Smoothie and Smoothie Pop

When "The Princess" was teething she ate very very little. I could usually get her to snack on Cheerios or crackers, but meals were awful. I'd get stressed which would stress her out and meals would end without much getting accomplished.

After the first couple of teeth came in I started making her smoothies instead of expecting her to chew. The main ingredient is bananas which are calorie and vitamin dense (and also helpful with the interesting teething diaper disasters). She loves chocolate so I always add Ovaltine which tastes great and also adds some extra vitamins.

Over the years we've added peanut butter, yogurt, strained berry purees, avacado, honey, applesauce, etc. She has a favorite combination of ingredients which uses bananas, yogurt, Ovaltine, and milk. This is our go to when we need a quick meal on the go. I'll add a peanut butter and honey sandwich to eat along with it and she's a very happy kid.

When I have left over smoothie, I pour it into Popsicle molds and give them to her when she wants a dessert but I feel that she hasn't enough fruits that day. 

Smoothie:
Ripe banana
I tube Simply Gogurt
2 tbsp Ovaltine
Milk as needed to thin

She loves them and I love giving them to her.

Bryn

Popsicle Failure

I don't know what I was thinking. Maybe I wasn't thinking at all. Lately The Princess has taken personal offense to anything I do that does not include or revolve around her.

I get it.

I was the big sister too.

So when I was looking for a Popsicle recipe I wanted one that was super easy and that she could make from start to finish with me. This recipe certainly was easy. What I failed to remember was that The Princess doesn't like jello. It's a texture thing. Why would I think that freezing jello would improve the texture? I guess I was thinking of the jello as more of a flavor enhancing ingredient, like in poke cakes, etc, and not as the final product. Well, let's just say that The Princess was pretty disgusted by the pops and requested a store bought Popsicle to make up for it.

The recipe said that the Popsicles have a "jello/slushy consistency". I don't think that fully explains the weirdness of these things. If you bite into them they are like a spongy slushy. Odd.

If you lick them, they get slimy and then spongy and then gummy.

Not my favorite.

My husband saw my face and decided not to try them...my description of the jello/sponge/bubble gum texture didn't do much to help.

I won't be making these again, but if you don't have texture issues and are looking for a super easy, cheap and flavorful Popsicle, give them a try.

Ingredients

I box Jello - flavor of your choice
Water
Popsicle molds

Prepare Jello as instructed on box. Pour into Popsicle molds and freeze for 8-10 hours or until solid.

Run warm water over molds or sit mold into warm water to loosen. Enjoy (?)!

Bryn

Nutella ... need I say more?

It is no secret that I love Nutella. 

I mean, really really L O V E Nutella. 

I buy the crazy large containers that come in two packs at Costco.

I sneak spoonfuls of it while the kids aren't looking so I don't have to share.

I may have a problem that requires a 12 step program. 

But enough about me, let's talk more about Nutella!

When we decided to do this week of popsicles, I was trying for something out of the ordinary.  I came across this one for Nutella Fudgesicles.  Um, Yum!  Unfortunately, now that I am trying to find the link, I can't.  But when I do find it, I will link back.  Most of the recipes out there for Nutella Fudgesicles have bananas in them.  Which also sounded good, but I was feeling super lazy that day and wanted easy. 

The particular recipe was super simple, equal parts Nutella and Chocolate Milk. 

For my molds, if you use 3/4 cup of each, you will have just a bit left over.

Nutella Fudgesicle Recipe

3/4 Cup Nutella
3/4 Cup Chocolate Milk

Whisk together until smooth.

 Pour into molds.  Freeze for 3 to 4 hours. 

Seriously, seriously delicious!

Remember me saying I was being super lazy that day?  I didn't whisk quite enough so I had a few lumps, but I actually think this made it even more yummy!

Hope you are enjoying your summer so far!

Hallie

Strawberry Shortcake Popsicles

I was inspired by this post at Bakers Royale.  And in all truthfulness, set out to recreate these exact popsicles.

Then Target got in the way.

I went there to get the ingredients.  And really nothing else. 

I mentioned I was going to Target, right?

Yeah, the last time I got out of Target with only what I went in to get was ... well ... Never.

So, I get there, leaving my list at home, bought a whole bunch of stuff that I am sure that I needed .. wink wink nod nod ... (that's for the hubby) and couldn't remember what the heck the white layer was for the popsicles. 

So I decided on vanilla Jell-o. 

Which turns out, isn't actually white, it is sorta, well, the color of vanilla. 

The actual white layer was supposed to be yogurt, which would have made these healthier, but they turned out good nonetheless.

So, let's get to it.  Here is what you need:

A Quart of Strawberries
About 12 Vanilla Oreos
Vanilla Pudding or Yogurt ... I think the yogurt version would be really good too!
Milk to make the pudding
Dixie cups or some sort of popsicle mold

The assembly is pretty easy:

Throw the Oreos into the Ninja.

