Vitamix Venturist V1200

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I've been a Vitamix customer since 2008. I have owned the vitamix 5200, the vitamix 6300 professional series and now I own the Venturist 1200. I have loved every version of the Vitamix that I have gotten...until now.

 Things I love

I love the power and versatility of this machine. I love that I can throw in anything frozen or fresh and it blends everything smoothly.  I love love love the tamper as it makes it possible to push ingredients into the blade for a smoother blend over all. I love that I can make ice cream, smoothies, or soup sauces, salsa, pizza sauce, and so much more in this blender.  I can also blend my own flour and make my own almond milk or peanut butter. It does a ton of things and I don't think I can live without a powerful blender for very long. I also love how easy it is to use and the fact that I can control it myself or use the presets.

Things I don't love

I also dislike that I have to use the app to get the presets to work.  I don't want to have to pull out my phone and connect the app to the blender then go in and find the preset I want lost deep in the app somewhere.  It's not quick or convenient enough.  The 6300 had the presets right on the blender and they worked nicely.

I absolutely hate the new containers.  The 64 OZ low profile container is terrible.  Everything I make is either watery or chunky.  I can't get the perfect blend even with the tamper unless I make a full jar(which I never do unless I have company).

I also have the personal size container and the sauce container both of which would be great if I could use the tamper with them, but I can't so they also make everything chunky. Vitamix does have a 48 OZ container that the claim would work better but it costs an extra 100.00 or more to get it. I already spent 500.00 on the blender and the parts it came with.  I'm not forking out another 100.00 to get a container that works.

Customer service is not my favorite either. I emailed them to see if there was anything I could do to get a better blend.  They wrote back but they treated me pretty poorly and didn't solve my problem.  I'm definitely going back to my 5200 or better yet maybe I will try Blentec instead.

 

Marmot Women's Quasar Nova Hoody

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Things I love

This hooded down coat is awesome.  It's very warm at 800 fill power goose down. It has a nice feminine cut and it's not bulky.  The zippered pockets are nice.  The material on the inside closest to the body is thin so my hands stay warm close to my body heat on the bottom side and warm next to the down fill on the top side. Plus it only weighs 10 OZ and it packs into a pocket.

Things I don't love

This Jacket is not water proof. That is always a down for me.

Big Boss Oil Less Fryer

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So I've been testing out this oil less fryer that I got for Christmas.

An oil less fryer is supposed to let you enjoy the same type of foods (with the same deep fried taste) that  you would in a deep fryer with less to no oil. So, it's supposed to be healthier that way.  It's pretty awesome, but there is a huge learning curve when it comes to cooking in this thing. I've tried chicken wings, frozen Talapia several different ways, chicken breast, fish sticks, frozen sweet potato fries, and fresh cut fries in it so far.

The sweet potato fries turned out great following the suggested cooking time.  The wings also turned out well. I had to flip them over half way through the cooking time.  The fish with no breading turned out great. the fish with breading was cooked nicely, but the breading didn't turn out like it does in a deep fryer.  It was more dry. It still tasted good though. I also tried battered fish and the batter turned out leathery. So I don't think I will be battering anything is it again.

 

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The fresh cut fries were difficult. I tried several batches and searched Pinterest for several hours two days in a row before I found a solution that turned out good tasting, with the right texture, and crispy. First I just cut up some potatoes and tossed them in the fryer with the low rack in and the basket.  Turns out all you really need to do is toss the fries in a tiny bit of oil before cooking them. Then they turn out awesome.  this picture looks like there is oil on the fries but there is not. I added a few spices and some salt in to the the bag before tossing in olive oil.  You could likely just spritz them with oil and get the same result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Thing I really don't like about this fryer is that it is massive and you can't cook large amounts in it.  So it takes up tons of real estate on the counter top for not much yield.  This is the reason I gave the Big Boss Oil less Fryer one thumb up.

 

Thule Versant Backpacking Pack Review

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Ladies(and other friends), this is the coolest backpacking pack I've ever seen. And at $279.95 it's not a bad deal either.  It's super versatile and FULLY ADJUSTABLE. This baby doesn't just tighten at the waist and chest, you can actually adjust the straps up and down also 12cm/4.75in of torso and 10cm/4in of hipbelt.

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I'm in L-O-V-E!   The StormGuard system combines a partial rain cover with a waterproof bottom liner to create a fully weather proof bag so ALL of your stuff stays dry.

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There is a dry bag that can hook onto the waist strap for electronics etc.and , get this, the top of the pack is a removable sling pack so you can still carry essentials after you hit base camp without having to take your whole life with you on a summit or other hike.

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Finally a back pack with water bottle pockets that are big enough! I can't tell you how annoying it is to have to find other places to store my water because the side pockets on my pack aren't big enough for it.

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The backpack doesn't feel big, but it fits tons of stuff. The women's version comes in 70 L, 60L, and 50L.  There are tons of storage spaces in this pack. Apart from the dry sack on the waist strap there is another sipper pocket for other storage.  There are other compartments and zipper pockets in the front and on top for easy access.

