Green Smoothie Cat

I'm sorry posting has been light lately.  I've been preoccupied with the election and with the fact that QUEERS CAN GET MARRIED IN THREE MORE STATES NOW, INCLUDING THE ONE I LIVE IN!  Yeah.  The girlfriend and I are getting married this winter, which is making me think I should do some posts about vegan weddings.  But today I want to talk about green smoothies.

I've been on a bit of a green smoothie kick lately.  I bought some pre-washed kale at Trader Joe's, and I've been blending it up with frozen pineapple, almond milk, and hemp protein powder for yummy breakfast delights.  Because my blender is a Ninja and not a Vitamix, the smoothies are not exactly smooth -- the kale does add some texture.  I like them anyway.  But not as much as Newman the cat does:

The Healthy Vegan Traveler: Quest for Protein

Like all vegans, I get sick of hearing "Where do you get your protein?"  The correct answer to this question is "From food."  All food has protein in it.  Most of the calories in broccoli are from protein.  If you ate nothing but potatoes, like this guy, you would still get enough protein to survive.

There's "enough to survive," though, and "enough for a specific person to function optimally."  Last winter I consulted a vegan nutritionist.  I don't follow all of her recommendations, but one thing I did learn was that I wasn't eating enough protein.  In order for me to feel good and not get light-headed or overly hungry between meals, I need to consume about 14 grams of protein at each meal.  That's the equivalent of a cup of cooked beans, or a small serving of tofu.  This is not at all a big deal when I'm at home.  When I'm travelling, though, especially away from a major city, getting enough protein -- and enough calories, for that matter -- can be a challenge.

How do I love my ninja?

My Ninja blender, that is.

Let me count the ways:

It cost 1/5 as much as a Vitamix.
It pulverizes everything.  Everything.
It doesn't leak.
It's easy to clean.  No icky gasket thingy.
It came with a single-serve container, so you can make a reasonably sized smoothie and drink it out of the container.
It also came with a huge-ass container, so you can make smoothies for two, or a huge-ass smoothie for yourself.
It makes pretty drinks like this:

unsweetened almond milk, banana, frozen blueberries, hemp protein powder

 It also makes ugly drinks like the one I'm drinking right now:  unsweetened almond milk, banana, hemp protein powder, flaxseed, romaine lettuce, frozen pineapple.
Instant gratification:  bought it at Bed, Bath, and Bite Me with a coupon.
When you put it on the counter it does.  not.  budge.  There's no way for cats to push it off the counter.
Did I mention it cost 1/5 as much as a Vitamix?  It's entirely possible, of course, that the Vitamix works 5 times as well as the Ninja.  But I really don't need it to.