Can I Interest You in a Smoothie?

Remember when smoothies first hit the scene?  Everybody was ga-ga over smoothies.  Smoothies were the latest celebrity accessory, long before tiny dogs.  Everybody who was anybody was sipping a smoothie.  And when Zuka Juice (yes, that was Jamba's original, cooler name) first settled in my neck of the woods, I gladly handed over the cost of a high-class combo meal for my oversized styrofoam cup.  Often.  Frequently.  Regularly.

And I lived happily ever after.

You know, until I started to have some doubts about smoothies.  The first doubt came in the form of an empty wallet.  I hated to admit it, I hated to crash the smoothie party, but I had to wonder--was anybody else concerned about the cost of these smoothies?

This problem was temporarily solved when I outsmarted The Man and began ordering one smoothie and two cups.  A smoothie, it turned out, could be SHARED!  It chopped the savings in HALF!

Then, The Man caught on to me and suddenly one day, the freckled fresh-faced girl behind the counter informed me that they were unable to split my smoothie.  One smoothie, one cup.  New policy.

And you'd think that would be enough to put me over the edge with smoothies, but you know, I still went back for more.  (Though I secretly snatched two straws without paying for the extra one.)

My relationship with ginormous, expensive smoothies did not really suffer until I began my education in caloric intake.  And how it affects the size of your butt.  One day, I began flipping through the nutritional information binder next to where the napkins and straws are stacked.  I haphazardly looked up my smoothie (named something like "Mystical Morning Sunrise") and ran my finger down the page to find the calories.

And then I blinked.

And blinked again.

And shook my head with a cartoon sound effect.

14 BILLION CALORIES?  FOR THE SMALLEST SIZE?

HOLY CRAP!  ONE SMOOTHIE COULD FEED THE ENTIRE CONTINENT OF AFRICA!

I glanced briefly at the fat grams and suffered a mild stroke.

It was about this time that my smoothie was handed to me--my name emblazoned on the wet receipt stuck to the styrofoam.  I didn't want to drink it, knowing what I now knew, and I considered dumping it in the garbage can by the door and making a run for it.

But I paid like $6.95 for the thing, so I drank it anyway.

That was my last smoothie.

(OK, it wasn't.  I lied there.  I was caught up in the drama.)

Anyway, all this brings me to my point today: a recipe.  My recipe for a low-calorie, low-fat, delicious smoothie that won't break your wallet.

Daybreak Dewdrop Enlightenment 

(Two can play this naming game!)

• 2 cups ice
• 1 cup sliced strawberries
• 1 cup diced mango
• 1 cup Dannon Light & Fit Vanilla yogurt
• 1-2 cups skim milk (pick your thick)
• 1/2 cup oats (trust me on this one)
• 1-4 Tablespoon sweetener (sugar, Splenda, or honey)

Blend and serve in as many cups as you like!  That's my policy.