Let’s Make Easy Healthy Homemade Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles with fresh strawberries in homemade lemonade because isn’t THIS Summertime!
POPSICLES
I have discovered a new passion for the perfect treat; POPSICLES!
But who Invented The First Popsicle?
Growing up, in the heat of summer, no air-conditioning, fans, and a blow-up swimming pool, I looked forward to the rescuing chill from the tasty treats of a popsicle.
Even though they were terribly unhealthy back in the 60’s, we somehow thought they were good for us.
They made your lips freeze, your tongue turn colors (lots of dye), and they were oh so sugary sweet… sugar water sweet, that is.
All the same, summer seemed all the sweeter because of ice pops, as we used to call them.
Bad Popsicles THEN
Fast forward to the 21st century where we’ve all become health gurus.
Those popsicles I grew up with, suddenly looked like poison, loaded with artificial dyes!
In fact, I would swear that the sales of such popsicles, declined if not disappeared.
Replaced instead, by a surge in healthy popsicle choices.
Healthy Easy Popsicles NOW
Then, one day I found a silicone popsicle mold and realized how easy it was to make your own popsicles.
The best part was the healthier options at my fingertips.
My imagination went wild with possibilities and suddenly I became the family’s popsicle making queen!
You name it, I found ways to turn it into a popsicle, kind of like My Muffin Madness extravaganza!
I even created the perfect remedy for winter cold and flu season with my Wellness Popsicle!
Strawberry Season
Picture This: Freshly picked whole strawberries from a local farm, pureed into homemade strawberry popsicles, tucked in the freezer for the first hot summer day.
Now, isn’t that the perfect summer treat!
I like to make up a huge batch of homemade strawberry popsicles in spring, when they are sun ripened, freshly picked and have the most abundant sweetness of the strawberries.
With so many different ways to enjoy fresh strawberry recipes to eat in springtime, these healthy delicious frozen treats are tucked in the freezer for the entire summer.
Strawberries
Strawberries as you can imagine, are about 90% water, which makes them a great tasty way to eat hydrating food.
Vitamin C is a given, found in most fruits anyway, but these pretty little berries are also loaded with fiber and aid in putting healthy friendly bacteria in your gut.
The healthy good news here:
– Vitamin C is great for protecting skin from much sun exposure
– Healthy gut bacteria will help combat the abundance of fried summertime dishes we will be eating.
Healthy Popsicles
Popsicles are a great way to puree a huge batch of sun ripened strawberries, and make them into fresh strawberry popsicles to eat throughout summer’s heat.
Since ripe strawberries are a sweet treat all by themselves, very little sugar, if any, is needed to add to these popsicles.
However, for an added sweetness, honey, agave, maple syrup or stevia can also be added and are way better than refined sugar.
Healthy Lemon For Summer Days
More vitamin C? Absolutely!
Days are longer in summertime, therefore we are more active for longer periods of time throughout the day’s light.
This can sometimes add a little extra stress on the body.
Lemons are loaded with antioxidants, which will help to detoxify your blood and boost your immune system.
What could be easier than drinking lots of water with lemon juice on a hot day.
Easy Healthy Homemade Lemonade
Don’t forget how lemon or lime juice promotes healthy kidneys, you know… too many cold beers during summer months!
Given these very important health reasons to get lemons into your summer foods, lemon aid is the perfect solution.
And no, I don’t mean frozen lemonade from the grocery store and a ton of added sugar, I’m talking about an easy Homemade Lemon Aid!
It’s the best way to be in charge of the amount of sugar or type of natural sweetener you can use.
Healthy Strawberry Popsicles With Homemade Lemonade
Desserts throughout summer are such a healthy contrast to wintertime desserts.
Cakes, custards and cookies; that hunger for sweet carbs during winter is really the body’s way of saying ‘hug me, I’m cold’!
Yet in summer, when we get a sweet tooth, we are most satisfied with a dessert that is loaded with fresh fruit juice or entire fresh fruits.
Making these healthy Strawberry Lemonade popsicles in summer for the kids is the best dessert you can give them, for all the reasons mentioned above.
Adult Popsicle Treats
Additionally for the adults, we might wanted an added treat in our popsicle.