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This pack is versatile and light and very comfortable. It also has Thule’s limited lifetime warranty. A major plus for any product.

Here are the specs:

Color Bing
Gender Female
Usage Extended Trip
Material 420D Cordura/100D Nylon
Volume (cu) 4270 cu in
Height (in) 26.8 in
Width (in) 16.9 in
Depth (in) 13.4 in
Weight (lb) 3.96 lb
SKU No 211103

Garmin Vivioactive Smart Watch

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Ladies, I L-O-V-E this watch! I have had it since it came out and I haven’t taken it off except to charge. It may not be as smart as some smart watches but it's also not as expensive as most smart watches and it does everything I want it to do. Biking? Running? Swimming? Golfing? No problem! Inside? Easy as pie. Intervals, heart rate training, and more. Did I mention it also counts my steps and tracks my sleep?I haven't missed a phone call, text message or an email since I got this watch. It's also not bulky and in the white version it doesn't look manly, like I borrowed my husbands watch. I can use this watch without having any extra accessories if I want to. This is cool because I want to have everything in one easy to use package. So no extra stuff in my shoes or around my rib cage. That being said I recently started using the heart rate monitor for running and I really like it. I really like the color display. It’s easy to read and not bulky or boyish. The band is soft rubber which I don’t mind at all except when it gets wet is stays wet for a long time. I dry under it when I get out of the shower or pool.
Features



Running features
Basically all of the features here are customizable. I can set the watch to do any type of workout I am doing at the time by changing what displays on the screen and when the timers/alerts go off. At first it can be a little tricky to locate data fields, alerts, and other features while running any of the workout apps, but once you figure out where everything is then it's all pretty easy to customize how you want.(hint: they are all located under the menu button within each app. The menu button is those three little lines on the right bottom of the watch face).


Biking features
The biking and running features are basically the same. The watch tracks your speed and distance etc. also customizable see m comments under running features.
Swimming features
swim metrics (lengths, distance, pace, stroke count/rate, calories)-You just have to set the distance of the pool and it will count all of your laps speed etc. for you. It's especially nice when you are doing lots of laps because each time you change directions the each counts another lap. I dig this because I get so lost trying to count laps. On another note once you start the app you have to hold the start button down to stop it unlike the other apps.


Golf features
I like the features for golf. There is some manual input with it though and I forget to move screens or push start or change the hole I am on so that can be frustrating sometimes
Measures shot distance (calculates exact yardage for shots from anywhere on course). Yardage to F/M/B (distance to front, middle and back of green). Yardage to layups/doglegs
Activity Tracking Features
Step counter. Auto goal (learns your activity level and assigns a daily step goal) Move bar (displays on device after a period of inactivity; walk for a couple of minutes to reset it) Sleep monitoring (monitors total sleep and periods of movement or restful sleep). All of this is nice. You can set the watch manually in sleep mode or if you are like me and never remember to do that you can set sleep and wake times in the settings menu.


The app
Pairing with my phone- This feature can be a little frustrating. It never stays paired with my phone so then when I lose my phone I can’t use the find my phone feature because it’s not connected. Can’t see the weather or any of that stuff unless the watch stays paired to my phone so I am constantly re-pairing my phone so I can use the features on my watch. I just want it to stay paired is that too much to ask?
Garmin Connect™-Automatic sync can be frustrating when it doesn’t sync because there is no way on the app to manually sync if automatic sync isn’t functioning properly. The app store on Garmin Connect is getting better all of the time and it basically has most of the things I want for exercising.

Here are the specs:
Physical dimensions
1.72" x 1.52" x 0.32" (43.8 mm x 38.5 mm x 8.0 mm)
Display size, WxH
1.13" x 0.80" (28.6 mm x 20.7 mm)
Display resolution, WxH
205 x 148 pixels
Touchscreen
Color display
Weight Without bands: 18.0 g (0.63 oz); With bands: 38.0 g (1.34 oz)
Battery Rechargeable lithium battery
Battery life
Up to 3 weeks (10 hours in GPS mode)
Water rating
5 ATM
GPS-enabled
GLONASS
Smart notifications (displays email, text and other alerts when paired with your compatible phone)
Vibration alert
Music control
Find my phone
VIRB® control
Watch functions
time, date, calendar, and alarm

As always if you have any questions, comments of our own to add to this review please post in the comments.

Blogger App

Sooo...I'm not the best blogger. In fact I am aweful at it.  I just installed a blogger app on my phone. Maybe...just maybe it will help me be a better blog updater

U2

Ryan and I went to the U2 concert last night.  I've been to a few concerts in my life and I've had a lot of fun at concerts.  This was hands down the best concert I've EVER been to.  I am not a die hard U2 fan.  I like a few of their songs quite a lot(I like them more now).  Ryan, however, is a die hard U2 fan.  I went to the concert expecting it to be just like any other concert I'd been to, but it was much much better.
I think that you know when someone is talented at what they do because you come away saying, "I want to do that/learn to do that/get better at that.
That is how I felt after the U2 concert. Pictures coming soon.