Pulse.

Alternatively, if you need to get some aggression out, you can put them in a zip lock back and whack the heck out of them with your rolling pin.  Always a fun activity.

Make the pudding as directed on the package.  I took no pictures of this step.  Sorry.  I was too busy whisking my arm off.  Also, why does whisk have an 'H' in it?  I always misspell that word.

Put cookie crumbs in with pudding and stir.

I poured the mixture into this handy dandy measuring cup so that it would pour easier into the popsicle molds.  I highly recommend it.

Now fill your molds aprox. 1/3 of the way full.

Now, let's stop right her a minute.  First, you need to be using a way smaller cup than this.  The popsicles that came out of here were monsters.  Way to big, even for adults.  So make sure you are using smaller molds.  These were 9 oz. cups and I didn't fill them up all the way.  Use at largest the 5 oz ones, or even smaller really would be ok.  Second, to get the pretty layers from the original link, you have to freeze each layer, at least partially, individually.

Patience is not one of the virtues that I have picked up in my 30 plus years on this planet. 

But, I tried it anyway.

Froze the first layer for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile ...

Wash, trim, and pulse your strawberries:

I used very ripe strawberries.  If yours are not so ripe, you might add some sugar.  When your 30 minutes is up, distribute the strawberry layer evenly between your cups.  I used 6 cups and put aprox. 1/4 cup of the strawberries in each cup.

Then freeze and wait another 30 minutes.

Finally, add final layer of pudding.

Unfortunately, what happened was, 30 minutes was not enough.  The pudding sunk into the strawberries.  Ooops.  So, I just swirled.

If you want completely separate layers, I would recommend at least an hour between layers.

And there you have it, Strawberry Shortcake Popsicles!  (Please ignore all the stuffed animals on the floor, I was in a hurry, and apparently, the animals are taking over the house)

I told you they were monsters!

But, as #2 said, "Mmm, Tasty".

Hallie

Pudding Pops

Do you remember Jello Pudding Pops? I am definitely not a pudding person because the lack of texture just doesn't appeal to me. But Jello Pudding Pops were basically chewable pudding! Genius. Also, they had that very thin icey outer coating that only lasted for about 5 seconds after you opened the wrap... Yum

These pudding pops taste nothing like Jello Pudding Pops. They are still really good though, and the best part is you can make any flavor you want (I'm going to make cheesecake next time). I was curious, so I compared the ingredients in Jello pudding and Jello Pudding Pops, and surprisingly they did not contain similar ingredients. Not really a big shocker then that the homemade version would be different.

I used a recipe found here at Sandy Toes and Popsicles. These were very cute and layered to look like rainbows. First off, the recipe says to make these in 5 oz. cups. In the spirit of trying a recipe before I alter it, I went ahead with the recommendation. I understand that in order to get big stripes you would need the larger cups, but these are really really big. The Princess didn't come close to finishing hers, even though she loved it. Just way to much. After eating it for 15 minutes she gave up. I did not need a ton of popsicles so i did half the recipe and it still made 6 5 oz cups full. Next time I'll still half the recipe but make them in the small Dixie cups or in our popsicle molds.

Ingredients:
2 large (5.1 oz) boxes pudding mix in a light color
Milk
Food coloring
Popsicle sticks
Foil

Prepare pudding according to package directions. Separate pudding into small dishes and add food coloring to reach desired hues. The Princess decided she would rather only use her favorite colors of pink, purple and blue. Also, it's apparently not a party unless there are sprinkles involved. I couldn't come up with a reason why not, so we made color challenged sprinkled rainbows. After mixing two shades of each color. I added sprinkles to the lightest three.

By the time the colors have been mixed, the pudding should be set enough to spoon or pour into cups. I had a little helper, so we spooned. Place one color on top of the other in rainbow or desired pattern. Once you have finished adding the pudding to the cups cover them with tin foil and then place a Popsicle stick through the foil. The foil will allow the stick to remain straight.

If using popsicle molds, assemble as needed. Place cups/molds into refrigerator to firm and then into freezer to harden. We made ours in the morning and they were solid by dinner time. Peel paper off and enjoy!

Bryn

Popsicle Week

Welcome to Summer!  Is it hot and humid where you are yet? 

Since last year it felt like we were living on the sun all summer, Bryn and I thought Popsicles were a great way to kick off the season.  A good way to cool down for both us and the kids! 

Our first recipe this week is the easiest of all ... and perhaps the yummiest!

Start with this:

Cut it up and throw it in here:

Blend!

Pour it in here:

Freeze for several hours. 

Then enjoy!

For my 4 molds, I used half of one of those small round watermelons. 

Very refreshing on a hot day!

Check back everyday this week for some great ideas ... we've got Jello Pudding Pops, Nutella Fudgesicles, and much much more!

Hallie