small blender/smoothie maker recommendation

[mommyoftwo]

I love to use the blender to mix things like smoothies but it's a lot of work to get it out and clean it and I don't have room to leave it out on the counter. I would like something small (like the magic bullet) that would be easy to use and clean and doesn't take up much room. Does anyone have the magic bullet? Any other suggestions?

[kristenk]

I love, love, love, love, love my Russell Hobbs immersion blender. Here's a link: http://tinyurl.com/2wk6sg

ILs gave me a Williams-Sonoma gift card for Christmas a few years ago and I used that to buy the blender. It's wonderful! Frozen berries are no problem. It's super easy to clean and I store it and all of the accessories it comes with in a rubbermaid container.

I think that Larissa (bostonsmama) might have posted about hers before, too. I think that she's the one who inspired my purchase! LOL

ETA: I guess I was wrong about who recommended the Russell Hobbs. I even tried to do a search, and couldn't come up with anything. Sorry, Larissa, I didn't mean to attribute a product rec to you that you didn't make! :)

[JoyNChrist]

I LOVE my Magic Bullet. Of course, I'm one of those people who could be convinced to buy a half-eaten box of cereal if it was featured on an infomercial for four easy payments of $19.99. :-)

But seriously, the Magic Bullet's great. It has replaced my blender and food processor. It's small enough to leave on the cabinet, and it pops into the dishwasher for easy cleanup. DH got it for me for Christmas two years ago, and it's probably my most used present.

[Tondi G]

we got a magic bullet system from my mom for Xmas. We finally took it out of the box the other day when my DS was begging for a smoothie! It worked great!

[chlobo]

I heard the magic bullet is half price at Macy's right now. Haven't seen it but that's what I heard.

[mommyoftwo]

Ooo, thanks for the heads up. I'll have to check it out.

[bostonsmama]

As a cooking gadget snob, I scoffed at the Magic Bullet. I had heard lots of bad things about it: that it overprocessed everything, that it was cheap and flimsy, hard to clean, etc.

Well, my aunt bought it and gave it to me b/c she didn't like it. I totally thought it was going to head to the trash until I used it.

I LOVE IT! I've made perfect fruit smoothies, mixed drinks, mint pesto, basil pesto, and puree all my gourmet soups in it. I even made a roasted red pepper sauce for crab cakes over Christmas in it, along with fresh whipped cream (using the flat blade) for dessert. I can't believe that I actually like it. I have a Braun immersion blender, which is great, and a nice food process and separate jar blender, but they don't work as well, clean as easily, and take up as little space as the Magic Bullet. I even got the juicer and full jar blender attachments with it, but haven't tried them.

I also love the handled party mugs w/ color lids for mixed drinks in the summer. It makes it so much easier to know whose glass is whose. So, you have my rec.

[mommyoftwo]

Good to know because I always look to see what you are recommending. I mostly want it for smoothies and pureeing foods so it sounds like it will do the job for me. I've read a lot of reviews that say it doesn't hold up well so I'm crossing my fingers on that one. I don't need it to be my main kitchen chopping/blending go to appliance. I just want something that can quickly make smoothies and doesn't take up a lot of room. I'll start looking for the best price.