The other day I impulsivley went and bought a Hamilton Beach Juicer. When I got it home I hemmed and hawed, wondering if I should use it or not. Did I really want it? I started looking around the internet and realized what I really wanted was something to make smoothies or other fruit concoctions. I researched a few things like the Magic Bullet and Ultimate Chopper but both had mixed reviews. I was tempted to buy the Tribest blender because it had some good reviews here at Amazon but I could only find it online and it's listed at $60 - much more than what I really wanted to spend.
Instead, I went to my local Walmart and to see what they had. I saw the Hamilton Beach Personal Blender and it was priced for only $13.67 so I was interested. It's just me, so I don't need a huge and heavy unit taking up what little counter space I have. I also figured since that if I bought it at Walmart and that if I didn't like it I could easily return it.
I brought it home, looked over the manual and attempted my first smoothie. I threw in milk, strawberries, frozen raspberries and hit the button. I needed to blend it some more because of the raspberries being frozen. Live and learn, I should have done those first. I put in some ice and blended it some more. It came out wonderful!
The jar itself can be used as a serving glass. I probably will only use it in that manner at home. It has no handle so I'd be afraid I'd drop it when I was out. Then the blender would be worthless because the blade is in the jar.
* Jar twists and locks into place on the base
* Comes with a travel lid to take your drink on the go
* Cord wraps around the base
* Not intended for all food - manual says not to process hard foods such as cheese, crackers or meat. A maximum of 12 tablespoons can be ground at a time. Do not try to mash potatoes, mix stiff dough, whip egg whites, grind raw meat or extract juice from fruit or veggies.
* Container cover has filler cap that can be removed to insert small objects when blending
* Can not use big chunks of ice. You need to break them down. I have an ice tray where the shape is a small circle (half ball) and it was fine. Perhaps this is what you can use those holiday themed ice trays for. Some of those sizes which I have seem I think would work in this.
* NOT dishwasher safe - but easy clean up - rinse, put water and soap in jar, blend for a minute, empty, rinse again and you're done.
* No complicated speeds or choices - one push button
* I can't find it on the box or in the manual but according to Amazon, the motor has 175 watts of power
I just went and made another smoothie! Banana, Vanilla soy milk, little bit of chocolate syrup and instant coffee. Yummy!
This one site has TONS of recipes that you can use with this blender. You just have to play with the recipes because a lot of them are meant to be multiple servings.
[...] * this link no longer works. Try allrecipes.com - a search of "smoothies" brings up 200 results. There are books totally dedicated to smoothies. Google "smoothie" or just use your imagination.
While this might not do what a full size blender can, this is a great blender for smoothies, drinks, shakes and to grind coffee. I love that it's small, the cord wraps around the base and I can use this thing at night and not wake up the neighbors!
I just came back from the grocery store and picked up some more fruit... what else can I make???