I Always Loved a Good Knock-off

When I moved, I took very few things with me. My cats are most important to me, and I wanted there to be as much room as possible in the van, so a lot of my stuff got donated/tossed. That includes my blender. I had an Oster blender that was about thirty dollars, and I used that thing multiple times a day. I made juices, sauces, soups, and of course smoothies. I was also able to make banana soft serve, and the occasional hummus. What I'm saying is that cheap old blender did me right for over three years. Although I have dreamed of a Vitamix, and made many attempts to save up for one, other things such as food and rent always come up, and obviously those are necessities, not an expensive blender. I know you should never say never, but I have accepted that I may never run off into the sunset with a Vitamix. Once I got moved into my new apartment, (with the eggplant accent walls!!) I knew I needed a new blender, so I could start mainlining green juice. I was at Target/Bed Bath and Beyond, who knows, all these huge stores are all blending together in my brain. Anyway, I saw a Ninja blender on sale for $99.00.  I decided to go for it. At my old job they had one of these, and it was pretty awesome. So far I have made cashew Alfredo, many smoothies and of course many green juices. My smoothies are so thick now, like milkshakes. I used to have to add a lot more water.

Kale, Romaine, Pear, Cucumber, Pineapple

It's nice because the blade comes right out of the base so it's easy to get every last drop of whatever you've blended. The blender has high, medium, and low speeds, along with a pulse button. So far I start out on high, and depending on what I blend, I switch down to medium or low. I only have to blend my veg and fruit for mere seconds to make juice. Even when I use harder vegetables like carrots.  The base is also much bigger than my old Oster, so I can fit lots more greens in for my juice.
I can't wait to make some hummus, and in the fall/winter lots of soups will be made. This is by far the nicest blender I've ever owned. I have used a Vitamix before, and I would never say the Ninja can do what a Vitamix can do. But I will say for those of us who don't have four or five hundred dollars for a blender, this is a pretty good alternative. It says that it can tackle even the smallest of seeds, such as flax so we shall see. The Ninja comes with a five year warranty, so that makes me feel pretty good. It's definitely worth the cost, and again while it's no Vitamix, it does the job for me.
The only thing that kind of drives me insane is that you have to put the base on a certain way, and then twist to "lock it in". You also have to have the lid on a certain way or it won't run. I'm finally figuring it out, but I did cuss this thing out a time or two in the beginning. That's my only complaint really. All in all, I'm happy with my new blender, and I'm confident we will have a long and happy relationship!
Do you have a Vitamix?