Welcome, and a Note on Juicing in the Ninja Blender
Angela | December 26, 2012By now, we have (mostly) survived the holidays, and, if my blog traffic is any indicator, a lot of people received some type of Ninja Blender for the holidays.
Excellent!
If you are one of those folks, welcome to Test Kitchen Tuesday! While I cover lots of healthy living and eating topics, there is no denying that a good portion of the content on this blog has to do with blending, Ninja-style.
Amazingly, I keep coming up with new things to blend, so I hope you’ll grab the RSS feed and join me.
I have an “open door” policy around these parts, which basically means if you have a question, request, or conundrum, I am happy to help in any way possible. Shoot me an email or drop me a note in the comments, and I will do my best to help. I am not affiliated with the Ninja Blender folks, but I do know a lot about them and will often write up reader request posts to share with everyone.
In the meantime, I know a topic on a lot of people’s minds is juicing. Perhaps you’re thinking of doing a juice cleanse to start the new year, or maybe you just like juice. I am building my library of juice recipes, and will have more on this topic in the coming months. But, if you are looking for juicing ideas, here are a couple quick tips:
- Pulp-free juice: You can make pulp free juice with the Ninja Blender – check out this post that covers single fruit/veggie juicing, (you can also create blended juices, no problem). If you’re doing a juice blend, I recommend using a mixture that includes a few water-dense fruits or veggies in your blend (like cucumbers, cantaloupe, pears, etc.) as it will let you add less water.
- To get pulp-free juice, straining is involved. Some people don’t mind straining; some people can’t stand it. Personally, I don’t mind because the clean up is infinitely easier than cleaning up a masticating juicer, which strains the pulp for you.
- Smooth, whole food juicing: You can also make more of a thicker, but not truly “pulpy” juice or juice blend. To do this, you don’t need to add water, but you do need to add 4-5 ice cubes and blend a little longer than you would for pulp-free juice. The longer you blend, the smoother your juice will be. Just keep in mind, this juice will be thicker than strained juice as you have left the pulp in the mixture. Again, I recommend your juice blends have some water-based fruits and veggies in it to help with the blending process.
I am planning a Juicing 101 Post in the coming weeks, but wanted to get these quick tips and tricks up for those just starting out with their Ninja Blenders.
And, that’ll about do it for today. Continued happy holiday wishes to all!
Thanks for dropping by!
Hi… I’m loving your site… I’m experimenting and comparing my new ninja with my Nutri bullet… So far the bullet surpasses on smoothness.. I’m just playing around for now… I like the fact I can make my whole days worth of juice in the ninja… Then I take my serving and blend in the bullet… It does make it much smoother…
Haven’t tried the dough making yet… Looking forward to that..am also going to tackle the Paleo way if eating… Bread and beans are my weakness, plus chips…I’ve got to find some substitutions… Any ideas?.
Thanks again for your hard work…
Marsha
Hi Marsha,
I am not surprised that the Nutribullet surpasses on smoothness — a reader once posted a juice she made that included an orange with the rind, and it came out really smooth.
As far as your question about switching to Paleo and helping with cravings, here is my suggestion. Do a 2 or 3 week cleanse (I like Be Well by Dr. Frank Lipman) to reset your system. The first few days will really stink, and then you will feel fantastic. I did this a while back and went gluten free concurrently. By doing the cleanse, I reset my body’s expectations and no longer crave sugar or wheat. (For real). This eliminates your needs for substitusions, but, kale chips are a phenomenal sub for chips. As far as subbing for bread, there really isn’t one that I can think of — which is why stopping your craving is more important. I have found that starting my day with a green smoothie really gets it off on the right foot as well, and takes away cravings.
Thanks so much for your nice note, and good luck – come back and let me know how you do!
Angela
Does anyone have a. Ninja recipe for orange sherbet ? Or smoothies made with frozen yogart ?
Hi Marla,
I don’t have an orange sherbet recipe right now, but I will get to work on one!
I do have lots of smoothie recipes – which you could add frozen yogurt to, or, replace most of the liquid with yogurt over here: http://testkitchentuesday.com/ninja-blender-recipes/. I’ll start thinking of some recipes in this area. What types of flavors were you looking for?
Angela
Hi Angela,
Thanks for writing back. I’d like to find a veg/fruit smoothie that contains frozen yogart. The protein in the yogart helps keep blood sugars more steady. As for flavors…I use a lot of apple, and oranges. Thank you so. Such for working on fin ding a recipe for orange sherbet and yogart containing Smoothies.
Marla
Hi Marla,
No problem at all. I have an idea for your orange sherbet — just need to try it out. Stay tuned!
Angela
Hi Angela,
Thank you for your reply ! I’m looking forward to your orange sherbet recipe ! Marla