Meal in a Drink

In the early eighties in Toronto at the Canadian National Exhibititon we bought a Vita Mix blender. 

The most impressive selling point was when the man demonstrating took an egg and 'accidentally' dropped it – shell and all – into the mixture.  The shell pulverized into "effortless calcium".

I made use of that feature a few times but the mixture into which the egg was added has been used continually ever since.  It was called Meal in a Drink and,  if I recall correctly,  the original recipe used pineapple juice as the liquid, a slice of whole wheat bread,  vegetables and possibly fruit, the egg…   The container was stainless steel so you could add ice cubes or hot liquid for different results.

Darn!  I have come across the exact same blender twice in the past thirty years at garage sales and did not buy it but the expletive is because I wish I had the original recipe book that came with it.

The experience with that Vita Mix and its Meal in a Drink meant our kids got a lot of nutrition in their smoothies (did we call them that back then?)  and continues to serve me well now.

The pictured breakfast smoothie has soya milk, raw oats, canned pineapple and juice, frozen blueberries and frozen mixed vegetables (in the cool months these get thawed before being added), coleslaw and raisins.   

I've experimented with varying textures of the smoothies from those that can be sipped through a straw (liquefied setting on my Osterizer) to a more chunky liquid (chop) for drinking or eating with a spoon. It is interesting to note the different responses to the different textures and methods of eating. Worthwhile.