By all means toss in a little liqueur with strawberry flavor, or a little Limoncello, before freezing the popsicles.
Even a splash of champagne or prosecco in the mix, before freezing, and you’ve got a great
5 o’clock treat!
For creamy strawberry popsicles, simply add a little Greek yogurt or coconut milk to the popsicle mixture.
How To Make Homemade Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles
Homemade Lemonade couldn’t be simpler to make.
Simply squeeze the juice from a bunch of lemons into a pot, a few lemon rinds and enough sugar, honey, agave or stevia to suit your taste.
Simmer a few minutes to dissolve the sweetness and extract a bit of the lemon oil from the rinds.
Strain and cool, and you’ve got lemonade!
When making these popsicles simply chop a bunch of fresh strawberries, and place them into the popsicle mold you will be using.
Slowly pour in the lemonade, freeze and there you have a perfect summer popsicle!
An ‘Old School’ Variation On Shaping Homemade Popsicles Instead Of Popsicle Molds
While it is easy and affordable to use any one of the silicone popsicle molds, there is another way.
Call it old fashioned but we often did this, as a kid, with fruit juices:
- Pour the juice into paper dixie cups
- Freeze just until freezing point, where they are starting to look firm
- Cut a slit in the center of each and place wooden sticks down the center and freeze the rest of the way.
Once I’ve made a batch of popsicles, I simply transfer them to an airtight container or a freezer bag, label and stash in the freezer.
This frees up the popsicle mold to make a variety of other types of popsicles.
For More Easy Healthy Homemade Popsicles – Here Ya Go!
Now that you’ve bought a popsicle mold, or cups and sticks, you will want to try these as well:
- Blueberry and Yogurt Popsicles – thick Greek yogurt and blueberry compote.
- Garden Lavender and Blueberry Popsicles – fragrant and delicious made with homemade almond milk, honey, blueberries and lavender.
- Almond Espresso Chocolate Popsicles – homemade almond milk, espresso coffee and chocolate for our afternoon pick-me-up.
- Mocha Latte Popsicles – a simple iced coffee and ‘milk of choice’ popsicle, because 4:00 in the summer, calls for cold, not hot coffee!
- Wellness Popsicles – perfect for sore throat and coughs, made with ginger, chili peppers, honey, herbs and sometimes a little booze!
Lots More Delicious Strawberry Treats
Now that I’ve inspired you for a fabulous strawberry treat, how about a few other (well, lots more), strawberry treats!
- Button Cups With Homemade Strawberry Jam – shortbread cookie tarts, filled with homemade strawberry jam and homemade almond butter with a button top. You may have seen me make these on The Great American Recipe with PBS.
- Homemade Thyme Strawberry Jam – an herbal and strawberry jam, versatile for sweet or savory uses.
- Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri Mocktail – a sip for everyone, even with a bit of booze for the adults.
- Farm Fresh Strawberry Tarts – buttery rich pastry, cream or coconut milk custard, covered with farm fresh strawberries.
- Strawberry Vinaigrette – sweet strawberries, sour balsamic with spice from chili pepper makes for a great sweet and sour dressing or marinade.
- Vegan Strawberry Frozen Pie – for those of us in want of a healthy fruit dessert that is too delicious to be called vegan!
Ingredients Needed
- Lemonade
- Strawberries
Equipment Needed
- Popsicle molds with sticks
- Cutting board
- Chopping knife
- Freezer
Easy Healthy Homemade Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles
Easy Healthy Homemade Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles
Equipment
- Popsicle mold with sticks
Ingredients
- 1 cup Whole Strawberries, chopped about 10
- 2 cups Lemonade homemade
Instructions
- Divide the thinly sliced strawberries into the popsicle molds. Pour an even amount of lemonade into each mold. Place the tops and sticks on, and pop into the freezer. If you (or your little ones), prefer not to bite into frozen fruit, you can puree the strawberries, mix them into the lemonade, then pour into the molds.
- Freeze for at least 4 hours, though they are better if overnight. Once these are frozen solid, they can be removed from the popsicle molds and stored in airtight containers, in the freezer. The popsicles will store in the freeze for many months. Your mold is now empty and ready for many other variations of popsicle mixtures.
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.