Life Hack: The Breville Active-Blend Smoothie Maker

I woke up with a sore throat this morning and hope that - at the worst - it's just the beginning of a minor cold and not tonsillitis. I had tonsillitis a few years back during a trip home to the US and the only thing that would soothe my extremely swollen throat was a Jamba Juice smoothie.

Since then, I love getting Jamba Juices whenever I'm back in the States! Ice cold, thick, and delicious, they're just so damn good on a hot summer's day - even John's into them now! The so-called "smoothies" in the UK just don't cut it ... either they don't use fresh fruit or they arrive luke-warm/room temperature and super yogurt-y, which makes me gag.

I've bought blenders in the past and smoothie recipe books with good intentions, but the blenders were a mess to clean, the handles would break off within a few weeks, and they took up too much space in a small kitchen like the ones we have in London.

So, my ears perked up when I saw someone using this Blend-Active Blender by Breville (we also have a Breville kettle - it's ah-mazing). Apparently, you could blend in a sports bottle and simply remove the blades and replace with a leak-proof cap when you were ready to go. To be honest? It sounded a little too good to be true. But, at only £24, I was tempted and now ... well, I'm in love with it.

I've had it for two weeks and use it on most mornings - it takes probably exactly 5 minutes to grab all the ingredients out of my freezer (frozen chunks of mango or berries, plus ice, and some juice) and chop up a banana into the bottle. Then, I can just carry the bottle with me on the bus and drink it on my way to the stop or, if I'm feeling a little chilly, stash it in my bag later for work. I also downloaded the Jamba Juice recipes, which I found online, and while they might not be the healthiest to have every day, they're really nice as an occasional treat (hint: sorbet is the secret ingredient!).

My favorite smoothie so far is mango, orange, and banana, but for an indulgent dessert, I've made a berry, banana, and raspberry sorbet blend below:

The things I love about this blender:

- It's sturdy: the base has little suction-y feet that keeps in place on your countertop
- It's SO easy to clean! You can just quickly rinse the blades with warm soapy water and leave it to the side to dry. When I get to work and I'm finished with my bottle, I fill it with warm soapy water, give it a few shakes and rinse before stashing it back in my bag again.
- It takes up hardly any space. The base is so small, you can push it to one side of your kitchen work top and it's as inconspicuous as a bottle of wine.
- It blends ice. Granted, you shouldn't put too much in, but I typically use 5-6 pieces of crushed ice and it's worked fine.

I'm going to start making some green smoothies soon, so if you have any favorite smoothie recipes, please pass them my way!

p.s. This is not a sponsored post!