I need to have breakfast! No seriously, I get all kind of Hangry without it. I have a smoothie for my weekday breakfast for a number of reasons including the health benefits, taste but most of all they are just plain easy. I wanted to share with you guys my favourite Christmas present, a new Ninja!
Honestly, the original Ninja was the best blender I had ever used and the new one I just upgraded too with the AutoIQ technology is blowing my mind! My mom got me my first Ninja 8 years ago after seeing it on an infomercial and I have been using it every day, sometimes twice a day since then. This is the only blender I have used that so easily crushes ice and frozen fruit for a smooth consistency and the new AutoIQ is awesome as it does all the pulsing and timing itself for the perfect consistency every time. My old blender was still working great after 8 years of everyday use, so clearly they are made the last and worth every penny.
The newer model comes with the option of using the pitcher for making big batches or the grab and go cups which are perfect for our morning smoothies and the only reason I wanted to upgrade as the old model didn’t have the option of using these cups. K works night shift every other week so the cups are great because I don’t have to worry about cleaning a blender pitcher before leaving for work in the morning I just rinse the cup blade and it is ready for him when he gets up. I like that we still have the blender pitcher though for the weekends when I want to make a big batch of the same smoothie, healthy pancakes…or strawberry daiquiris.
I have been looking at getting a food processor as well so when I added a new Ninja to my Christmas list I specifically asked for Nutri Ninja | Ninja Blender Duo with AutoIQ Technology with the Ultimate Culinary Collection Upgrade you can find this option on the second page when you select order. This option comes with a processor bowl and grading/chopping prep blades and basically replaces a food processor. I already tested it out making healthy broccoli cheddar soup last night and it was so easy and delicious and cut out so much chopping and grading time!
Ninja also has this new coffee bar which I have on my wish list as it looks amazing and offers the option of a full pot or single cup serve which once again would be great when K is on night shift, but still allow us to make a pot on the weekends and day shift weeks. I also hate the taste of coffee so I am just dreaming of all the speciality coffees I could make to give me the caffeine fix I need without the taste.
The system also came with a new recipe book so I have been testing out some of the smoothies and have listed two below. Sorry about the gross bananas, I don’t have fresh ones on hand as I buy the big bags of ripe bananas off of the back shelf in the grocery store and peel, quarter and freeze them right away.
Tangerine Protein Machine (Page 58)
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
1/2 cup of spinach
1 small banana
1 tangerine (I used an orange)
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of ice
This one was good but wasn’t very flavourful next time I would add an additional orange.
Kick – Start my Day (Page 71)
3/4 cup of frozen strawberries
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder
1/2 a banana
1 cup of orange juice
This one was very tasty next time I will probably add some greens to boost the nutritional value.
*This post is not sponsored in any way and I was not provided with any of these products. I just simply love it!*
