Let's Make Pop Star Smoothies!

Congratulations! You followed Cookie's advice and bought yourself some organic produce for a reasonable price. But is it reasonable when organic goes bad faster than conventional and you end up throwing away half? Nope. Does it make you wonder what they've done to the conventional produce to increase it's appearance and longevity? Yep.

Sometimes the family runs through fruit so fast that you'll need to make another trip to the neighborhood fruit stand. But there are days when the sad little creatures sit in your fruit basket on the counter and wither away like yesterdays pop star.

This leads me to my topic "How is fruit like a pop star?"

1. When they're sweet and juicy, everyone wants them
2. The smallest blemish is the biggest deal
3. The first sign of a little aging and whamo, they're cast aside for the newest crop of sweet young things
4. Being organic and natural is a bit trendy, but let's face it, they're just not as pretty

For these reasons, I suggest slicing and freezing them for later in order to preserve their potential. Hey, this works for fruit too! Let's make Pop Star Smoothies!

The Britney Spears Smoothie

• Frozen banana slices
• Fat Free Vanilla Yogurt
• Low Fat Coconut Milk*

What's the matter, don't have any coconut milk? Just get your people to get you some or use any other kind of milk, just as long as it's white for gosh sake.

Vanilla Ice Smoothie

• Frozen banana slices
• Ice cubes
• Protein Powder (We at Fetch like Trader Joe's brand, but powdered milk will do too)
• Dash of Vanilla Extract
• Dash of Ground Cinnamon

I like to say "dash"

The NSync Smoothie

• Frozen Nectarine or Peach slices
• Silken Tofu
• Lemonade
• Ice

Blend together and keep in the closet for 8-10 years.

Miley Cyrus Smoothie

• Frozen Strawberries
• Frozen Blueberries
• Vanilla Fat Free Yogurt
• Orange Juice

This is so delicious, it will make you want to lap dance all over a 44-year old man!

Fresh Strawberry Crepe (3.5 Points!)

I love fruit stands and I'd like to stop at each and every dirty little shack along the long stretch o' highway. But fruit stands work like husband repellent. I guess it's the combination of girly "gathering" plus interfering with the perfection of driving from Point A to Point B with no bathroom, eating, or stretching breaks.

Too bad, because fruit stands will always be the best place to find your strawberries. I don't waste my time eating the tart ones because they make me feel sad that I was tricked into buying substandard produce, after I had my hopes up and everything.

Strawberries are best when picked ripe from the vine. They should be little and dark red. Forget about those giant ones you get at the grocery store with a little bit of greenishness near the top. You're lying to yourself if you believe "it will get ripe at home" because it never really sweetens up, it just gets softer ... like me, for instance.

Yesterday I brought home two baskets of fresh strawberries from the Central Valley here in California. I'm hoping to gorge my way through these before they start wearing little green fuzzy sweaters and become inedible. It's so sad to see those sweet little strawberries go to waste like a prom dress that never got worn. So this morning, I set out to use at least half of a basket. I made real crepes and they were fabulous and easy. Really very easy and only 3.5 points on Weight Watchers!

Ingredients
1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt

1 cup sliced strawberries

Whipcream (I use Lucerne Low Fat. Only 1 point for 2 TBS)

Instructions

Beat first five ingredients until smooth. Let sit for 15 minutes before cooking in nonstick pan with nonstick spray. Pour 1/3 batter in hot pan and swirl to make a circle. Cook for about two minutes. Flip and cook an additional one minute. Don't get all sissy about flipping the crepe. It is not as hard as you're making it out to be. If you make a hole in it, just hide it under whip cream and strawberries.

Serves 3 fabulous people