Low carb use of Ninja blender???

[sueatmo]

I received a Ninja blender for Christmas. I have no idea how to use this thing for the way I cook. I don't make fruit smoothies because I am on a low carb diet. I've never made a green smoothie in my life. I can't believe I would enjoy one. I don't desire to grind nuts into butter, because I can't imagine enjoying scraping the goo off those vicious looking blades. Do any low carbers use Ninjas? How? And is it possible to make a green smoothie that tastes good? Right now the only use I can come up with is to puree soups to make a "cream" soup, because I don't eat high fat either. That might be a use, although it would involve hauling it to the cooktop. Any ideas appreciated.

[rmarisco]

yes there are green smoothies that taste good, but they involve a fruit to give it a sweeter taste!

you could do a berry smoothie i guess.. but when i get berries, i just eat them as is: can't wait to process them!

[johnseberg]

I got rid of my blender less than a year ago, and now I'm on an elimination diet where I need to make my own condiments, dressings, and the like. I have a nice hand blender, but, I don't know if it'll be up to the task. Processed foods are totally off limits, so, I need to do the processing, myself.

I bought my last blender specifically for low-carb smoothies. There were times when I needed to get some quick protein. I didn't use ice, but, frozen fruit with plain yogurt, stevia, nut oil/butter.

Normally, I'd do dishes by hand, but, I'd run the dishwasher if the blender was dirty, because I didn't want to mess with those blades.

[Baskerville]

I use my Blendtec to process cauliflower into cauliflower "rice." Steam a head, break into florets, toss into blender and away we go.

If you don't want to scrape nut butter goo off of the blades, try making almond meal by briefly whizzing a handful of almonds in it until coarse and flour-like in texture.

I also use my blender as a lazy man's whisk when I make eggs for frittatas. Incorporates the whites and yolks rather nicely and in a flash. You can pour right from the blender and then clean it up and call it a day.

[Enso]

Yes, you can make a pleasant-tasting green smoothies if you like veggies. It will take some experimentation.

Re: nut butters. If the blades scare you then learn to not be bothered by the waste of not scraping them.

Or just re-gift it and forgive the offending gift giver (if you haven't already).

[mcf]

Or spray them with Pam or wipe with oil to see if the stuff just slides off?

[antennastoheaven]

Make a smoothie in the blender after making nut butter. The leftover on the blades will mix right in.

[sueatmo]

It turns out the blades arent't that hard to handle safely. Smoothies with ice cubes are pretty grainy. Disappointing. But it did a nice rough chop of veggies. I put them into the blender with the broth I was using in the dish.

[sueatmo]

When I was using whey powder last year I decided i was adding too many calories to thicken up the shake. I stopped making smoothies or shakes. By then I had burnt out my old blender anyway.

Not that happy with the Ninja, but I needed a new blender anyway, so I guess as a blender its pretty good.

I froze almond milk in ice trays and bought some frozen mixed berries to add to it. I might add a scoop of cottage cheese for protein and thickness. I also bought a medium sized squash to make soup with. We'll see.

[sedimental]

It sounds sort of like a vita mix? I use my vita mix for soups and protein smoothies.

I will sometimes take a smoothie for lunch. I blend up some protein mix, coconut milk, cinnamon, and ice. Then take it with me in a stainless drink container with more ice. Not fancy but meets my needs sometimes :)

[mcf]

You can make smoothies with a good protein powder, a bit of fruit like a handful of berries, almonds or nut butter or healthy walnut oil, plain yogurt, whey powder, some sweetener if you care to.

That said, I gave up both my blender and food processor years ago, got a blender stick and haven't looked back. It would be good for pureeing half a soup or braise liquid for thickening.