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Thursday, May 19, 2011

Mom's homemade popsicles!

The weather's been steadily heating up in Hawaii as we slip into our hot & dry season. The only other season we have is slightly cooler & extremely rainy. I'm excited about the rainy season ending, & bought Booger a cheap-o inflatable pool at & a set of foam squirter wands slightly early. We spent yesterday lounging on the deck & in the extremely tiny pool, managing to nearly empty it through splashing & squirt warring.

Most of my summers growing up in Florida were spent in much the same way; I have so many fond memories of how awesome a tiny kiddie pool can be when you've got a bunch of friends, its keeping you cool in the boiling heat, & school is far over the horizon of summer. The only thing better at cooling us down in the 100+ degree heat were delicious popsicles. No self-respecting mom would be caught by a pack of sugar-hungry kids without popsicles! While kids all loved store-bought pops, most moms handed out homemade because they were much cheaper when you're feeding a dozen kids.



No kid would ever turn down a popsicle when they can feel their brain frying between their ears, but there was a definite ranking system among us. The best tier of moms were held in reverence, & were a huge factor in who's yard was cool, & could make up for a mediocre slip 'n slide or slight lack of shade. The best moms used BIG pop molds, offered seconds, & offered the yummy flavors (strawberry, cherry, watermelon). Moms that would get your place snubbed, & even earn you ridicule, had tiny, baby-sized molds, made pops out of crummy pure Koolaid in flavors like orange or even grape (blech!), or GASP - didn't even make pops!

Now that I'm a mom, I have an awesome excuse to make pops, & I've done a little research into how to make them absolutely delectable! I'm going to share four yummy recipes with you - no plain old juice crap here!

Image courtesy of Amazon.com

First, we need a mold for our pops. You can find them at many super-markets, big chain stores, & fancy ones online. Plastic is fine, silicone is easier to remove, & metal ones exist as well. You can also go the MacGyver route, & use ice cube trays, empty yogurt/pudding containers, or just regular old glasses. Use plastic picnic utensils, chopsticks or straws for handles.

All these recipes yield around 4 2.5 oz popsicles.

Drip-less Popsicles
Jell-o keeps these popsicles mess-free!

1/2 package sugar free fruit-flavored Jell-o
1/2 package unsweeted Kool-aid
1/4 cup hot water
2/3 cup cold water
3 tsbp sugar
Mix together Jell-o, Kool-aid, sugar & hot water until its all dissolved. Add cold water. Pour into your molds & freeze.

Yogurt Popsicles
Healthy, substitute any fruit in to taste.

1/2 cup fat free vanilla yogurt (an individual serving cup)
1/2 a sliced banana
1/2 cup strawberry juice (or apple)
1/2 tsp vanilla (skip unless you want more vanilla flavoring)
Blend together well. Pour & freeze.

Rocky Road Popsicles
A neat substitute for ice cream!

1/2 package of fat free chocolate pudding
1/2 cup mini-marshmallows
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
Make pudding according to package. Add marshmallows & peanuts, mix well & pour into molds.

Margarita Popsicles
These are not for kiddies, just moms & their friends! (Found here)

  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons tequila
  • 2 tablespoons orange liqueur (recommended: Grand Mariner)
  • Kosher salt, for garnish
  • Combine sugar, lime juice, water, lemon juice and orange juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Once cool transfer to a blender with tequila, orange liqueur, and lime wedge and process until smooth. Pour into molds & freeze. When you remove them from the molds, sprinkle salt over popsicle.
Hope you guys enjoy these!

21 comments:

  1. weather is quite hot around here too, i'll make some for me and me nephew !! ^^

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  2. Damn, with the humidity today I could sure go for a popsicle. I laughed at the MacGyver comment too. I've tried to make homemade popsicles before, but they came out horrible. I think I'll come back to this and try and make some of those Jell-o pops when I have the time.

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  3. Mmmmmm thanks for these, the Margarita ones sound lovely!

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  4. I remember making these with my mother as a kid. Good times.

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  5. I remember that when I was a kid too, only mom didnt make them, she had me make them :P Your recipes sound good, esp the rocky road. Ill have to try that out. Its cool that the jello ones wont drip all over the place. Its getting cold where I am right now, but Ill soon be dealing with a morbid 112 degree California summer again, when I travel back.

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  6. Nostalagia! I'm so gonna buy some of these

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  7. Sounds delicious My girlfriend and I will have to try some of those ^_^

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  8. My sister and I would make homemade popsicles when we were kids. Oh how time flies.

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  9. haha we have those things too at home!

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  10. homemade popsicles are the best

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  11. I love me some homemade popsicles

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  12. This margerita ice is a sweet way to get drunk.
    From all recipes this is the one I am tending most to try.

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  13. Everything that is made by Mum is clearly the best. You can't compare the things Mums make to the cheap things of the store.

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  14. Sounds really delicious, i will try!!

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  15. Thats perfect with summer so close.

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  16. This will be pretty handy next year when our Summer returns.

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  17. Hmm, sounds delicious!

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  18. Margarita time :)
    And the jello-pops are a fantastic idea :)

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  19. Hah! I wish My mother did such thing! I have seen the homemade ones, but not as quality as the one you showed.

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