It may not be racing season-but chances are-the athletically inclined still have an eye on what they eat and how much-year round.
A great gift for anyone really-that will probably the most used appliance in many athletic households -a juicer/blender…
It's easy to find out a whole lot about AUTO iQ™ Nutri NINJA® BLENDERS with rather idiot proof user friendly design- as the informative infomercial even got our attention recently-with the MO of enabling all to easily make/ consume enticing nutritious usable/digestible, multi-ingredient liquids--focusing on- for us, anyway- its blending power-rendering vitamin packed nuts, frozen fruit/ice, vegetable/fruit skins and seeds- in edible form-with literally-just the touch of a button.
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| In the mix-Rachel Beller Eat To Lose, Eat To Win-with tv creds from The Biggest Loser…this easy to read (maybe 20-30 minutes cover to cover) provides nutritional tips and facts for all. Even we learned something-like the importance of eating real fiber vs. the manufactured kind (yikes)-and what to look for on food labels with actual samples, energy revving spices, mini-food autopsies (as in the deceptively high calorie counts of so-called healthy choices-like suishi rolls... +what a serving actually looks like), better protein choices (low mercury fish)---and easy to make tasty recipes for all hours of the day---without the added calories that add nothing to boost taste-but are typically included. |
There is a whole lot more going for this
2 in 1 machine- Nutri Ninja®, Ninja® AUTO IQ™ Blender-
available online. (IMO)…and in stores like Sears and Walmart.
First thing ---it delivers well packaged…and altogether is surprisingly light-the hefty weight belonging to the powerful, warranty guaranteed- 1500 watt Blender base part…while the pitcher and nutrient extractor cups-are made of durable (dropped by mistake but emerged without a crack), dishwasher friendly, sturdy BPA Free plastic---and the blades-razor sharp steel (ice crushing) or some kind of plastic that is also sharp and excellent for shredding vegetables.
Three layers of items----
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| Important for us-there are eight pre-programmed Auto-iQ buttons- plus on/off- on the base of the Auto-iQ™ blender base unit-that clearly spells out which one to press, depending on desired blending pattern. Super important as we are the type to ask our 7 year old nephew how to turn on an oven ("...press the button…" DUH). |
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| So smart-suction cups at the bottom of the base-so helpful if placed on uneven surfaces and prevents accidents-from wide swinging arms- from happening. Great feature. |
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| Traveler friendly portable containers-and 3 sizes (18,24,32 ozs respectively)-also with appropriate to-go lids with ez touch openings. Grip friendly rubber holders too…use to make nutritious liquids…Nutri Ninja |
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| in middle-Nutri Ninja Bullet-fits on the base-great for juicing-one-two servings vs entire pitcher. |
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| easy to install and remove from the base…the blender pitcher's has press release button on top of lid-then lid handle is raised - to unlock the featherweight container. The lid has a pour spout---securely fits in. FYI-the numerous parts are sized perfectly so there is no chance to mistakenly use a wrong blade or container lid---for either the pitcher or the processor bowl--- |
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| 72 oz Blending Pitcher marked for measuring- three tiered blade-slides on and off |
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| the blades are easily removed for cleaning-and sized specifically for its task…so the juicer gets the PRO EXTRACTOR Blades™ on the left---pictured on the right-the Total Crushing Blades® PLUS the free processor bowl with lid upgrade ($50 value)-that can mix up ingredients for dough, or pulse to perfection-ingredients for chunky recipes-like salsa, guacamole etc…with bowl blade&dough hook. Blades lift on and off- |
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| without a blade…comes with lid that lift the handle-click on and off securely into the base. |
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| this sharp blade-slides right on... |
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| the rock hard metal blade is great for crushing ice…for frozen drinks |
What we tried straight away… Rachel Beller's tip to chop up vegetables in the 64 ounce chopping food processor bowl-as suggested we sliced up some carrot chunks and green pepper-and after turning on -held down the "Pulse" button as suggested-for about 20 seconds-did it for us. Useful-as we are not juice drinkers per se-but consume quantities of chopped up fruits and vegetables-and it's a lot more economical to do that chopping oneself.
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Bullet shaped Nutri Ninja with Auto iQ™ pitcher atop the AUTO IQ Bender base…
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ALSO AVAILABLE and a great gift idea-the thoroughly portable
Nutri Ninja with Auto iQ® for competitors who travel to races and don't want to risk getting food poisoning from the local cuisine-and blowing all that training...
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| 1000 Watt motor base Auto-iQ™ |
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| blade speeds correspond to texture desired |
WHAT ELSE:
Probiotics have been written about a lot lately-as cures for a whole range of human negatives like obesity, indigestion, less than stellar immunity issues…and ALSO as an important daily necessity for living a long, healthy life.
