by Jaime Bantin

   I think that I may have lost my mind a bit last month.  I went a little crazy with the hotdogs and the ice cream.  I ate and ate and had lots of dessert and now I'm hitting the gym with a vengeance!  I still love the yummy goodness of a foot-long hotdog, but with summer just around the corner I'm feeling the pull of the beach.  Swimsuit season calls for a bit of a tweak on the food intake.

   So, I'm going to let you know about one place this month.  The Back Shack on Mill Plain Rd in Danbury, a great pit stop for a post workout hunger fest (I like it before and mid work out too...).

   The Back Shack has a great menu of pure fruit smoothies, organic coffees and teas, as well as some wonderfully healthy, but delicious snacks.

   Walking into The Back Shack is like walking into another world.  I immediately began to relax upon entering the building.  It wasn't at all what I had expected.  I took one look around and loved the place without even having tried a smoothie.  I nearly glided to the "Tiki Bar" where I set my eyes upon a menu that a few months ago would have had me nervous and running for the door in search of the nearest milkshake.  However, I am a new person and my palate is meant to include the sweet luscious taste of fruit and its intense desert quality with out adding to my midline! 

   The barista, who also happened to own the joint, quickly surmised my situation and stated that the left side of the menu might be the one I would be more interested in as it was the "healthier" of the two sides.  The left side of the menu included items that were smoothied with out additional sweeteners, making a treat a pleasurable yet, not terribly carbo-loaded.

   I recall berry mixtures; strawberries, raspberries, stuff with bananas and a very weird concoction of a type of fruit I've never heard of and I don't think ever really need to know about.  I was surprised when again the owner bestowed upon me some advice I took well, "Don't choose the weird one."  Ok, no problem!  I like the friendly yet extremely knowledgeable staff and ownership here, it only makes the occasion that much more wonderful.  She soon tells me that "the weird one" is not for smoothie beginners it takes a mature smoothie palate, I quickly promised to bone up on my smoothies and try that one in the near future.  For now I'll have the Mango Madness please! 

   Honestly, the smoothies here are nothing but a treat.  Delicious and satisfying without making you feel like you've just ruined your last cardio session.  But, if you wish for such things just try the right side of the menu.  The Back Shack also offers a great opportunity to supplement your smoothie for a great nutritional boost.  You can also purchase these supplements to take home with you.  Please, check out the great organic coffees and teas while you're there...

   In a great twist of fate The Back Shack has two shacks in the back where you can pop in for a soothing aqua massage thirteen bucks for ten minutes, if you ask me you can't really go wrong with that.  You can also get a therapeutic massage from their licensed masseuse on Wednesdays, Thursdays or by appointment.  Add music or aromatherapy to your massage to bliss out your own mini vacation.  I go back to this place a lot, I can't wait to see you there!