Blenders vs juicers

[Merski]

I'm beginning to think that we might be able to make green smoothies with garden veggies and fruit in a blender rather than a juicer. As someone pointed out on another board why deny yourself the fiber that fruits and vegs offer. I'm thinking a good blender would be cheaper than say a juicer. Any recommendations? Anyone have opinions to share. Thanks all.

[Spartana]

That was me!! I have a Ninja blender and it works really well to chop up and even liquify fruits and veggies, as well as ice cubes. Can even make ice cream in it. It's not as great as a Vita-Mix but it a fraction of the cost at around $100 for the blender or you can get a blender set for about $50. The set is less powerful than the blender but comes with 3 containers each with 2 or 3 blades (stacked horizontally) and works great for most things. I use that one to make smoothies, chop up veggies for salads, and make sorbet or ice cream. There is an infomercial for the Ninja Blender out there but I've never seen it.

I don't juice at all because it's like throwing out the baby with the bath water to me as you really are tossing out all the good stuff and just getting mostly water with only a small fraction of all the good left in. Plus fruit juices are VERY sugary and can be just as bad for you as soda - where as the whole fruit has all that healthy "stuff" in there. Here's a link to a bunch of U-Tube video made by "real" people using both types of Ninja Blenders - the Ninja 1000 pro blender and the cheaper one. Including making green smooties and how they are so much better for you than green jucing. Also shows comparisions to regular single blade blenders - not even close!! http://search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0oGk...inja%2bblender

Here's one showing the comparision to a regular blender:http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/...vge3p1&newfp=1

And below the ice blending video, look for the one that shows the cheaper Ninja Blender making a smoothie. Guy has large hunks of apples (with the peel on) and all kinds of whole uncut fruit and it blends it all up ina few seconds. The expensive pro one does it even quicker! Also in that same section there is a blendiung vs. juicing video which shows just how much is wasted juicing compared to blending.

[Rosemary]

I have an Oster blender that cost about $60 at Costco.com. I won't claim that it comes close to a Vitamix, but I will say it makes great smoothies. I also use it to puree dried fruits and nuts for salad dressings (with water). This particular one has a blade that can reverse directions, which is a nice feature when you're blending solids.

[CathyA]

I have a Bullet blender, which is small.......but they make a larger version of it. The smaller version works great, but you might want the larger one.
I have an expensive Vitamix, but don't like it. I'm sure there's lots of decent, inexpensive blenders out there. You're right about the juicers.....you lose all that good fiber.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

When making Keifer smoothies for DH to put back good bacteria last summer, I dug out the old 1970's harvest gold blender and it did the job! Easy to use and easy to clean up.

[puglogic]

I have a juicer but haven't used it in years. I want all that fiber in there in ME, not in the compost bin.

I make smoothies using our Breville blender. This morning's: kale, dandelion greens, romaine, a small steamed sweet potato, frozen blueberries, half a banana, half an orange, three strawberries, flax milk, protein powder, three ice cubes. It's enough for two meals. Delish, and I get the whole plant, not just the juice.

[Bastelmutti]

I also use an Oster blender. Make sure you get one with a glass jar. The blade looks like this:
http://tinyurl.com/7ajngay

An example of a recipe I've been making lately is
1 cup water + handful of frozen strawberries + handful of frozen pineapple + big handful of fresh spinach + 1 banana

The one I have has a frozen drink setting, so it chops frozen fruit and ice with enough liquid.

[Merski]

I just bought a Ninja online. Gulp! DH doesn't know yet. We usually discuss purchases together for the household. He owes me for screwing up my birthday...perhaps we'll negotiate!

[loosechickens]

They will have to pry my VitaMix from my cold, dead hands.....we've had it about a dozen years now, and given that we use it nearly daily, and it's never needed any kind of repair, on a "cost per use" basis, it's probably one of the cheapest appliances we've ever had.

I took a lot of ribbing from my sweetie about the "blender on steroids" for the first few years, but he is as fond of it now as I am......

We, too, like the idea of having all the fiber in the fruits and veggies in there, as so much is lost by juicing, so much prefer the blender.

[Merski]

DH was okay with the purchase...bless him! I've been talking about food dehydrator and juicer for months now so he wasn't surprised. Used the $ from paypal account which we earned selling on etsy which also appealed to us both!