Not all probiotics are created equally however, so we learned---it's the amount of actual live cultures that aids the ability of the body to absorb the nutrients…that makes the difference. And imo-got to taste decent or
forget it.
New to us-we were pleasantly surprised by how tasty Lifeway fruit, vanilla and even plain flavored
LIFEWAY BioKefir™- and low-fat Kefir-probiotic loaded creamy -drinkable offerings (aka cultured milk'ish' smoothies) are…and easily exercise friendly too- we'd take a gulp- instead of some sugar loaded gel blocs-our usual go-to and previously, pretty much all our stomachs could handle.
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| 3.5 oz size is all of 60 calories!!!!---four flavors of BioKefir-Vanilla (digestion), Blackberry and Black Cherry(heart health), Pomegranate-Blueberry (immunity), we dribbled on fresh-cut fruit and violà=dessert. Different fruits-provide different anti-oxidants-all are easy to digestion ( 99% lactose free) and deliver 20 BILLION ColonyFormingUnits-with 12 live+active kefir cultures. Grass fed dairy cows, GMO free, BPA free packaging... |
Kefir fyi-is different than yogurt…and in particular-Lifeway Kefir has significantly more live and active cultures…including its "ProBoost"-an exclusive pair of probiotics. Plus- it's cultured for 14-16 hours versus most commercially available yogurt that clock in for just 2-3 hours…
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| other Lifeway Kefir products available-including organic, non-fat and low-fat, frozen and kid-friendly products (ProBugs™) |
...that also makes the difference in the Kefir's high probiotic activity count.
Now part of our daily intake…we even use the plain flavor as substitute for mayonnaise in salads---it is surprising how much this one a day low calorie-beneficial must eat/drink became part of our daily meal routine. Def. a holiday must too- as a self-gift. That counts.
STOCKING STUFFERS:
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| As the aforementioned Rachel Beller tome noted-who eats just one accurately sized tbsp of peanut butter? From the UK comes this peanut butter version of hot cocoa the Peanut Hottie ---mix with hot water/milk-or what we did-sprinkled atop freshly popped hot air popcorn-for that nutty taste we love without all the calories. Bonus-there's a Peanut Butter-Chocolate version----that can be added to baking recipes too. FYI for the taste buds---not nutrition valuable imo- though there are no artificially baffling ingredients in this powdery product. Available on AMAZON and select Walmarts |
CLIF® BARS holiday themed snack bars (limited edition)-are tasty bundles of energy made from mostly organic ingredients-that easily double as dessert…on their own-or crumbled over sliced fresh fruit. Yummy.
These will go super fast - as
all three flavors-Iced Gingerbread (personal fav-with ginger,cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg spices), Spiced Pumpkin Pie, and Pecan Pie (with pecan pieces of course)-are authentic tasting, ideal blends of crunchy/chewy (organic raisins or date paste, soy rice crisps, organic rolled oats and ClifCrunch®), spicy sweet bites of goodness.
Warning...better to buy a bunch as one of each won't be enough! Available in a lot of places while they last, including
online 12 bars box/$15
BONUS: 1% of net sales goes to non-profit
PROTECT OUR WINTERS.
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A bag of pistachios or cashews are a fast way to get second invites from recipient hosts. LOVE pistachios our fav-20-30 nuts are 100 calories---fun to crack out of the shell-plus good for you too. MADE (grown) in the USA-Setton Farms offers several packaging options including these burlap bags packed.. Just count on having one sent to your home address, too.
AND: indulgence perfect... |
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| Talk about multi-tasking-the super friendly proprietor, TIM FERRIS-pouring a taste at a NEW YORK FASHION WEEK event (!)- of tasty and aromatic single malt DEFIANT whiskey-doubles as a rather risk taking salvage diver-with his DEFIANT MARINE other company- that helped pumped out Hurricane Sandy flooded tunnels. WOW. For the bottle liquid product-water, yeast, barley and American white oak barrels-carefully selected and matured by Blue Ridge Distillery-yielding award winning results---online for $46.19 |
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| For all of those -disconnecting from Facebook and Keurig machines…and embracing more time consuming/satisfying actual conversations and---the ultimate indulgence of coffee brewing---the way we lived in college on-one cup at a time through paper filter (non-bleached, nowadays) and a Melitta® something. The Pour-Over One Cup Brew Cone and mug set… comes with a few filters to get it all going. Pair with a bag of java---and it's all a nice gift for any one who does not mind standing in line for their shot of caffeine-including all those New York in under a Minute types who yet-wait up to a quarter of an hour-for their hand-poured beverage- (think Blue Bottle Coffee- next to event driven Milk Studios during NYFW). |
