Things that come out when the weather
gets warm include:
- flip flops
- open-toed sandals
- mosquitoes
- gardening gloves
- ball games
- grass stains
- sandbox toys
- and Popsicle shared around the neighborhood and with friends
It’s that last one that concerns me,
and I’ve made it my goal to figure out how to avoid being the “uncool” house
with no treats. This means I need to figure out homemade, whole foods, tasty
summertime goodies that aren’t too expensive to share generously.
Recipe:
Homemade Whole Food Popsicles
I love having these popsicles around,
because they’re a dessert I can feel good about offering both the neighborhood kids and visiting kids all day long.
These are the supplies you will need:
1. Either purchased Popsicle molds or
one of the following options to hold the popsicles:
- Bathroom sized Dixie cups and wooden Popsicle sticks
(available at most craft stores)
- Snack sized (or smaller if you can find them) plastic
zippered baggies
- Silicone muffin cups and wooden Popsicle sticks
- Ice cube trays and sticks
2. Most supplies can be found at the
‘Dollar Tree’ or other nickle and dime stores
3. A food processor, blender, or stick
blender
4. Freezer with lots of flat space
available
Now this is how to do it:
1. Whip together all the ingredients. A food processor works for coconut milk or
pineapple, but stick with a blender for most of the recipes – even bananas if
your machine can handle it. My blender did a bit too much sloshing and
splashing, but they are much easier for pouring.
2. Pour
into chosen containers.
- Baggies will hold about 1/2 cup. You can freeze them
entirely flat for a very thin popsicle or roll in half, squeezing the
liquid out of one half and making more of a “tube” shape on the other
half. Cut off the short end of the baggie to serve, like the popsicles
that come in tubes and you squeeze them up to eat.
- Ice cube trays are good for the taste tests.
- Insert sticks either right away if a thick Popsicle
mixture, or set a timer for an hour and then put sticks in the partially
frozen treats so they stay straight.
3. Put
in a flat space in the freezer. I like to place any of these options
onto a cookie sheet in case of spills and to keep them flat.
The Ingredients:
Try making small batches in ice cube
trays to taste test, or just jump in and choose one that sounds yummy!
- Tropical: 1 c. orange juice + 1/2 c. canned coconut milk
- Tropical Grape: 1 c. grape juice + 2/3 c. coconut milk + 1/2 c.
orange juice
- Add 1 banana, frozen or fresh, to Tropical Grape
- Grape-pineapple: 1/2 cup each canned pineapple with juice, grape juice
and coconut milk
- Add half a banana to Grape-pineapple
- Citrus-Strawberry: juice and pulp of one lemon (use a fork to twist the
pulp out), 2 Tbs. honey, 2/3 c.
water, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1/2 c. orange juice
Cook’s Notes:
I also tested a few things that didn’t
really work great, such as adding a raw apple with some combinations (too
chunky) and a lemonade version that is basically the last option there without
the strawberries and orange juice (too hard, as it was like gnawing on an ice
cube).
My opinion, is that the canned coconut milk makes the consistency
really like a popsicle. If you don’t think you like coconut milk, it’s still
worth a try, or at least use fruit to make softer popsicles. Buy orange juice
with pulp to at least retain some of the fiber naturally found in fruit. Or,
just use an orange. (Even with the peel intact, however, you may want to add 6
Tbs. of honey in addition to the standard 2 Tbs. to remove the sour taste from
the peels). Apple juice doesn’t really work well either, though it was quite
interesting when I tried the same with Grapefruit Juice, and added some of the
Grapefruit peel that I had shredded.
This recipe is great for the kids; for
the adults, its good to slosh in a wee bit of alcohol, a spash of Rum works
real good. Whiskey is really far too messy, Vodka is like gnawing of a
snow-cone, and melts far to quickly, as these never really freeze, beer freezes
far too hard, but you should try your own combinations.
As always, enjoy life, stay healthy and
be safe !
Bird
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