Healthier Italian Sodas

When I went home for summers during college, I worked at a CPA firm in Bellevue, Washington. My duties mostly involved filing (do people even DO paper filing any more?), making copies, and answering the phone while the receptionists was on lunch break.

Every afternoon, I wanted to take a nap. So bad. But I couldn’t. I had filing to do.

At this point in my life, I was the proverbial poor college student. I needed to save every penny I earned. Thus, I brought my own lunch every day. There was a cafe on the main floor of the office building, but I never ate there, because, you know, it cost money.

One day, one of my co-workers brought up the subject of Italian Sodas. I didn’t even know such a thing existed. I had no idea what it even was.

She thought this was a travesty, so she took me down to the cafe and bought me one.

I was a little skeptical when I saw the cream being added to the soda. I did not think this would be a good combination. But I was so wrong! It was amazing! I was in love.

I wondered how I could make Italian Sodas at home. However, at that point in my life, I was opposed to fat. (This is an affliction I have since outgrown. Now I love fat). So I thought maybe it would be a good idea to mix yogurt with soda instead of cream.

The result was amazing. It was just like an Italian soda, only a teeny bit zingier. I fooled myself into thinking it was healthy. (This was before I was opposed to sugar. I am now opposed to sugar. But I still eat it).

You can make as many flavors as there are flavors of yogurt. All you have to do is spoon some yogurt into a cup, and slowly mix in some lemon-lime soda. The ratio of soda to yogurt is completely up to you. One main difference between this drink and regular Italian Sodas is that you fully mix the yogurt and soda together. You don’t let the yogurt stay on the top like the cream does on official Italian Sodas.

I bet you have yogurt in your fridge right now. I bet you have lemon-lime soda in your fridge right now. I bet you want to make this right now. Don’t fight it. It’s better than taking a nap 🙂

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Healthier Italian Sodas

Author: Melissa Howell

Ingredients

• 1 6 oz. container of yogurt, any flavor except for plain
• 6 oz. of chilled lemon-lime soda

Instructions

1. Spoon desired amount of yogurt into a cup.
2. Slowly add a small amount of soda. Stir in with the yogurt until there are no lumps.
3. Slowly add a bit more soda, and stir as before until the lumps are gone.
4. Add the rest of the soda and stir well.
5. This recipe is very adaptable. You basically add as much yogurt and soda as you like until you get the desired soda-to-yogurt ratio.