I love making smoothies and milkshakes, especially during the summer. When it’s hot and sticky, I can’t even think of eating an actual breakfast or lunch. Too much effort to cook something! I live on smoothies. At night, when I want a frozen treat while I’m catching up on all my summer reading, I love making milkshakes. What I don’t love? Dragging out the big blender for one milkshake or smoothie! My Juicer from Ergo Chef solves that problem beautifully.

I received a My Juicer from Ergo Chef to try out in exchange for an honest review. I was really looking forward to it because my old Bullet pretty much bit the, well, bullet. That’s a saying, right? Bottom line, it’s dying. Not dead, but getting there. It lived a long life, so I can’t really complain. Except with it on the way out, I was stuck hauling out the regular blended whenever I wanted to mix up a smoothie. No fun, especially since it sits on a high shelf to keep it out of the way.

My Juicer is far more compact, making it easy to store on the counter. It comes with the blender base, the blade, the cup and a lid. The super convenient thing: you blend everything in the cup, then pop the lid on and drink. So you don’t have to mess up a bunch of other glasses if you don’t want to.

Of course, I wanted to because I was trying to take pretty pictures! Of the many things I’ve made so far since I got My Juicer, the Orange Vanilla Cream Shake is my favorite (I’d call it a Creamsicle flavor, but that name is actually trademarked). Check it out!

Orange Vanilla Cream Shake Recipe

So, I’ll be honest, I usually just kind of wing it when I add ingredients. I throw in ice-cream, milk and flavoring until I like it. Obviously, that’s no way to write a recipe though, so I actually tried to measure everything. I still recommend messing with the amounts until it’s just the way YOU like it! I thought it could have used more orange, but my mom said it tasted exactly the way it was supposed to with what I used.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Vanilla Ice-Cream (or frozen yogurt, if you want to save some calories)
• 1/4 cup 1% milk (that’s where I saved MY cals!)
• 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (or, if using the imitation stuff, use 1/2 teaspoon)

Directions: 

Throw it all in your My Juicer (or blender, smoothie maker, etc) and blend until it’s a milkshake. Wow, that was hard, right? Again, the amount of ingredients you use depend totally on your personal taste. I like bold, strong flavors. Orangey orange, vanilly vanilla. I’m not a subtle girl. Also, it depends on the quality of the ingredients. Good fresh ice-cream will definitely taste better than freezer burnt stuff (although, honestly, mine WAS a little past its sundae-making prime, which is why it’s starring in shakes these days). Oh, and don’t forget the whipped cream on top! Everything is better with whipped cream!

Using the My Juicer makes this whole process really easy because there is so little to clean. I can drink my shake in the cup, or pour it into other prettier glasses if I want. Even if I do that, the cup is easy to clean because it’s not a huge blender thingy (seriously, what is that called?). The blades rinse clean fast. Then I just wind up the cord around itself and push it to the back of my counter for the next time!

A few tech specs about My Juicer:

• Made with a powerful 300 watt motor
• Features 4 Stainless Steel blade
• Easily blends frozen fruits, veggies and even desserts
• Comes with BPA-Free Plastic Sport Bottle with Removable Lid
•  Electric 120 Volt AC, standard Type A wall plug. ETL Listed (I don’t know what any of that means, except that it plugs into my wall. That’s all I need to know!)

You can order My Juicer from Ergo Chef for $44.99 right now. With a price that low, it’s definitely one of the most affordable personal blenders on the market. Follow Ergo Chef on Facebook and Twitter to keep up with news.

What would you make in My Juicer? I love hearing about new smoothie and shake recipes! Tell me your favorite!