The NutriBullet has become a household name in record breaking time in South Africa, and for good reason. This handy kitchen appliance has come at a time when living a healthy lifestyle is key and even more than that, when convenience is king. Both of these factors are part of the NutriBullet’s charm, which I discovered after spending 24 hours with it.

It’s early Saturday morning and I’m due to meet a friend for a walk on the promenade. The day is glorious and I’m in the mood for a smoothie to match. I decide to kickstart my day with something tropical, it complements the weather and my mood. If like me, you live in a flat, then kitchen counter space is always scarce; what’s great about the NutriBullet’s design is that it is compact; it looks stylish and hardly takes up any valuable space.

The NutriBullet’s upside-down design is a smart departure from regular blenders, you add the ingredients to the cup and then add the separate blade attachment before blending. You’ll see why this is smart in just a minute, stick with me. To make my tropical smoothie, I add chunks of pineapple, mango and coconut water to my Nutribullet cup. Since I’m new to smoothie making, I’m adding just a few baby spinach leaves to get some greens in, I’ll work my way towards a full green smoothie as I get more into this. On goes the blade and the whole cylinder fits neatly onto the NutriBullet base.

A press-down-and-twist action engages the blade and in literally seconds, my ingredients become a smooth NutriBlast (the name coined for NutriBullet smoothies). It’s so quick it’s almost unbelievable.

I remove the blade from the cup part and pop on the handy flip top lid accessory and I’m all set to enjoy. Just before I leave, I rinse the fully sealed blade attachment to clean it. Because the cup part of the NutriBullet is designed to be drunk out of, that’s all there is to clean right now, it couldn’t be simpler! It’s easy to see the appeal of this kitchen must-have.

It’s lunchtime and I’ve heard that the NutriBullet can do nut butter. While this might seem like hard work to make, it is expensive stuff to buy and I like the idea of being able to make my own and know exactly what goes into it. I add almonds, a little room temperature liquid coconut oil and a touch of salt to the cup of the NutriBullet Pro. I attach the blade and blitz. The NutriBullet Pro does all the work. Because of the drier nature of nuts, it’s imperative to add a little oil to lubricate, I do have to remove the cup and blade just to stir the ingredients a couple of times, but it’s minimal fuss. I do it about 4 times, each time, the mix becomes a little smoother, resembling actual nut butter. I like the fact that I can make a smallish amount at a time, meaning I don’t have a jar open for weeks at a time. I add a dash of honey to this mix just for fun and hey presto, my own almond and honey nut butter. Spread on multi-seed crackers, this is a tasty lunchtime treat.

Because a girl cannot survive on crackers alone, I decide to test out a Chocolate and Avocado Smoothie too. I’m not really a fan of bananas (unless in banana loaf form) so the idea of a creamy smoothie, that’s not banana based, is really appealing. I throw in half a ripe avo, coconut milk, cocoa powder, honey and a touch of sea salt and blend. The result is a rich, creamy and ultra decadent smoothie that tastes more like dessert than anything else. It’s full of healthy fats, vitamin E and antioxidants – a win all round I think.

When dinnertime rolls around, I’m cooking for friends – chicken wings in a spicy barbeque sauce. The sauce requires crushed tinned pineapple, but I only have fresh (leftover from this morning’s smoothie). I remember the NutriBullet and realise I can resolve this without a panicked dash to the supermarket. I add the chopped pineapple and a splash of water to the NutriBullet Pro cup and it’s blitzed in seconds. Yay! The crushed pineapple goes into the sticky barbeque sauce bubbling on the stove. I’m stoked to have been able to use fresh pineapple instead of tinned, retaining all the fibre and including no overly sweet syrups. That’s a win.

The NutriBullet Pro really is a next generation kitchen appliance. It suits the trend of smoothie making down to a tee – it’s simple to use and even simpler to clean.

It also retains all the goodness of fruits and veggies, including that all important fibre. Lastly, it’s not just singular in its functionality, which is always a plus for me. The NutriBullet transitions from smoothie-maker to handy kitchen helper – the ways I can think of using it are endless. A definite thumbs up. The NutriBullet Pro retails for R 2999.

Get the recipe for Chocolate and Avocado Smoothie HERE.

Check out these three smoothies also made in the NutriBullet – Metabolism Kickstarter, Immune Booster, Energy Booster