I had a bunch of kids over for a playdate not long ago and made these homemade fruit smoothie popsicles. I know this isn't a fascinating post on fitness or some mind-blowing article on diet, but hey, who doesn't like popsicles? And aren't they better when they're NOT loaded with junk. What junk? This junk:
Ingredients in store bought Orange Cherry Grape Popsicles: Water, Glycerine, Maltodextrin (Adds a Trivial Amount of Sugar), Guar Gum, Citric Acid, Aspartame, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Acesulfame Potassium, Locust Bean Gum, Ascorbic Acid, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 1.
Hmmmm...I see no mention of real fruit.
These are really easy to make and have absolutely no sugar other than the natural stuff coming from fruit. For this recipe, I used:
- Raspberries
- Peaches
- Kiwi
- Strawberries
Just one of these popsicles is a super megadose of vitamin C. I love that. There is also plenty of fiber, and other nutrients like magnesium, potassium and manganese.
Here's the play-by-play on how to make them.
Step 1: Get your fruit ready. Half of what you're going to use will go directly into a blender with about 1 1/2 cups of water. This will make a thick smoothie. You'll want the consistency to stay on the thicker side, not watery, or your popsicles will be really icy.
Step 2: Get your fruit assembly line ready for the fruit laborers you have staffed.
Step 3: Get your laborers to work by filling plastic cups about 1/3 full.*
Step 4: Add the popsicle sticks. I placed them right in the middle of the fruit so they wouldn't fall over while freezing.
Step 5: Pour in your smoothie concoction. I actually over-poured a couple cups, which left a couple other cups under-poured. As it turned out, those under-poured cups were the BEST! The chunks of fruit sticking out were my kids' favorites. And they looked prettier, too!
Step 6: Freeze and enjoy. They'll go fast.
*Note: I'm really not a fan of using plastic cups for anything, but needed them for this recipe because I was already using my popsicle molds for a different popsicle recipe. Who knew there could be so many? Molds work better, but plastic cups with popsicle sticks will suffice. That said, I have no qualms using the fruit laborers available to me. They're paid in popsicles and seem to be perfectly happy.
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Traci is a nationally recognized health and fitness expert who has been featured on The TODAY Show and Dr. Oz. Traci is available for corporate speaking events and wellness coaching, as well as private training. Contact Traci here.
