Icy treats
My toddler has discovered popsicles. He can’t get enough of them. He wants popsicles for breakfast, lunch and dinner and snacks in-between. I’d love to be able to just buy a box and hand them out liberally, but I just can’t bring myself to feed him high fructose corn syrup and food coloring on a stick. The popsicles that are made with real fruit and no added sugar aren’t cheap so I’ve been forced to make my own.
The easiest way to make them is to buy popsicle molds (I like the ones from Ikea pictured- they cost a dollar, the handle is sturdy and the pop is easy to remove from the molds)and freeze fruit juice. At first I mixed it with water- the same way I serve him juice- but the juice and water had a tendency to separate and the juice would end up on the top and the water would end up untouched and melting on a countertop. Now I just serve him straight juice popsicles.
Sometimes I’ll get fancy and make something special. If there’s smoothie leftover I’ll freeze it. If there’s watermelonade leftover I’ll freeze it too- minus the gin, of course. Fresh fruit blended with yogurt or fruit juice makes great Popsicles too. Just remember when you blend it that you want things to be a little bit sweeter than you’d think since freezing may make it lose potency. A little simple syrup or honey goes a long way.
If you don’t have plastic popsicle molds you can use Dixie cups or ice cube trays with wooden craft sticks. Pour your popsicle ingredients into the cups, cover with wax paper, foil or plastic wrap, and poke the stick through the “lid”. Covering the cups with wraps will help keep the stick centered before freezing.
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