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Smoothies, Juicing, etc.

1487610420

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recipes would be highly valued! Mine have all lately started to taste the same no matter what fruits I put into them.. It's hard for me as well since I buy seasonal.. Typically spinach, kale, and beets with the greens on top are all fairly cheap so I stick with them.. but fruits are completely seasonal and based on what's on sale. :) So having some ideas of what to stick in would be great. The usual assortment:
- Apples
- Bananas
- Pears
- Pineapples and Mangoes when I can afford to buy frozen or they're ridiculously cheap
- Oranges
- Berries when they're in season (strawberry, blueberry, blackberry)

I'd like to try things like pomegranates and such but they're a bit intimidating.


:drwho:
 

Lexicon

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[MENTION=4939]kyuuei[/MENTION] - so, I've yet to use my Nutribullet blender- need to do groceries. I always wanted to make my own 'green machine' type smoothies [mix of veggies & fruits]. I was wondering, in your experience so far- are there any particular raw veggies I should avoid trying to put in the Nutribullet? It'd suck to break it, by accident, or something. I've heard so many good things about it.

Thanks, in advance, lady! :cheers:
 

King sns

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I really like making blender smoothies. It's just because i'm generally in a rush and fruits and vegetables don't fill me fast enough. I tend to throw random things in the blender with water and drink it. I did do juicing but mine broke. Worked well with certain things. I liked fresh squeezed orange and pineapple juice but with the one I was using, lost too much pulp and went through a lot of fruit. It did really well with carrot juice. And carrots are something you can't put in the blender. Other than that, blender all the way. Don't have to lose some of that good for you pulp stuff. Juicer tastes better so I figured it's better to use the juicer and be willing to drink more stuff than use the blender and not want to drink it as much. Of course I feel better when drinking fruits and vegetables.. it's micronutrients galore.
 

kyuuei

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[MENTION=4939]kyuuei[/MENTION] - so, I've yet to use my Nutribullet blender- need to do groceries. I always wanted to make my own 'green machine' type smoothies [mix of veggies & fruits]. I was wondering, in your experience so far- are there any particular raw veggies I should avoid trying to put in the Nutribullet? It'd suck to break it, by accident, or something. I've heard so many good things about it.

Thanks, in advance, lady! :cheers:

Ah! No problem! In my experience, the food type itself is not so bad.. But the smaller something is, the better. So if you have baby carrots, I'd chop them up into smaller sections or just have a couple in there. Here are the things that will 'break' the nutribullet:
- Overfilling it. When it says 'max' it MEANS it. And it doesn't hurt to go a touch under--if you're packing things in, that doesn't really count. :laugh:
- Not screwing the lid on tight enough. I did a mixture of the 'Oh, it's just a bit over the max line, no big deal' and not screwing the lid on Juuuust a smidge too loose. In a completely unrelated note, It is impossible to clean the inside of the machine base itself if it gets full of green smoothie without completely taking it apart to its bare bone pieces.
- The 'blender' blade NEEDS more liquids than solids just like a regular blender. The milling blade does not need any liquids, and it works better than a coffee grinder for things like cookies, nuts, and flax seeds.. But it cannot handle large quantities at all. Small, shallow quantities are best. (Also, we made an amazing chocolate mousse in it today.... but on to the subject at hand!) What I HAVE found, though, is that the blender..it really doesn't like big frozen items. Mango chunks, banana pieces, etc. It's fine with cranberries, blackberries, and smaller frozen things, but the bigger chunky items usually always have pieces left behind. I don't really care one way or the other, but its a note. Also, the frozen items really thicken up the smoothie, so too much frozen stuff and cold liquids will make it difficult for the bullet to churn it.
- The machine seems to sound not-so-loud for like. One use. Seriously, after the first time I used it, every other time it's been stupid loud. The commercials are extremely misleading about that. So you didn't necessarily break it if it starts to make really loud, god-awful dinosaur-baby-high-pitched-shrieking noises.
- It doesn't really like hard foods. Beets, raw potatoes, things like that. Those have to be softened in one form or another before being used.
- This has nothing to do with raw/organic foods themselves.. but if you're stacking things in, pour thicker things like honey or powders over the top of the batch instead of on the bottom.. They tend to stick to the bottom of the cup and don't get totally blended in.

Other than that, I haven't really found a food item that would go into a smoothie that it hates so far. Here's a list of foods I typically use though, just in case: spinach, kale, softened broccoli, lettuce, beets, frozen berries, bananas, mangoes, pears, apples, peaches, flax seed (I usually mill it and just add it in via powder form), and just about every soup I ever make.
 

