popsicles & summertime snack ideas


the weather has been warming up and my mind is turning to hot weather treats for my little allergy guy and the other kids. popsicles are always a huge favorite, but i am dismayed and shocked every time i check the labels on the store brands. they all contain 4-5 sources of corn syrup or corn sugar, regular sugar and dye. that's it. not a trace of real fruit unless you buy the really expensive, 'natural' ones and they still have 2-3 sources of hidden corn. so we just make our own, it's easy and fun!


we buy fresh fruit and try to come up with flavors that sound good. a big hit is apples and berries. we also love oranges with a dash of cinnamon. nectarines with white grapes and a dash of ginger. if you want heartier popsicles with chunks of fruit, make the flax seed and fruit smoothies in my recipe collection on this site, and freeze in popsicle molds. if you want a fudgesicle, make the homemade chocolate coconut milk ice cream also in the recipe section here and freeze in popsicle molds. if you want a fruit and cream type popsicle, juice up some fruit and mix with coconut milk.

we have an industrial juicer and pick fruits that are easy to juice and not too costly which yield a lot of juice for their size. we don't really measure amounts, per se - we just keep juicing and tasting until we fill the pitcher, then pour into the popsicle molds. larger chain grocery stores (like target, walmart, etc...) should carry these seasonally - but i LOVE the ones at www.chasing-fireflies.com - that's where i got the ones in this pic).

you can also just use ready made juices form the health food store - but if you have severe corn allergy, be warned there are *very* few that are truly without corn. the orange mango juice by whole foods (brand name 365) has one ingredient that usually indicates hidden corn: natural flavoring. we use it occasionally and my super sensitive corn allergy toddler seems to be okay with it so far, but anything with ascorbic acid, vitamin c or citric acid, we can't do - he reacts to it.

in the pic, we have apple blueberry, orange mango and lemon raspberry popsicles.

another favorite for my allergy guy when the other kids are enjoying sunbutter and fruit spread sandwiches is shown here. we use the safe rice cakes i mention under 'snacks' in my recipe lists and i top it with a safe fruit spread and banana coins. another huge favorite is banana coins, thin apples slices and honey drizzled over it on a rice cake!

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