You know when you get a present, and you open it up, and go, “Wow! Thank you so much,” but you secretly don’t have the foggiest clue as to what the person who cared about you was thinking of when they bought you that gift? Well, I received a gift just like that last Christmas, and today I am completely converted to the BlenderBottle. By the end of this post, I hope you will be too!

That’s right… I have gotten a few gifts that make me go hmm…. I honestly thought the wife was hinting that I needed to hit the gym more! (I do.)

Once I opened the lid, I saw the whisk ball inside, and the light went off in my head. At the very least, I could make myself an omelet! Sure, everyone talks about this item for protein shakes, let’s make an omelet with it. Here is how easy it with the BlenderBottle:

First the ingredients go into the bottle. Here you see 1 egg, 1 tbsp. cream, chipotle Tabasco, salt, pepper. Give it a vigorous shake until the works is mixed up.

Pour into a heated omelet pan. (In this case, we have some green onions wilted in a little bit of butter.) Cook over super low heat, gently folding the sides up once in a while, so the eggs can set. If you feel like a champ, you can even flip the omelet.

Here it is, all done! The best part? Cleanup is a snap.

The Good

• The mixer comes with the BlenderBall® – a surgical-grade stainless steel mixing ball that is like a wire whisk – BlenderBottle ensures smooth mixing for the thickest of ingredients. I even made Caesar dressing with this bottle using mayonnaise, Parmesan, and other goodies.
• BlenderBottle makes it easier for you to mix your recovery or meal replacement drinks. This is especially important after you work out, when you need that extra pick-me-up. In my case, a bit of protein whey powder, a touch of Gatorade, and plain old water are all that’s needed after my workout.
• The BlenderBottle is available in two different products: the BlenderBottle Classic (the one I got for Christmas,) and a water bottle that can also be used as a portable mixer- the BlenderBottle SportMixer™. (Unfortunately at the time of this writing, the SportMixer is only available in the U.S. – but you can also get it at my Amazon Store.)
• The BlenderBottle is dishwasher safe, and is BPA and Phthalate free, and are available in a variety of colors. It’s nice to know that you can actually have a plastic product that won’t give all sorts of yucky chemicals to chew on after you’ve worked hard. Otherwise, what would be the point?

The Bad

• Okay, so there isn’t too much that is bad about this product. The one thing I wish is that the lid cap had a way to be tightly closed. I found out the hard way that you need to keep your finger on the cap when you are shaking it, unless you like protein shake all over your cupboards. It’s a nitpick, I know – but there it is.
• Another nitpick about the cap, I can’t add a complete recipe to the bottle, close it, and transport it. Some might say, “So, you can just add water at the gym.” That’s true, but if I wanted to make my Recovery Drink, I wouldn’t be able to get the ingredients at the gym. The Sport version solves this problem.

Conclusion:

At it’s first appearance, the BlenderBottle looks like it’s a one-trick pony. I thought the same thing too. As I have shown you in this post, I was completely wrong. You can use it for making marinades, vinaigrettes, omelets, smoothies, and yes, even protein shakes!

This is one item that I think you should have in the kitchen. You won’t be sorry you bought it, that’s for sure.

Your Turn – A Giveaway!

Okay, so the fine folks over at BlenderBottle have given me two of these babies to give away. All you have to do to enter is one of the following, and leave a comment: (You can do this multiple times, just leave a comment for each time you complete each task.)

• Tell me what you would most like to make with a Blender Bottle
• Follow @Jason_Sandeman on Twitter.
• Like the Well Done Chef! on Facebook.
• Subscribe to the Well Done Chef’s YouTube Page
• Add the Well Done Chef! to a Google+ circle.
• Subscribe to the Well Done Chef by the RSS feed or subscribe to Well Done Chef! by email.
• Like the The Official BlenderBottle Page.
• Follow @BlenderBottle on Twitter.

Contest closes at 23:59 March 1st, 2012. I will pick two winners at random from the comments, and contact you so you can get your awesome Blender Bottles. Contest open to Canadian and United States Residents only.

Wood-burning brick oven at Northeast Punch Neapolitan Pizza Grand Opening by The Punch Pizza on Flickr

Last week we teamed up with Albert Grande of pizzatherapy.com and we had a great time talking about making pizza. Last Thursday was a special event, complete with a contest. Comment on this post about what pizza topping is your favorite, and you would be entered into a draw for the prize of the pizzatherapy pizza cookbook!

Well, it seems that I had a conflict with my commenting system. I was a little stupid to try out a new comment system in the middle of a contest! Once I deactivated it, my inbox was flooded with comments. Mainly spam comments, but a huge flood nonetheless. I was left with 2 comments. Okay, so by random chance (Flipping a coin!)…

The winner is Cassandra!

Look for an email Cassandra for your prize! Congratulations!

The Pizza Therapy Pizza Cookbook by Albert Grande of Pizzatherapy.com

I have been looking at the advertisements for this eBook around for a while now. I contacted the creator, Albert Grande, to see if he would be interested in a review of the book. He agreed, so here we go.

I will be honest, when I first received the ebook, I was a little underwhelmed. At first glance, it does not look like much. 51 pages, and it looks like an internet site that was ripped to a PDF. The cost? 11.97$ in U.S. funds.

When I printed off the book, I began to find it was another story. What I read is a man’s lifetime experience with pizza. All of his contacts, lessons, and experience making pizza are passed on to the reader. While the ebook comes off rough, the content inside is golden.

Inside there are recipes, tips, tricks, and a bonus section giving recipes and tips from his pizza-making friends.

Also included in that price is links to other resources for the book. That includes a video demonstrating the pizza recipe, a book on bread, another on herbs, Italian recipes, and a report on how to buy the best pizza tools.

Do I recommend this product? Yes. If this book was edited, formatted, and sold as a regular cookbook, we would have a seller on our hands. I would even put it into the Well Done Chef! bookstore.

Don’t forget about the Pizza Madness Contest! Comment on this post for a chance to win a copy of this ebook!

This is just a quick post to let you all know that this is the last call for the contest for the Fathead: You’ve been fed a load of bologna DVD. The draw will be taken at random from the comments tomorrow, and the DVD will be sent out ASAP after that.

So, if you have not commented on that post, click here to place your comment!

Good luck!