first slushy of the season!

Lately I've been craving, craving, a fruit slushy.  I'm not talking about the fresh fruit smoothies of today.  I'm talking about the ones I used to get at Dip Top in Orange back in the day.  Basically, they were just crushed ice and sugary fruit-flavored syrup.  My favorite was always watermelon.  I usually drank them so fast that I ended up drinking out all the syrup and there was just ice left over.  And of course I got lots of brain freezes.  

Post-surgery I need to limit my sugar intake, though, so as not to trigger dumping syndrome.  Plus, too much sugar is never good in general anyway.  I had been trying to figure out how I could have a slushy without all the sugar and still get the sweet, fruity taste.  The obvious choice was fresh fruit, ice, and some Splenda or Nutrasweet.  But I didn't think I would get that strong fruity taste I was looking for.  Fresh fruit just doesn't pack the same punch as the artificial fruit flavorings.  At least, not for someone who grew up disliking fruit and usually guzzled sugary Kool Aid and other artificial drinks.  I posed the question on a weight loss forum I read and the one thing I hadn't thought of was adding Sugar Free Torani Syrup.  It has a very concentrated flavor without the sugar.

My favorite slushy flavor is watermelon, but I didn't think I'd find Torani watermelon syrup in the store (I would have to order it online), so I decided to go with strawberry.  I headed to Bed Bath and Beyond today to get some strawberry syrup, but they didn't have any, so I grabbed black cherry instead.  (I picked up coconut and peppermint, also.  I'll add those to a chocolate protein shake.)  I then went to the grocery store to get some frozen fruit.  Since I bought black cherry syrup, the plan was to buy frozen cherries.  Instead I grabbed strawberries, forgetting I don't have any strawberry syrup.  I finally remembered and then looked for cherries.  Nope.  None.  I thought maybe the natural/organic food section would have them so trudged the whole length of the store to the organic food section.  Raspberries, blueberries, and mixed fruit, but no cherries.  I then remembered I had raspberry syrup at home, so I bought the frozen raspberries.  I was going to put the strawberries back, but I was too lazy to walk the whole store again.  Besides, everyone and their mother's brother's uncle was in Stop & Shop today and I didn't want to have to deal with dodging slow movers, dawdlers, and kids.

I came home and made my raspberry slushy, finally!  And it was delicious.  So worth it!  The only thing I didn't care for were the raspberry seeds, but there's no way to strain those out really. (Recipe below.)  I'm thinking next time I will add a Crystal Light lemonade single pack to the mix to make a raspberry lemonade slushy.

Raspberry Slushy:

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

about 10 of the smaller ice cubes (ice maker kind)

water to cover (fill to the max fill line of a tall bullet blender cup; it's about 8 oz. of water)

1 packet Splenda (more or less, or none, if you prefer)

1 TB Sugar Free Torani Raspberry Syrup

Blend until ice is completely crushed.  

You'll need to stir frequently while drinking, or drink with a straw, because the ice tends to rise to the top.  

You can make lots of different flavors by changing the fruit and syrup combination.  Torani has tons of different syrups to choose from.  Click the link in the second paragraph above to see their selection.