King sns

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Oh, as far as combos, kale, pineapple and banana with water work well. Any sweet fruits with milk/yogurt/ ice cream. (Blueberries, bananas, strawberries, mangos.) Spinach mixes well with just about anything. But, I'll drink whatever I put in there I found just for the health factor. I threw a leftover salad in there the other day with water and drank it. (Yea, time saving freak.) And yes, it was really gross.
 

kyuuei

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^ :rofl1: A leftover salad!?

I've tried kale on its own.. it has a really.. almost bitter taste. It almost seemed like even with sweet fruits it had that green-ish tangy vibe to the drink instead of tasting like a treat. Vanilla powder and instant coffee masks it perfectly, and I find mixing kale and spinach takes the edge off while still packing in greens.
 

King sns

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^ :rofl1: A leftover salad!?

I've tried kale on its own.. it has a really.. almost bitter taste. It almost seemed like even with sweet fruits it had that green-ish tangy vibe to the drink instead of tasting like a treat. Vanilla powder and instant coffee masks it perfectly, and I find mixing kale and spinach takes the edge off while still packing in greens.

yes, the pineapple works very well to mask the kale too for some reason.
 

Fidelia

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I often have smoothies for lunch. I've tried adding kale, but it tasted gross. Didn't realize that spinach and pineapple would mask it.

My smoothies often include hemp hearts (great for long lasting energy and protein and minerals), kiwi, some berries, lots of spinach, pecans or walnuts, and a banana with plain yoghurt and a splash of V8 fruit/veggie juice.

I juice a couple of times a week and have a 3 day or so supply. In that mix I usually have a lot of celery, radishes, spinach or leftover lettuce, a bunch of parsley, some carrots, an apple or two, a lemon (no rind), and very importantly, ginger. I like an orange thrown in or a pomegranate for the flavour. I only tried the pomegranite last week in there and it gives it a really nice flavour. The ginger gives it a bit of kick. I add a whack of lemon juice at the end. I usually try to avoid too much sludge. At first, I tried having it on the coarsest setting because I figured the fibre was good, but found I got gaggy towards the bottom of the bottle. Now I have a wee bit of sludge. I used to use more cucumber, but I find that if you have too much in there it creates a lot of unpleasant sludginess. People are usually appalled at how the juice looks (brownish orange to intense green), but it actually does taste bad at all. Initially I never would have tried it if I hadn't had to for health reasons, but I enjoy it now and probably have 2-4 smallish bottles of it a day (like the kind that Starbucks Frappaccinos come in).
 

1487610420

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I saw a Microbullet vs Ninja review on youtube and was impressed [ninja results are chunky]. Now if only they'd sell those around here... :rly???:
 

1487610420

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Breakfast today: orange, apple, banana, carrot, muesli, chocolate chips, 100% natural juice

 

netzealot

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If you are looking for a healthy and surprisingly delicious all-in-one smoothie, try this recipe:

- Start with 2 inches of water
- 2-3 stalks of kale, broken into smaller pieces
- 1-2 handfuls of spinach leaves
- 2 scoops of vanilla whey protein powder (the natural kind is best)
- 1 scoop steel cut oats
- 1 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt (optional)
- 1 frozen banana, halved
- 1 cup frozen strawberries
- 1 cup frozen blueberries

- Alternatively, non-frozen fruits can be used along with ice and less water
- Also, "Optimum Nutrition's 100% Natural Oats and Whey Vanilla Bean" can be used instead of separate oats and whey. It's arguably the best brand of protein powder and is on sale on Amazon.com.

Depending on how powerful your blender is you may have to stop and mix it with a spoon (trying to push it down while it runs is not advised... based on a bad experience) and you may need to add a bit of water to adjust the thickness to your liking and the capabilities of your blender.

This recipe was created based on the ANDI scale which is a more common sense way to measures food based on nutrient density (rating = nutrients/calories... kale scores 1,000 while french fries got a 7).

It incorporates the best picks from the fruits and vegetables at the top of the list which are also available at most supermarkets. The other ingredients are the best choice from each food group: steel-cut oats being non-processed slow burning carbohydrates, whey being the cleanest form of protein, and non-fat yogurt for flavor/consistency and calcium (If you are a woman I advise against using this to replace a meal if you are not going to add yogurt).

It has minimal prep and clean up time... just run the blender 1/2 full of water with a few drops of dish soap right after. Most of the ingredients have a good shelf life. It is both surprisingly tasty and very filling.
 
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