My two year old daughter recently began attending a 'school' for the first time. Despite their saying they offer "healthy" snacks, I have discovered otherwise (animal crackers and goldfish are not healthy snacks). In particular, they have a snowcone/popsicle day each week and despite me asking them to not give them to my daughter, they did anyway. Today I said I would start brining my own popsicles to the school so my daughter will not be left out of the cool treat eating. What are your recommendations for a good popsicle maker/mold and then some non-artifically sweetened recipes. Thanks!
I use V-Fusion for our popcicles at home. It is a mix of fruit and vegetable juice, so I feel like they get a bit more than just regular juice.
I've also froze the V-Fusion into cubes and put into sparkling grape juice, white grape juice or even Sprite for a burst of flavor. It's actually very good!
I bought the Zoku pop-sickle mold from Williams Sonoma: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/zoku-quick-pop-ma...
Admittedly it is a bit pricey but it freezes pop-sickles in 10 minutes (which works well with my available freezer space and my daughter's attention span). The instructions say that the juice/ingredients have to have a certain amount of sugar in it, otherwise it will just stick to the inside of the mold (and you'll have to wait for it to defrost to get it out). That being said, I've had no problem making pop-sickles with (non-diluted) apple juice and various Odwalla lemonade varieties. These might still have sugar, but at least they don't have any HFC and food dyes.
(By the way, my daughter is allergic to cows milk... So she always has a different meal given to her for lunch and snacks. I try to pack similar items in her snack bag so she's not always given 'something different' (or, something perceived as 'not as good') however, she knows she doesn't get the same treats... Ultimately, kids want to do/eat what other kids are doing/eating; they don't want to be different. Just a suggestion for you to keep that in mind. Its a balancing act between what you want them to eat and what they want to eat--Because you don't want her to react with negativity or resentment.
A few months ago I asked my daughter what she thought would be the best thing about growing older... I thought she'd say something about make-up, wearing dresses, getting a dog... She said "being able to eat cheese." Broke my heart. My point is, as much as you hate the idea, a crappy snow-cone now and then won't hurt her and might even strengthen her self-esteem.)
You can actually buy fruit juice only popsicles at your local grocery store. And if you have a Whole Foods Market or Sunflower Market by you, they carry all natural popsicles and ice cream there.
My husband also makes popsicles for our kids. What he does is, in the blender, he purees some frozen fruit (berries, peaches, cherries) with some orange or grape juice and some yogurt in a blender, then pours the mixture into some popsicle containers that we bought at Target.
Hope this helps.
Updated
You can actually buy fruit juice only popsicles at your local grocery store. And if you have a Whole Foods Market or Sunflower Market by you, they carry all natural popsicles and ice cream there.
My husband also makes popsicles for our kids. What he does is, in the blender, he purees some frozen fruit (berries, peaches, cherries) with some orange or grape juice and some yogurt in a blender, then pours the mixture into some popsicle containers that we bought at Target.
Hope this helps.
Updated
You can actually buy fruit juice only popsicles at your local grocery store. And if you have a Whole Foods Market or Sunflower Market by you, they carry all natural popsicles and ice cream there.
My husband also makes popsicles for our kids. What he does is, in the blender, he purees some frozen fruit (berries, peaches, cherries) with some orange or grape juice and some yogurt in a blender, then pours the mixture into some popsicle containers that we bought at Target.
Hope this helps.
We just blend whatever fruit we have on hand, add a little greek yogurt and put it in the mold to freeze.
the easiest mold I have found is the little plastic disposable bathroom cups ( 3 oz size/100 count at walmart) then I just use the craft sticks as handles. I use everything from plain no sugar added juice to freezing yogurt ( my DD9 fave is strawberry yogurt) you can also make instant pudding pops you can use reg or sugar free, I have always used the instant kind, not sure how the other would work out. I have stabilized the sticks with a strawberry or a banana slice. I have also used sugar free jello as pops but they get a bit icy on top, kind of a different texture when frozen. You can use your blender and puree fruits for whole fruit bars. I really love strawberries, I add a little apple juice to sweeten it a bit. Lots of luck!
I haven't used these myself, but remembered seeing them in a catalog recently. Here is a link:
http://www.forsmallhands.com/store/index.php?main_page=in...
