Beat The Heat With These Fun Treats!

With the kids out of school and summer in full swing it’s time for we parents to get creative with keeping our kids entertained. It seems that the pressure has never been greater to be a Super-parent and have every day of the summer planned with fun-filled activities. It’s like every stay at home mom is competing with her “friends” on Facebook to have the coolest yard, the best toys, the oversized splash parks, the craziest field trips, and, of course, the most delicious kid friendly snacks. Things sure have changed. When I was young I left the house shortly after breakfast with a baseball glove, fishing pole, or hockey stick in hand, and would spend the remainder of my day getting into whatever wild and zany activity that my friends and I could come up with. I would only make it home long enough to refuel or change into a clean and/or dry outfit. If my mother only knew the kinds of things we got up to she probably wouldn’t have let me leave the house, but I survived. I might even go so far as to say that I turned out okay despite all of the shenanigans. It leaves me thinking that maybe, just maybe, our parents had it all figured out and it’s time to let go a little bit. Instead of being a Super-parent, take the training wheels off, let go of the harness and let your kids have a little fun again.  What’s the worst that could happen? They develop an imagination and a little independence? Sounds awful.

Something tells me that no parent is going to take advice from a cook on how to raise their children, so rather than try to continue to share my feedback, here’s some delicious home made popsicles that will surely make your fellow Super-parents jealous when you post pictures of your perfect kids eating them. Oh, and if you feel you need a little treat too, there are some tasty adult only Poptails that will help you cope with the idea of having to be a full time parent for the next 90 days. Cheers!

Before we get into them, there are a few pointers to consider. You will need a decent blender for all of these. You will obviously need some popsicle molds to pour the liquids into as well. They are very easy to find at most big box stores and are quite cheap. Alternatively you can use a paper cup and a popsicle stick, although I actually found it cheaper and easier to find the molds than it was to find popsicle sticks anymore. Once you nail these down you will realize that you can pretty much make any of your favorite drinks into popsicles. The key is to remember that they require a little bit of sugar to ensure they are a little soft, rather than simply ice cubes. That doesn’t always mean refined white sugar, it can be natural sugars found in fruit, or even honey, jam, cane sugar, or simple syrup. Follow these ideas to start, and then create your own favorites! All of the popsicles will take at least 4-6 hours to freeze. To pop them out, run the mold under a little hot water until it slides out.

Berry-Coconut Yoghurt Popsicles

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooling Time: 4-6 hours at least

Makes: about 8

 

8 oz.               fresh mixed berries (choose your favorite!)

1 ea.                lime, juice only

1 tbsp.            honey

1.5 cups         honey yoghurt

½ cup             coconut milk

pinch              salt

• In a bowl combine berries, lime juice and honey, let stand 10 minutes
• Roughly smash the berries to soften up
• In a separate bowl combine the yoghurt, coconut milk
• Then fold in the berries, being sure to leave behind streaks, rather than working it in completely
• Place in the molds and freeze at least 4-6 hours

 Nutella Fudgesicles

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooling Time: 4-6 hours

Makes: about 8 popsicles                                            

3 ea.                bananas, over ripe, frozen

½ cup             Nutella

1 tbsp.            cocoa powder

½ cup             milk

½ tsp.              vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract

¼ cup             hazelnuts, chopped

• Peel the bananas and slice into chunks
• Place bananas, nutella, milk, cocoa powder, and vanilla in blender
• Blend until smooth
• Fold in the chopped hazelnuts for some texture inside the popsicle
• Place in the popsicle molds and freeze at least 4-6 hours

Grapefruit & Strawberry Greyhound  Poptails (not kid friendly)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cooling Time: 4-6 hours, at least

Makes: about 8 popsicles

8 oz.               ruby red grapefruit juice (fresh, if you can)

12-15 ea.       medium strawberries

2 tbsp.            honey (optional, depending on how ripe your berries are)

5 oz.               vodka

 

• Trim the stems off of the strawberries
• Combine all of the ingredients in a blender
• Blend until smooth
• Pour into molds and freeze at least 4-6 hours

 

 

 

 

Blackberry-Pinot Poptails (not kid friendly)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooling Time: 6 hours or more

Makes: about 8 pops

 

¼ cup             cane sugar (you can sub honey or regular old sugar if you must)

3 tbsp.            water

5 cups            blackberries

1 cup              pinot noir

 

• Combine cane sugar and water in a small pan, bring to a simmer to dissolve sugar
• Remove from heat and cool
• Once cool combine the berries and sugar in the blender, blend, slowly adding the wine
• Take the concoction, if you like a little more wine in there I’m not going to judge!
• Pour into your molds and freeze for at least 6 hours