This year, Papa Ross and Grandma Martha got us a NINJA for Christmas!
As you can see, it has about as much power as my first car did, and it also comes with TOTAL CRUSHING TECHNOLOGY.
We are having a really good time with it so far. Lea’s been making fruit and vegetable smoothies for a couple of days. I just started tonight, and this really would have been a much better post if I showed you a drink I’d made with it, but I’ve already had two, and having a third seems gastrointestinally inadvisable.
So far I’ve learned that bell pepper and green apple go well together. I’ve also learned that the taste of raw spinach is easily dominated, so you can put a whole bunch in. Oh, and flax seed completely vanishes. I’m sure that’s the TOTAL CRUSHING TECHNOLOGY.
I’m looking forward to experimenting further and getting some really solid standbys together. Do you have any favorite good-for-you juice/smoothie recipes?
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I have the exact same kit! Got it at Kroger of all places for what I’m still pretty sure was a steal of a price ($80 off the normal $230 price tag I think. I know it was $80 off some price).
We did a lot of juicing a while back (with a proper “juicer” that did pretty much no pulp) but I’d imagine the outcome is usually similar. My observations were:
Oranges are the devil when juicing. They turn everything bitter. But that might be different in a “blender” as opposed to a “juicer” since the juicer basically super exposes everything to oxygen and I suspected that was causing the juice to go bitter instantly. Now that I think about it… also might have been the rind (we had one of those juicers that could handle it all).
Apples were my favorite main ingredient.
Kale was a pretty meh ingredient, but supposedly most nutritious. Very little flavor change. The bright green will probably eventually stain any plastic containers you put them in.
Celery adds decent flavor with little nutrition.
Ginger Root is the best for adding a good kick to any juice.
Carrots were ok, though they’d probably do better in a blender since they aren’t really moisture rich enough to get much from a juicer but a blender can mash them up to decent goo. I would expect a thicker/pulpy drink.
Cucumbers, while I love to eat them, add an aroma that I eventually found somewhat nauseating. That was unfortunate, but might have been unique to me. Also might have had to do with the over oxygenation of a juicer that a blender won’t experience.
Tomatoes are ok. I seem to recall they kick the acidity up pretty decently. They will also stain plastic drink containers pretty well.
We haven’t tried using the Ninja for making juices yet. Mostly just baby food and one set of margaritas. I’ll have to give that a try soon.
Also… don’t you love the sound of a jet engine spinning up when you’re blending. I’m pretty sure we’ll need a license to operate these things eventually.
It’s definitely a robust piece of equipment. Thanks for all of the great tips. We’re going to try not to leave the residue on the container at all, and hope that will stave off any staining.
I’m getting interested in discovering just what kind of nutritional juggernaut I can put together for breakfast. I have two great things going for me. One, I like the taste of nearly all vegetables. Two, I’m not a big fan of anything that’s too sweet.
I’d like to see how close I can get to the Mean Greens at I Love Juice Bar.
That Mean Green juice is probably the on featured in “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead” which is a documentary on Netflix. It’s a really amazing watch actually. It’s what inspired us to try 100% juicing for a few days straight (which is tough).
The recipes are freely available here (including Mean Green): http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/about-the-film/learn-more/recipes/
Thanks Tahm! I’ll definitely check it out.
First, you need some vodka…
Yeah, that’s one dangerous road. The other one is when I was putting a banana in tonight and thought “gee, some ice cream would be good in here…”
I’m determined not to do that.
Frozen, blended, bananas are a good substitute, texture wise for ice cream.
Thanks for the tip! I do love bananas. 😂
Carrots with apple, orange with cucumber, strawberry with blueberry and banana. My mom likes to throw in a slice of ginger root with hers and says it helps her sinuses.
Beware celery. Although it seems innocent, blend it up and you get the lovely taste of something like jet fuel.
Interesting. I’ll have to find the celery ceiling now. You have me wary. I’ve only tried one small piece in a smoothie so far.
I have that kit but it was basically falling apart within a year. In it’s defense, I used it a lot. I do most of my juicing with an actual juicer (Breville) and then do most of my smoothies with a smaller personal blender (that seems to blend way easier than the Ninja).
My new favorite juice recipe this year – 1 sweet potato, 1 apple, 1 pear, small piece of Turmeric, and a hunk of ginger. Top it with a sprinkle of cinnamon and it tastes like pie.
This might finally be a way I can have some sweet potato. I try it every so often to make sure I still don’t like it. I never do. 🙁