Just in Time for the Summer Heat...

Healthy Frozen Treats

Do the hot summer days have you reaching into the freezer for ice cream more often than you probably should? Me too! Here are some healthier frozen treats to cool you off without the guilt afterwards.

1. Juice Pops – Fill popsicle molds with 100% juice. (If you use a juice that also contains vegetable juice, like one of the delicious flavors of V8 Fusion, you’ll even be getting some veggies in your family’s diet as well.) Place the filled popsicle molds in the freezer for a few hours. Carefully remove the handle from the mold and enjoy your delicious juice pop. If you do not have popsicle molds, you can use an ice tray. Fill the ice tray with juice; cover it with cling wrap; poke a popsicle stick through the cling wrap into the juice in each section of the ice tray. Place the filled ice tray in the freezer for a few hours. Remove the cling wrap from the ice tray. Twist the ice tray to loosen the juice pops. Enjoy!

2. Banana Pops – Peel a ripe banana; cut it in half. Place a popsicle stick or fork into the flat end of each banana half to be the handle. Place the banana halves in a freezer-safe container; place the container in the freezer for a few hours. Carefully remove a banana pop from the container. Enjoy!

3. Frozen Grapes – Remove grapes from their grapevine. Wash and thoroughly dry the grapes. Place the grapes in a freezer-safe container; place the container in the freezer for a few hours. You now have bite-sized sweet frozen treats! (If giving these to young children you should cut the grapes in halves or fourths before freezing them to reduce the choking hazard.)

4. Frozen Fruit – You can also just buy a bag of already frozen fruit and eat it still frozen as a treat.

5. Frozen Yogurt or Yogurt Pops – Buy refrigerated yogurt and place it in the freezer for a few hours. Eat it with a spoon as an alternative to ice cream or traditional frozen yogurt. You could also put this yogurt in an ice tray to make yogurt pops following the directions for juice pops above.

I hope you have found a few new ideas to try for healthier frozen treats this summer. Happy eating!

-Anna Spraker