Easy Homemade Popsicles

Here's another healthy summer snack idea. Make your own popsicles!

There's a couple ways you can go about it...

-Brew a fruity herbal tea (without "real" tea in it, i.e., no black or green tea as the tea base). Try hibiscus, rosehip, berries, citrus, etc. Brew a large batch of tea, however strong or weak you want. You can sweeten your tea (soon to be popsicles) with honey.

-If you really don't like tea you can try to find some low sugar juice instead, or juice your own fresh fruit and use that instead of buying bottled juice.

-Or for a "heartier" popsicle, blend some fruit and yogurt together (morning smoothie style), banana, strawberry, and berries work well.

Once you've chosen one of these options the next step is it into an ice cube tray or popsicle molds. If you don't have a mold which usually has sticks to hold your frozen popsicle then you're going to need some 'popsicle sticks'. I encourage you to steal these little wooden stir-sticks from your local Starbucks, or you can use your imagination and find something else that is suitable.


Pop them in the freezer and you're done... tasty, and high-fructose corn syrup free!
For a little info on high-fructose corn syrup check out http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fructose-corn-syrup/AN01588
and http://www.mcvitamins.com/high-fructose-corn-syrup.htm.
Enjoy!

***If something needs sweetening try honey a local honey or raw sugar (no, we can't get that local in Canada).

Frozen Chocolate-Covered Banana Popsicles!

Alright, so summer is finally here; thus, it is time for healthy-ish summer snacks.  The best snack during the summer months is definitely fruit, but if you get all watermelon, cantaloupe, and honey-dewed out then here’s a nice cool treat you can try.

Ingredients:

Banana

Chocolate

Coconut Oil

Popsicle Sticks/Stir Sticks

Directions:

-Melt ¾ chocolate to ¼ coconut oil via double boiler method...

-Peel bananas then put a popsicle stick in it (you can also cut the banana in half if wanted)

-Either dip banana in the chocolate or drizzle chocolate over the banana

                -At this point you could sprinkle the chocolate with shredded coconut (or sprinkles so the kiddies think it’s cool).

-Lay the bananas down on a baking sheet and pop it in the freezer for an hour.

-Don’t try to lift the banana from the sheet by the stick – you’ll probably just crack your frozen banana, instead gently scrape the chocolate on the sheet around the banana until it is no longer stuck, or let it thaw for a few minutes then remove from the sheet.

These are definitely healthier than those freeze-ez or popsicles that are LOADED with sugar, and a tad more filling! They were a hit in my house, gobbled down as soon as they came out of the freezer.

Enjoy!