Homemade Popsicles make the perfect snack for kids! Full of healthy fruits and veggies, and a treat at the same time! Great for summer hydration too, homemade popsicles outshine store-bought in every way. Fun to make too!
Kid's Snacks with Substance
I never intended to write much here about kids, but as any parent will agree, kids have a tendency to get into everything. When I get together with fellow mom friends, our conversation always includes what are kids are up to, including what they've been eating (or not eating!). I don't think there is a parent out there who has their kid's nutrition all figured out - including me! So, I am not about to give you a bunch of recipes that your kids are sure to eat and love. How would I know what your crazy kids will like?? Kids can be picky to say the least. One hates soup (unless it's "normal soup") the other loves it, one likes carrots, but not "cooked up" carrots, one will eat a pint of tomatoes from the garden but not touch them in a salad, one wants oatmeal but certainly not in this bowl, and I could go on and on. We can all agree that we want our kids to eat more fruits and veggies. Dinner can be hit or miss, sometimes they love it, sometimes they hate it, sometimes they pick out everything that is actually good for them. With this in mind, I count on their snacks to be super healthy! Snack time needs to have substance.Instructions
Enter popsicles, it accomplishes everything! It's fruit, vegetables, hydration, fun to eat, and fun for them to help make. There are lots of popsicle molds on the market, and we also have a pack of push pop molds for extras. Like Smoothies, popsicles don't really need a recipe. And leftover smoothie can BE popsicles too! Be as creative as you want! But, here are two basic recipes to start with...Purple and Orange. I always start with a banana, they are cheap, healthy, and good for consistency. Then pick some fruit. I like to pick out a color and add whatever fruit fits. Berries are the best for flavor and give you reds and deep purples. Cantaloupe and citrus make up the orange color. The fruit is the bulk, and then you can sneak in a small amount of veggies. Green leafy veggies like kale or spinach can be hidden by the berries. A few chunks of carrot can be blended in with the orange. An optional spoonful of seeds, like flax, chia, or sesame can be added for protein. Cover the fruits in the blender with liquid. Some orange juice is a must and gives you a lot of flavor and a bit of sweetness. You can add some type of nut milk, like almond milk or coconut milk, or a scoop of plain yogurt. You can stretch it with some water too. Blend on high for awhile to get it very smooth, pour into your molds, and freeze.Substitutions - Be Creative!
My kids love to add ingredients and invent their own colors. Or add things and guess what color it will be! Homemade popsicle variations are endless. Try Yellow with mango, pineapple, and oranges. Try Red with cherries (take out the pits!), watermelon, and plums. A Green color can be full of kiwi, melon, avocado and green grapes. Or even try White with banana, apple, coconut and a little chunk of cauliflower. You can add a handful of chopped strawberry to the white after you blend it to stud it with little bits of red. You can also add scoops of plain yogurt halfway up your popsicle molds to give it little white swirls. ANY fruit will work! If you start with bananas and berries you will likely get some type of purple color, and with that base, any fruits and a few veggies can go in! Popsicles are my favorite solution when dinner isn't quite ready, but they just can't wait!More Kid Friendly Favorites!
- Healthy Breakfast Ideas for Kids!
- Healthy Lunch Ideas for Kids!
- Healthy Snacks for Kids On the Go
- The Smoothie Bucket
- Family Pizza Night
- Healthy Zucchini Cookies
Popsicles
Homemade Popsicles make the perfect snack for kids! Full of healthy fruits and veggies, and a treat at the same time! Great for summer hydration too, homemade popsicles outshine store-bought in every way. Fun to make too!
Hit the stars to rate this recipe!
Print Pin RateServings: 8 or more
Calories:
Ingredients
The Purple Version
- 1 banana
- ½ c blue or black berries or a frozen berry mix
- handful spinach
- ½ c red grapes
- 1 T seeds chia, flax for protein (optional)
- ½ c orange juice
- ½ c almond or coconut milk
- ½ c water
- a tiny squeeze of honey (optional) I use honey if I feel I went too heavy on the vegetables, if you only use fruit you don't need honey at all
The Orange Version
- 1 banana
- 1 c cantaloupe
- 6-8 baby carrots or one full carrot, peeled and rough chopped
- 2 cutie oranges or any small oranges
- 1 T seeds chia, flax for protein (optional)
- ½ c orange juice
- ½ c almond or coconut milk
- ½ c water
- a tiny squeeze of honey (optional)
Instructions
- Put all ingredients in a blender and blend on high for a minute or two until very smooth. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze.
- Variations** try Yellow with mango pineapple and oranges, try Red with cherries watermelon and plums, try Green with kiwi avocado and green grapes, try White with banana, apple, coconut and a little chunk of cauliflower, let kids invent their own and guess what color it will be!
Did You Make This Recipe?Rate this recipe by clicking the stars, or leave a comment below, I'd love to hear how it turned out! Follow me on Pinterest at @sungrownkitchen to browse and save all the garden recipes!
Leave a Reply