Family

Making Meals for the Whole Family Using a Blender

Wouldn’t it be nice if you can impress your whole family by cooking them delicious meals? But wouldn’t it be nicer if you don’t need to buy special kitchen gadgets or wash a ton of dishes when you make them?

If you scout your kitchen, you’ll probably see your blender on the counter. Or perhaps it is hidden in the drawers only to be used for margaritas during summer. However, your blender is not only good for cocktails and mid-day milkshake cravings. In fact, you could do a wonderful array of dishes if you have a blender.

You have probably bought this device with only one purpose in mind. For example, you might have searched for the best blender for baby food so that you can start your baby with solid foods. Or you have purchased that powerful blender so that you can use it in your food business.

Maybe your new year’s resolution is to be healthier, so you bought a single-serve blender for morning green smoothies. The point is, blenders have a lot of applications, we just don’t maximize them enough.

Breakfast

Pancakes or Crepes

A classic breakfast favorite is pancakes. Why don’t you try putting the batter inside your blender instead of manually whisking it. Less than 10 seconds of blending and you’ll get a lump-free batter perfect for fluffy and creamy pancakes. You can even add greek yogurt, some fruits, or chocolate chips. And since we’re whipping up blender pancakes, you can amp it up and make crepes. Best of all, you can change them easily if someone wants savory for breakfast and if one wants something sweet.

Scrambled Eggs or Frittata

Before making pancakes, you could blend some eggs in your blender for 3 to 5 seconds. Creamy scrambled eggs are always perfect for starting your day. If your family wants something more hearty, you can add different vegetables from onions, potatoes, or tomatoes for frittata Fridays (or any day of the week for that matter.)

Almond Milk

Did you know that it’s easy to make almond milk at home? All you need to do is soak them overnight, drain, put in the blender with some water and blend for 2 minutes. Then, strain the liquid from the almonds, squeeze any remaining “milk” from the nuts, and voila! Your very own almond milk.

Oat Flour

Got extra oats? Use you your blender to grind them and make oat flour! If you or a family member is on a gluten-free diet, oat flour is gluten-free and is also great to use in baking. You can make moist baked goodies and cookies that are deliciously chewy. Besides oats, you can also grind other ingredients such as wheat and rice to make flour.

Peanut Butter or Nut Butters

Besides flour and classic breakfast recipes, why not make homemade spreads? One of the easiest that you can make is peanut butter (or you can also use cashews and almonds.) Start blending on low speed and gradually increase it as the nuts turn creamier and creamier. What’s great with making nut butter yourself is you can make it as smooth or as chunky as you want. Best of all, you’ll feel much better knowing how much sugar is in it.

Lunch

Salad Dressings

For Caesar salads or for your very own unique salad, you can make a variety of salad dressings and vinaigrettes quickly using a blender. You can find a lot of recipes online that do not require a lot of ingredients, and some are even readily available at your pantry.

Squash Soup

For a cold rainy afternoon, a rich and velvety squash soup can make your day less gloomy. There are also blender models who work just as good with hot ingredients as they are with cold ingredients. Add your boiled squash and its liquid with your choice of herbs, spices, and some butter in the blending jar, and you’ll get a silky smooth soup.

The same goes if you’re making baby food. Before making squash soup, you can steam separate veggies for your little one and turn them into a puree. Led-weaning will be especially exciting for your baby once he/she gets to sit at the table with all of you.

Pesto

Craving for pasta? Create your own Pesto using basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, nuts, and olive oil. Homemade pestos are way better than store-bought simply because you can personalize it to your taste. Besides pasta, Pesto even makes a great dressing for salads and meat.

Pudding

For dessert, sweet tooths will be satisfied with the different flavor combinations of pudding all from your handy blender. Some examples to entice your imagination are chocolate and Bourbon, dark chocolate and peanut butter, or banana and strawberry. You can even make something simpler like a mousse.

Snacks

Lemonade

Create a refreshing fresh lemonade even without a juicer. The steps are simple, you just blend lemon (and lime) wedges with water and some sugar, strain, and you got yourself a cooling thirst quencher. You do not need to squeeze them manually, and because you’re making lemonade in the blender, you can make a large batch for the whole family. Why not freeze the juice to make popsicles as well!

Muffins and Banana Bread

Now that we have a beverage, what we need is a satisfying yet filling snack. You can create different baked goodies with your blender, and an example of these are muffins and banana bread. You can combine different ingredients and even sneak in some veggies like carrots for those picky eaters.

Salsa

Chips are great for movie nights, but salsa makes them tenfold better. If you have some leftover ingredients from other recipes, you can also use them and create your own salsa. You can even choose whether you want it chunky or smooth too.

Mayonnaise and Hollandaise

Nut butters are not the only spread (or dip) that you can do in a blender. Eggs, vegetable oil, lemon juice, salt, and some hot water are all you need to skip the store-bought mayo jars. Besides mayonnaise, you can also find hollandaise recipes that you can easily make at home.

Dinner

Broccoli and Cheese Soup

Squash soup, tomato soup, squash puree, tomato puree, these are just examples of easy-to-find ingredients that you can do in your blender. But if you have a child who is very particular in avoiding broccoli, you can sneak it in his/her diet by turning it into a delicious soup.

Herb Rub

Earlier, we have suggested Pesto for lunch. But for dinner, after you make Pesto, you can use this opportunity to use the blender to make your own herb rub. What can you use? Rosemary, thyme, garlic, you name it. Herb rubs can turn a simple roast into something that you won’t feel guilty getting your hands dirty with while eating.

Ice Cream

For dessert, blending ice, milk, sugar, and your choice of other ingredients for flavor easily gives you homemade ice cream. Another great idea is to make a plain vanilla base so your family can build their own sundaes.

If you have any questions, please ask below!