Recipe Of The Day - Spiced Maple Banana Oatmeal Smoothie and Berry Morning Medley

I found some interesting breakfast drink recipes while paging through a "Best Recipes Smoothies and Summer Drinks" booklet. They're very short, so I will post two of them. The first recipe caught my eye because it has cinnamon in it and I love cinnamon. The other thing that sounded intriguing is the fact that both recipes have oats in them.

Spiced Maple Banana Oatmeal Smoothie

1/2 cup ice

1 frozen banana

1/2 cup yogurt

1/4 cup nonfat (skim) milk

1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus extra for garnish

1/4 cup quick oats

Dash of ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg

Crush ice in blender. Add banana and milk; puree. Add yogurt, maple syrup, oatmeal, cinnamon and nutmeg and blend until smooth. Pour into glasses; drizzle with maple syrup.

Nutrients per Serving: Calories: 128, Total Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: less than 1g, Protein: 5g, Carbohydrate: 26g, Cholesterol: 4mg, Fiber: 2g, Sodium: 57mg, Dietary Exchanges: 1/2 Milk, 1 Fruit, 1/2 Fat.

Berry Morning Medley

1 cup frozen mixed berries

1-1/2 cups nonfat (skim) milk

1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cups granola or rolled oats, plus extra for garnish

Process berries and milk in blender until mixture is thick and creamy. Add yogurt, sugar and vanilla and blend until smooth. Add granola; pulse for 15 to 20 seconds. Divide into 2 glasses. Sprinkle extra granola on top, if desired.

Nutrients per Serving: Calories: 237, Total Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: less than 1g, Protein: 12g, Carbohydrate: 38g, Cholesterol: 5mg, Fiber: 4g, Sodium: 128mg, Dietary Exchanges: 1 Milk, 1 Fruit, 1/2 Starch, 1 Fat.

I'm anxious to make both of these smoothies but I will have to substitute soy milk for the skim. The other substitute I will have to make is to use soy yogurt, which I haven't been able to find here in Minocqua. When I make my next trip to Rhinelander I will have to stop in The Country Seed and see if they carry it. I had stopped in there last summer when I was just here visiting and thought it was such a fantastic natural store.