Well, not quite…
We needed a new blender. Smoothies, etc. This looked OK and as reasonably priced at WallyWorld:
So, I picked one up. First thing off the bat, made a chocolate smoothie. OK, I guess. Certainly easier than with the hashup hand blender/mixer I had been using, but the ice bits were larger than I like, and it even missed a cube almost entirely. I suppose I needed to pulse the thing and run it longer, though.
Reasonable, and I’ll be more likely to use this to make a quick meal substitute instead of just grabbing something I probably ought not to.
Next time, it’ll be an orange-vanilla smoothie with more finely shaved ice.
Stupid name for a blender, though.
Ninja… is it sneaky quiet?
Nah. Not so sneaky. Oh, it is a tad quieter than some blenders we’ve had, but not all that much so. Oh, and one “feature” I’d not mentioned: one speed. Not that I care. One speed does nicely. I did make the orange-vanilla smoothie tonight and let the thing spend more time processing the ice. Nicer. And oh, so good. Yum. My Wonder Woman enjoyed it too, so I may have found a way to make a dessert that will enhance her diet kick. (It was a protein-sparing, low carb, low cal smoothie, but was smoooooth and sweet and tasty. Win-win-win for her. :-))
So… will there be recipes for said healthy smoothies? I just recently decided to try doing that for dessert so maybe I could get a little better at my health. Of course, my first attempt had sugared strawberries and it was followed by some Cheetos, so I have some work to do. 🙂
OK, Nicole, here’s what pleased the (perhaps age-dimmed *heh*) palates last night.
8oz sucralose-sweetened orange “power drink” (used the cheapo “Powerade Zero”–not quite enough orange for my taste but suited my WW to a “t”.)
2 heaping scoops (I dunno how much that is, for sure; just used the scoop in the package) of vanilla-flavored whey protein powder
2 cups ice
2 TBS heavy whipping cream (Very Important for the texture, especially)
1/2 teaspoon leucine powder (additional element in the “protein-sparing” part of the recipe)
1/2 teaspoon D-Ribose (see D-Ribose’s effects on muscle weakness and energy reserves, among other interesting effects)
Whir away!
Was good. I want to add some freshly-grated nutmeg to the next one (I don’t use the stuff fast enough to buy the pre-ground stuff and use it before it turns to something that tastes more like dust than nutmeg). I’ll try some with various fruits and berries as this thing progresses. And yes, I’m doing a low carb thing for the past week. Have taken about 5# off my injured knee as a result, so far, and my knee thanks me.
BTW, the chocolate smoothies I’ve been making have an added ingredient: flax seed powder. I take flax meal and powder it in one of my “spice” blade coffee grinders and add that powder to the mix. Makes it even thicker and a little nutty. Adds tons of fiber, some Very Good Oils and no usable net carbs. I think my next chocolate shake will have some fresh mint added as well. My Wonder Woman didn’t manage to kill it all off when she went wild trying to save “her” morning glory weeds from being choked out by “my” mint. *heh*
Update: adding the mint was a Very Good Idea. Oh, yum! chocomint smoothie! I’m Much Better Now. 🙂
(Sidebar: chocomint smoothie, pork rinds and garlic hot sauce? Notsomuch. *heh*)
What is the protein sparing strategy?
I have heard of using flax seed and I do have some. Also some vanilla whey powder.
When one is essentially on a mini-starvation plan (what most diets are, really), the body tends to scavenge muscle mass for energy production. The “skin and bones” you see in folks who’ve experienced long-term “dieting” (starvation) is an extreme example. Additional protein helps a lot, and a little additional leucine (just one essential amino acid, but one that is easily “scavenged”) helps prevent that scavenging of muscle mass.
I think I’ll also add an egg to the vanilla drink. If one is wary of salmonella, one can simply pasteurize eggs before using them. One minute–one minute only!–in boiling water should do the trick. Heck, I might add an egg to the chocolate versions, too. BTW, The fats in egg yolks are good for one’s liver. Gottalove eggs!
Yeah, i want something that really crushes the ice.
Well, the “Ninja” does that pretty well.