I would like to make 1 meal a day drinkable for the convenience factor, with a small amount of prep it's fast and it's portable. I will probably put some type of protein powder or flax in there but I don't want that to be the only thing, I really need fresh veggies (and maybe a little fresh fruit here and there for flavor). I don't want to use a juicer for 2 reasons:

1) they are ungodly expensive, and, from what I've read, the cheap ones are pretty much worthless.

2) I want the "bulk" of my veggies/fruits, meaning the skin, pulp, all that good stuff.

I've read that I can use my regular blender to make shakes like that, but I've also heard that there are some foods that just don't work in a blender. Any tips or suggestions from people who use their blender for these types of shakes?

I do make smoothies/shakes out of whole vegetables and fruits along with some yogurt and some water (or applesauce) for thinning out. I have not had any problems blending with carrots, spinach, pumpkin puree (usually the only veggies I tend to put in my shakes/smoothies), frozen bananas/strawberries/blueberries/mangoes/pears, chopped/sliced apples, whole kiwis (with the ends sliced off and the skin shaved, not peeled for more fiber. I think it is okay as long as there is plenty of fluid to balance out, you know? I even use a $15 dollar cheapie single serving blender for the above with no problems.

I cannot think of anything that would not work in a blender but again I don't really branch out much in terms of exotic fruit like pomegrantes or things like that, lol.

What brand blender do you have ?

Hey, the brand is Hamilton Beach. I was starting to smell the motor a bit after 3 weeks of daily use. I think that was because I originally was blending one thing at a time so now I just throw everything in and add a little bit water/liquid so it will blend.

I don't have very much cabinet/storage space in the kitchen, I wanted something non-bulky and wouldn't take up too much counter space.

I have a Hamilton Beach one that Amandie is talking about and use mine for frozen fruits or veggies she previously mentioned. It works well as long as I add plenty of water or almond milk to help it blend better. I usually have to stop after pulsing some and stir it, then blend again, stop and stir, blend, and keep doing that until I get the desired result.

I have a kitchenaid blender and absolutely love it! It was rated higher than the vitamix in consumer reports for a fourth of the price! Got it a few weeks ago at target on sale for $80, which for a kitchenaid is a steal! It's heavy duty and doesn't take up a lot of room and blends everything!

I decided to take a picture of my green smoothie using the Hamilton Beach single serve blender. It has frozen mango chunks, frozen banana chunks, 53g spinach, 85g carrots, 20g dried figs and 1/2 cup greek yogurt, and 1 cup applesauce in place of water. I only broke the carrots in half, didn't chop/slice/shred them and the bananas were sliced in half. Blended with no problems! I didn't smell the motor this time.

There is an article in First magazine about juicing. It said the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Pro juicer works as well as the expensive ones. It quoted $59 on amazon.com

But it is a lot more in Canada.