Camp Mom: Smoothies & Popsicles

What says summer more than popsicles!?  I have a ton of recipes pinned and I’d like to try out a lot this summer.  I finally got all my equipment in order & I’m ready to go!

First things first, I needed to get a popsicle mold set.  My last one was trashed due to BPA concerns.  I was looking at a stainless steel set, but it was a little phallic for my liking.  I got this instead.

Next, I was in need of a new blending instrument.  Ok Ok, “NEED”, isn’t really the correct word.  I WANTED a new blending instrument.  I have a Magic Bullet that I’ve had for years, and it’s great.  But I really wanted something with bigger capacity, and I didn’t have room for the bullet AND a regular blender.  I found this new Bullet with the blender option, but then I found THIS!

It has all the functionality of the Bullet, with the added Blender attachment, plus a couple things that push it over the top for me.  First, the mugs are designed as travel mugs, which is great for those mornings that we are in a hurry and want to take a smoothie on the road. And let’s face it, anything that can minimize the amount of goop spilled is great on a day to day basis, regardless if we are leaving the house or not. And can’t you just taste a homemade frappe in this!?  Yum.  The other added plus for me is the look!!  I know, I know.  Stupid.  But I really like the look of this unit SO much more!  So much that it might be staying on the counter for awhile.

But enough about all of that.  Let’s get to the yum!

We make a lot of smoothies around here.  I don’t do it to get veggies in or anything.  B is pretty good about veggies on their own, so for us it’s just a yummy filling treat.  Either a big snack or a light breakfast.  I do keep it to just fruit, a little juice, yogurt (plain greek), and either soy, almond, or regular milk.  No added sugar.  Here’s a shot of what we had on hand & used today.

Greek Yogurt (we did not use the fruit jam), frozen fruit (strawberries, blueberries & peaches), frozen bananas (on plate), Almond Milk, juice in a box (100% from TJs)

In honor of our new blender, we decided to do smoothie pops as our first pops of the summer.  And of course we each had a smoothie while we waited for the pops. I always have frozen fruit in the freezer, ideally organic.  And I freeze all our uneaten bananas when they start to get to ripe.  (peeled, and either sliced, or halved)

Normally I just let B add whatever fruit he wants, and then we add some yogurt, a little juice & milk-type-liquid.  Today it was blueberries, peaches, strawberries, bananas (all frozen), a little Tropical Juice (in a box from TJs), and some almond milk.  To get a nice thick, yet drinkable consistency I add enough liquid to come to the top of the fruit.

Blend until it flows into a nice little funnel like this.

For the pops, I filled the molds to about 1/2 inch from the top & then popped them in the freezer. Which is easier said than done in my overstuffed freezer.

While waiting we enjoyed our smoothies & I enjoyed my messy faced, still in his PJs boy.  I LOVE SUMMER & I LOVE THIS KID!!

And the pops?  SUCCESS!  It’s funny how the smoothies we drank just a few hours before seemed to taste so much treat-ier in pop mold!  In all honesty, they are a bit bigger than I would like, but I love the cool retro look.

Stay tuned because we plan on trying all sorts of pops recipes this summer.  Some healthy….some NOTSOMUCH.