Recipe for Peach-Carrot Smoothie
(youth and adult tested and approved!) from FoodHero.com:
Combine the following ingredients in a blender or food
processor: one medium banana (peeled), one cup canned
carrots (drained and rinsed) and one 15 oz. can peaches,
undrained. Add all the ingredients, including the juice from
the can of peaches. Blend for a smoothie.
We made two batches of the Peach-Carrot smoothie and by the
end of the program, we had some left over. We poured the
rest of the smoothie into push-up popsicle molds and put
them in the freezer. These molds happen to be silicone but
there are many different kinds of popsicle molds at the
stores. Many of the molds are reusable but there are also
some disposable ones available like the plastic tube bags.
This article will suggest some healthy ingredients for
making homemade popsicles. If you don’t have any molds
specific to popsicles, do you have any mini muffin pans or
small paper cups or ice cube trays? Any of these different
containers can be filled with the healthy recipe and then
covered with plastic wrap. The handle or stick can be
popsicle sticks, a paper straw cut in half or an appetizer
toothpick. Make sure to keep the added liquid a little
below the top of the container because it will expand and
therefore rise higher when it freezes.
As mentioned above, if you have a favorite smoothie recipe,
you can add it to a popsicle mold and freeze it into a
summer treat. The following popsicle recipes will highlight
some of the food groups that can be featured in your frozen
treats.
Focus on the fruit group. While many (but not all) purchased
popsicles are named after fruit flavors such as cherry,
orange or grape, often the main ingredient is sugar and
added fruit flavors. Homemade popsicles are a good way to
start with fruit or 100 percent fruit juice as the main
ingredient. It can be as simple as adding some sliced or
chopped fruit to the popsicle and using 100 percent juice as
the liquid.
Try this two-ingredient combination recipe for Grape
Refresher Popsicles from the minituremoose.com: Slice
or chop two cups of seedless grapes and add the grapes to
the molds or cups. After filling with grapes, add 100% grape
juice to the popsicle mold, add the stick and then freeze.
This recipe will use approximately the same amount of grapes
and grape juice (2 cups) although the exact amount will be
dependent on the size of molds or cups that you use.
Add more vegetables to your day. As shared before, carrots
can be added to smoothies and another type of vegetable that
is often added to smoothies is leafy greens like spinach or
kale. This is a great way to add more vegetables to the day.
The following recipe is from Kids Activity Blog. If you like
things sour, you can double the lime. This recipe is for
Lime Green Popsicles. Blend the following ingredients
until smooth and then fill the popsicle molds: juice from
one lime (approximately two tablespoons lime juice), one cup
chopped fresh spinach, one banana, one green apple (diced)
and one cup of apple juice. Add the stick and freeze.
Add dairy for added calcium. This is an easy two ingredient
recipe that features fruit and yogurt. The Strawberry
Yogurt Pops recipe is from What’s Cooking, USDA online
recipes. You will need one cup of low-fat strawberry yogurt
and six large strawberries. Cut the strawberries into small
pieces and mix them with the yogurt. Divide it up into ice
cube containers or four small paper cups. Add sticks and
freeze.
This last recipe is also from What’s Cooking. If you want to
skip the popsicle mold, try this cold
Easiest Banana Ice Cream recipe.
You will need two=to-three bananas that are very ripe, three
tablespoons of milk and optional chocolate syrup to add to
the top.
Directions:
1. When bananas have become very ripe, peel and slice them
into medium size round pieces. Place on a plastic wrap
covered baking sheet and put in freezer overnight.
2. Place frozen bananas in a food processor or blender with
a small splash of milk (not over 1/4 cup total).
3. Pulse food processor or blender until bananas begin to
break up. They will be tiny balls of bananas at this point.
4. Using a spoon or rubber spatula, scrape down the banana
mixture. Continue running the food processor until the
mixture is smooth and creamy. This may take a few minutes.
The ice cream will look and tasted like soft serve ice cream
when finished.
5. Serve in an ice cream cone or in a small bowl with a
small ribbon of chocolate syrup on top (optional).
Enjoy these healthy recipes as you keep cool this month!
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