and move things around, start it up again and try a higher speed until the frozen fruits and yogurt and whatever else I put in finally reached an agreeable consistency, this time was a matter of selecting a speed (8) and time (1 minute). I hit start, and in just one minute, I had a smoothie. It was smooth, creamy and perfect. And oh, was I happy.

The other huge bonus is the size. The BPA-free pitcher holds up to 70 oz., which comes in super handy when you’re trying to see just how much fresh spinach you can stuff into a smoothie before it tastes too leafy.

So, yeah, it makes good smoothies, but what about this life-changing business? Well, here’s the deal. I now have the all-clear to eat regular foods. I never have to drink a smoothie again. But I do—and often. I love that smoothies are an easy way to get lots of servings of fruits and veggies, but I was always so turned off by the amount of work they required. Now that I have a HealthMaster Elite sitting on my counter, the effort required of me is minimal. Even if I do throw in some ingredients that need a bit of help mixing, the HealthMaster Elite comes with a tamper that you can safely pop in through the opening in the lid while the blades are whirring to get things mixed up. It’s awesome.

The only complaint I have*, and it’s not a big one, is that it’s not a quiet machine, which poses the occasional problem when I have an early morning workout and my husband is still asleep. But, even so, it’s only loud for one minute. That’s it. A single minute, and then I have a delicious, totally healthful meal. Even a sleepy husband can’t complain too much about that.

Do you have a fancy blender, and, if so, has it changed the way you eat? If you don’t have one, is it something you’ve ever considered? —Kristen

Although I was provided a HealthMaster Elite to review, I was not compensated by HealthMaster for this post or required to write about the product, and all opinions are entirely my own.

*Edited to add in March 2015: Since receiving my first HealthMaster, I have gone through three of them. Customer service has been wonderful about replacing them (and each was awesome … until it died), but each has lasted less than a year. Figured that was a pretty important update to share. —Kristen