Holiday Smoothies with the Nutri Ninja (and a review)

Y'all. Raise your hand if you agree that Christmas time has all he best flavors?!! Sure -- summer has watermelon, and fall has pumpkins and apples... but Christmas time has all the right spices and decadence.  Egg Nog.  Ginger Bread.  Mulled Wine.  So stinkin' good!

I ran across the top pic of a gingerbread smoothie by Peanut Butter & Peppers on pinterest and started drooling!  I headed over to her blog for the recipe and knew it would be the perfect inaugural smoothie to test out my new Nutri Ninja | Ninja Blender with Auto-iQ (yes, a mouthful, but it deserves the prestige).

Read full instructions (and calorie information) of Peanut Butter & Pepper's recipe here, but here are the ingredients:

• 1½ cups coconut milk from carton or milk of choice
• 1 small banana, frozen
• ¼ tsp. nutmeg
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. ginger, ground
• ⅛ tsp. cloves, ground
• 1tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp. molasses
• ¼ tsp. stevia or sugar to taste
• 1 cup ice

SO so Yum!  And y'all.  If you are a smoothie drinker (and especially if you have a kick-booty blender like the one i'm about to tell you about) you are gonna want to check out more of Peanut Butter & Pepper's recipes!  She just posted this yummy Strawberry-Cranberry Smoothie recipe that I can't wait to try!

Okay, so back to that kick-booty Nutri Ninja I mentioned...  It's brand new from the Ninja Kitchen line and just came out this past September.  I was given the Nutri Ninja | Ninja Blender System with Auto-iQ for purposes of review, and let me tell you, right out of the box I was thrilled.

This whole system comes with:

- 64oz. Processing Bowl
- 72oz. Pitcher
- Auto-IQ Program Base w/ 3 Manual Settings
- 3 Nutri-Ninja cups (various sizes)
- Sip and Seal Lids
 - Dough Spinner
- Pro Extractor Blades
- Eat to Lose, Eat to win Cookbook by Rachel Beller, MS, RDN (not pictured)

Some other specs about this blender that I love:  

- All parts are BPA free and everything (except the base) is dishwasher save!  Even the blades!

- Though I haven't used it yet, the 64oz. processing bowl comes with a dough spinner to make up to 2lbs. of dough.  So yup, this blender can make both your pizza sauce and your pizza dough!

-  The lids on both the bowl and pitcher lock in while in use for safety

-  Has a cord wrap in the back (it's the little things people!)

-  The auto-iq technology makes this appliance fool proof.  You don't have to sit and watch it or continue to push the pulse button until you get it to the right consistency.

The whole system reviewed above retails for $249 (I found the full system online at Bed Bath & Beyond). Alternatively, you can get the system, minus the processing bowl, through an exclusive offer on the Ninja website for under $200 including shipping.