{"id":499,"date":"2011-01-01T21:41:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-01T21:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2011\/01\/ninja.html"},"modified":"2011-01-01T21:41:00","modified_gmt":"2011-01-01T21:41:00","slug":"ninja","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2011\/01\/ninja.html","title":{"rendered":"Ninja!!!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

“So — first Yoshi<\/a>?  Now Ninja???  What’s next?  Ginsu<\/a>?”<\/p>\n

Yep — this will be a more positive commentary than the Yoshi review<\/a>, I promise!<\/p>\n

Dave and I got a nice generous Bed, Bath and Beyond<\/a> gift card from Dave’s brother for Christmas.  Earlier this week we took a trip to Pensacola to run some errands — which included a fail attempt at dinner at Bonefish Grill<\/a>, boo!  After eating at Moe’s Southwest Grill<\/a> instead, we saw that we were just a couple doors down from Bed, Bath and Beyond.  So we stopped in and picked up a couple of much-needed kitchen accessories.  A burr coffee grinder and a new blender.<\/p>\n

The blender is what I’ll be discussing today.  My 15-year-old Oster basic-of-basic blenders was ready to kick the bucket: the motor starts to stink if it runs for too long, and the gasket sealing the bottom had some cracks and therefore leaks. <\/p>\n

After pondering favorites such as the Magic Bullet<\/a> (too small for mass quantities of margaritas or daquiris), we opted for the Ninja Master Prep Professional<\/a>.  It looked like a, well, different<\/i> blender concept.  Instead of the motor and blade pivoting underneath your food, it’s on top.<\/p>\n

So here’s what we brought home:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 12 30 Ninja Blender<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

This includes a single motor unit, plus three Lexan-type plastic pitchers in different sizes. Each of these pitchers includes its own blade apparatus: <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 12 30 Ninja Blender<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 12 30 Ninja Blender<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

So each pitcher has a special lid, with a small hole in the top, this is to fit the motor apparatus on top:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 12 30 Ninja Blender<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 12 30 Ninja Blender<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 12 30 Ninja Blender<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

And here’s the entire setup:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
From 2010 12 30 Ninja Blender<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Not your normal blender, that’s for sure. It claims to “crush ice into snow” and “blend frozen fruit into creamy smoothies”.  I checked out some reviews on Amazon.com, which were mostly very positive, with the occasional 1-2 star review (average review of 4 stars).  I noticed the same complaints from those negative reviews<\/a>: the plastic fittings for the motor to turn the blades had shredded or rounded off.  Hopefully I can exercise some extra care in that area and make sure the motor is seated properly before turning it on.<\/p>\n

The very next morning I broke out one of my frozen smoothie fruit kits and whipped up a smoothie.  It worked like a champ!  It blended up very quickly and without large chunks.  I think they have something there with the design of the bowl\/pitcher…with little blades every 2-3″ in the container, there’s nowhere for the large chunks of food to hide.  I’m not quite sold on there being only one speed (“On”) but apparently you have to show some finesse with how to pulse versus steadily run the motor to have things working right.<\/p>\n

I’ve yet to use it as a food processor or to crush ice, assume that if those experiences suck enough, you’ll hear from me about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“So — first Yoshi?  Now Ninja???  What’s next?  Ginsu?” Yep — this will be a more positive commentary than the Yoshi review, I promise! Dave and I got a nice generous Bed, Bath and Beyond gift card from Dave’s brother for Christmas.  Earlier this week we took a trip to Pensacola to run some errands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[],"tags":[8,92],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s5ycQ0-ninja","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":498,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2010\/12\/the-yoshi-truth.html","url_meta":{"origin":499,"position":0},"title":"The Yoshi Truth…","date":"30 December 10","format":false,"excerpt":"Opened up my Yoshi Blade...seemed to cut up an apple well enough. \u00a0But then I read the care instructions, which I've transcribed here for your reading pleasure. \u00a0Remember, this is NOT a metal blade, but a ceramic one. \u00a0Still, some of these warnings are a bit extreme...I'm kind of miffed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"cooking\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":497,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2010\/12\/yoshi.html","url_meta":{"origin":499,"position":1},"title":"Yoshi!","date":"30 December 10","format":false,"excerpt":"This Yoshi?No, this one:Today I ran up to Publix, our local grocery store, for some last-minute items for chicken parmasean. While there, I came across a section with a bunch of those \"As Seen on TV\" gadgets...all marked down!I very very rarely succumb to the \"As Seen on TV\" craze.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"cooking\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/yoshi.2yr.net\/pics\/mario-party-advance-yoshi2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2779,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2013\/12\/colorado-discoveries-20-sledding-rmnp.html","url_meta":{"origin":499,"position":2},"title":"Colorado Discoveries 20: Sledding at Rocky Mountain National Park","date":"05 December 13","format":false,"excerpt":"The weekend before Thanksgiving, my friend Paige and I took our sons up to Estes Park, Colorado for a long weekend in a cabin. We stayed at the same YMCA of the Rockies resort we had visited in August 2010. It was just much colder this time. The cabin was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"colorado\"","img":{"alt_text":"You want to see happy kids, take 'em sledding!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/DSC_2999-1024x678.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4725,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2016\/09\/diy-stairs-transformation.html","url_meta":{"origin":499,"position":3},"title":"DIY Stairs Transformation: Our Trickiest Stain Job Yet","date":"29 September 16","format":false,"excerpt":"We've been doing a lot of little updates around the house lately. The most recent one I shared was with the fireplace last spring. I've been working full time off and on since July, but now I have a break for a couple months and I can return to our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"diy\"","img":{"alt_text":"diy_deck_bath_stairs-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/DIY_Deck_Bath_Stairs-1-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4841,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2016\/11\/half-bath-finished.html","url_meta":{"origin":499,"position":4},"title":"Half-Bath Mostly DIY Transformation: Finished!","date":"17 November 16","format":false,"excerpt":"We are finished with our half-bath upgrades (and hopefully home improvements in general for a while)! Over the 3-and-some-change years we've lived here, we've done an assortment of little things to make our main floor half-bath look a little nicer. Painting the cabinet Replacing the towel rings Replacing the light\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"diy\"","img":{"alt_text":"img_8616","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/IMG_8616-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":599,"url":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/2011\/07\/road-trip-2011-the-dwarf-house-atlanta-ga.html","url_meta":{"origin":499,"position":5},"title":"Road Trip 2011: The Dwarf House, Atlanta, GA","date":"02 July 11","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, these posts are hideously out of order, but I'm writing them in the order of ease of collecting my thoughts. \u00a0Sorry about that :-) \u00a0Maybe I'll force the dates around some when I'm all done.We started out in Greenville, SC on the last day of our road trip. \u00a0It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"cooking\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-TjIb2JhHa3Q\/TgvoUbdjmfI\/AAAAAAABW-g\/jp5TbWk7gaw\/s400\/IMG_5230.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevollmerfamily.com\/MajorMom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}