Of the sounds etched into the record of childhood, for occasional retrieval from memory and playback for nostalgia, most of us can remember the ice cream truck jingle. Or in my case, growing up in Thailand, the sound of my beloved pedal-powered popsicle bike cart.
Pardon my off-key warble, but I can’t resist intoning it for you, “Di di da, di di da, di di di di da!”
When I was attending elementary school in Bangkok, that was the magical melody that I waited for every day. Usually by the second ‘da’, I was in mid-flight out of the house to handpick my favorite popsicle of the day.
As the last mouthful of the sweet treat would dissolve, I would always end up with a charming little souvenir to keep the fun from fading too quickly: a free makeover on my lips. Sometimes it was a lovely pinkish hue and at other times, a more futuristic look, tinged with blue or green.
Later I learned that these stunning colors are from artificial food coloring, which is apparently not all that healthy. In fact science has had a thing or two to say about that over the course of 30 plus years of research into the relationship between food coloring and hyperactivity in children, though to be fair the results remain rather inconclusive.
Still, not being one to tempt fate, nor one to give up on tasty and colorful frozen treats, I decided on an alternative approach–rather than artificial pops, I freeze all kinds of real foodstuffs, from yogurt, chocolate milk, and fruit juice, to fresh fruit. And lived experience has me convinced this is a healthier way of giving in to the compulsion for frosty goodies than chomping on the store-bought kind!
With the summer heat wave knocking at the icebox door, I would like to share with my readers this guilt-free fruit popsicle recipe I concocted. It’s quick, easy, and healthy. Plus, it’s a great way to get in your daily dose of vitamins and dietary fiber.
These homemade popsicles are delightful to eat. Once you bite into one of these edible works of art, you first experience the refreshingly crunchy texture of the fruit and then–a grinning kid once again–you melt away in the yummy sweet abandon of a recollection from youth.
Guilt-Free Fresh Fruit Popsicles Recipe
Enjoy!
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Freezing Time: 5 hours
Serves: 6
Ingredients
6 ounces cranberry juice
6 ounces coconut water
1 cup blueberries
1 cup raspberries
2 kiwis, peeled, sliced
Equipment
6 popsicle molds
Place 2 blueberries, 2 raspberries, and 2 slices of kiwi into each popsicle mold. Pour cranberry juice into 3 of the Popsicle molds. Then pour coconut water into the other 3 molds. Put them in the freezer for 5 to 6 hours, depending on the size of your molds.
