There is one golden nutrition rule that everyone knows but hates; you need to eat a lot of fresh veggies and fruits without adding bad stuff (sugar) to make them taste better! Well, this last week I found out that Jamba Juice is a bunch of tricksters, and then I made Blend Ready Smoothie Jars with fruit they gave me.
They got us high on fructose with non-stop smoothies all day! If this is torture….
Jamba Juice is Tricking People!
On Wednesday, I was invited to hear about Jamba Juice’s new push toward blending fresh, whole foods into their smoothies. Master blender Carol Chen said they want to help people eat more veggies and fruits! Look at all that fresh food they had set out to distract us!
Carol Chen woman makes up tasty smoothie recipes. She is beautiful.
Here comes the trick. Jamba Juice is blending fruits and veggies into tasty smoothies. Like, drinks that actually taste good! I mean, anyone could buy a fresh blended smoothie with spinach in it and drink it as easily as they would a milkshake! They wouldn’t even know they were eating spinach!
We got to sample several different juices and smoothies. As we sipped through our straws, I looked around and saw absolutely no vegetable induced grimaces. There were only “Mmmm” sounds and smiles. Jamba Juice is going to trick people into thinking that veggies and fruits taste good! Okay, so it’s not really a trick. They do taste good…but now everyone will know that!
The Jamba Juice Banana. Such a cool fruit.
Oh, did I mention Venus Williams was there and we got to work out with her? I won an outfit from her clothing line Eleven By Venus! More on that later.
Blend Ready Smoothie Jars
At the end of the day, Jamba Juice let us help ourselves to the amazing spread of fresh fruits and vegetables. When I got home I wanted to blend up my own smoothie and, as J & I got into cutting up all the fruit, I had this great idea:
Put the smoothie ingredients into mason jars for quicker blending later! Then pinstagram it! “Pinstagram” is my word for “put an image on all the social media.”
Now, I know I’m not the first person to think of this but… whatever. It was fun and they look brilliant! If you want to make some, I have a few tips for you. If you want actual recipes, see the Related Posts below for gals who really know what they’re doing.
Here are some tips for making your own Blend Ready Smoothie Jars:
- First, take stock of what you have. Get all smoothie-able ingredients out so you don’t forget anything. I nearly forgot the raspberries and blueberries!
- Cut up all the larger fruits/veggies before you stuff the jars. You can fit more in there if things like pineapples or apples are in cut into wedges or chunks.
- Tear up leafy greens. You can cram more kale or chard in this way. After doing my jars, I think it would be better to put leafy greens in at the end, so they sit on top.
- Put different combos of fruits/veggies in each jar for different flavored smoothies.
- Skip the powders/chia seeds/juices. Unless you’re going to blend these up the next day, wait until blend-time to put these in. It’ll help keep the jar easy to dump into the blender and also allow you to adjust flavors by putting more or less in when you blend.
- Take photos and brag to your friends about how smoothie savvy you are!
So these are really just fruit and veggies? No “bases” or sweeteners of any kind? if that’s true, I might need to revisit my local jamba.
They still have juices and smoothies with bases but some locations have rolled out their new “fresh” line made of whole blended fruits and veggies.
I love this idea! Never thought of it. I think I’d freeze mine, so I could add less ice when I do the blending.
Jamba Juice convinced me to drink greens with the apples n’ greens smoothie. Last time I tried to order one in the San Jose airport, their supplier told them Jamba Juice locations were using up kale faster than they could supply it!! #nomnom
Due to the positive experience I had with the Jamba Juice smoothie, I’m now going to try out the Blender Babes’ green smoothie challenge. I may modify a few of them, but the recipes look good–and the printable book comes with a weekly grocery list so you know what you need to have on hand. Perhaps I will try the jar trick and prep them all on Sundays…
1. I had so much fun with you at the Jamba event on Wednesday! It was great to finally meet you in person.
2. Those jars are SO cute! They would make for great little table decor at a brunch or something. Love how you used your fruit!
So cool & loved following all of you on Instagram – what fun!
Great idea! I need to start putting all of our mason jars to good use!