Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Making Popsicles

I think these popsicles were just berries (mostly blueberries, but a few of lots of types) and watermelon. 
Several people have asked me about our popsicles. We LOVE popsicles here, and eat them almost every day, but they're usually homemade, not store bought.
I was really disappointed, at the beginning of summer, even most of the "real fruit" popsicles contained sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, sugar syrup, and sugar alternatives, in addition to dyes and lots of words I can't pronounce.
I don't mind the occasional Otter Pop, but I didn't want to be feeding my boys that stuff all summer long.
These were "tropical" pops, meaning they included a mango, a banana, strawberries, and I think some apricots....

I really, REALLY wanted Travis to buy me a popsicle "cookbook," but made due with looking up popsicle recipes on Pinterest, until I realized that popsicles need no recipes. 
They are absurdly easy to create at home without any forethought whatsoever.

My method for making popsicles: Blend up all the fruit in my fridge that looks like it's about to go bad, then freeze it into popsicle molds.

DONE.

These were just apricots and coconut milk, with a bit of brown sugar for taste. 

If I'm making pops from especially tart fruits I will sometimes add a tablespoon or two of sugar, but usually I sweeten with either honey, homemade jam, or apple juice.
Apple juice is absurdly sweet, and will sweeten any fruit popsicle up immediately.

I occasionally add things like cucumbers, spinach, or coconut milk, and sometimes I just pour 100% juice into the molds and freeze them into delicious frozen treats. If you're adept at making smoothies, or "green juice" then you already know how to make popsicles. Seriously, in the heat of the summer, my kids will slurp up anything frozen, but these delicious popsicles are their favorite, and they're really healthy.

Frozen apple juice with a few whole blueberries plunked in for good measure. 

Also, if I make more "smoothie" than will fit in our molds, I usually just freeze it into ice cube trays. Then they can be eaten as "mini popsicles" or stuck into the blender the next time that I make pops. Some of my best popsicle creations were really several popicle-cubes blended together with apple juice.

Sorry it's almost fall, this is almost useless! But when all the summer stuff goes on sale at Target, stop and buy a popsicle mold. It may come in handy next year.

I'm not sure what those were, but I'm guessing peaches and plums with a few sour cherries and some honey?
Popsicles are the best, because when the fruit at our house reaches that slightly soft, but not quite bad stage, I don't want to eat it, but I feel so guilty throwing them out!
I don't want it to sit in my fridge until it's actually rotten, and deep down, I know that fruit is sweetest right before it starts to mold.... ha!
So I blend it on up, and eat it in a few hours, when it's a popsicle.
And my kids almost always get their daily servings of fruit, and even veggies! How do you make your popsicles? What are some of your favorite flavor combinations?


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5 comments:

alyssa said...

i love this! i need to make my son some popsicles. i am horrified at how much stuff has high fructose corn syrup in them.

Anonymous said...

I just started making popsicles for my husband and, like you, realized that they are ridiculous easy to make (although I buy fruit specifically for popsicles & am not hesitant to throw in a 1/2 cup of sugar).

Our most recent batch was a pound of blended strawberries, a 1/2 cup of sugar (I'm not going to even pretend like I measured. I just poured it in) and sliced kiwi for prettiness & extra fun. It made 12 pops.

Amanda said...

Perfect! Coming up to summer in Australia! I'll definitely be making some popsicles!

Anonymous said...

You're practically a genius, lady! We live in Texas and summer is still is full bloom and will be for AT LEAST another month, I'm getting on the homemade popsicle band wagon right now! I also have the same molds as you :) woohoo!

MARCIE said...

Great post. I see your boys eating these all the time and they look great and so healthy. Good job!