Just a quick ice pop recipe today – wonderful watermelon ice pops.

With the weather being so nice, you most likely have a watermelon or two around. Your first through may be, why on earth would I waste a perfectly good watermelon to make ice pops? I’m with you. It’s hard to beat plain old, icy cold watermelon simply cut into slices or cubes. Justifying blending a melon up to freeze seems iffy.

However, trust me, a few batches of watermelon ice pops over the summer will be 100% worth it. Freezing watermelon takes refreshing to a whole new level. Once frozen, watermelon ice pops have this amazing shaved ice texture and really cool you off.

Watermelon ice pops are also a great way to use leftover melon – say, if you bought too much for a picnic.

• See Homemade Organic Ice Pops 101

Nutritionally worth it:

These ice pops are low-calorie but taste insanely good – so if you’re attempting to trim calories, these pops are the perfect way to go. You can eat more than one, because a cup of watermelon only has about 45 calories.

Watermelon manages to be low-calorie and nutritious, with plenty of good stuff, such as lycopene, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C and potassium.

The basic recipe:

• 4.5 cups watermelon – organic if you can find it. I don’t always buy organic watermelon, because it’s harder to find in organic form and a lower pesticide fruit (in fact watermelon is one of the clean 15).  Still, always go organic if you can.

• 3/4 cup water.

• 3/4 cup fresh squeezed organic orange juice – optional, but recommended. You could use the pulp – blend it up, but I just use the juice, because I don’t want to mess with the smooth, shaved ice texture of the watermelon. You can save the pulp in puree form and use it in place of some of the milk in cornbread (trust me, it’s amazing).

Blend everything in a blender. Pour into non-toxic popsicle molds. Freeze. Eat and fall in love with frozen watermelon.

How many ice pops will you get?

It depends on the size of your melon. For my last batch, I used a blender full of watermelon, as shown above. After adding orange juice and the water, I got enough mix to make all the watermelon pops shown below (about 5 big pops and 3 small ones).

However, I was running low on popsicle molds, so I ended up with too much mix and not enough popsicle molds – about 1 and 1/2 cup of leftover mixture. I put it in the fridge to use to make more pops later or for a plain old drink or watermelon smoothie.

Spice your ice pops up…

Optional – if your melon is a little mealy and less sweet, you may want to add a tablespoon of organic honey, but a nice sweet melon won’t need any added sweetener.

Optional – sparkling water or soda. If you go with soda, use organic like Santa Cruz Organic Sparkling Beverage, Lemon Lime. Note that this will add some calories to your low-cal pops, but as a once-in-a-while treat, sparkling watermelon ice pops are amazing. If you decide to add soda, allow the can to sit open in the fridge for a few hours before making these pops.

ADULT POPS – try this recipe for Spiked Watermelon Ice Pops.

Looking for the popsicle molds shown above? I was using…

• FRED Cool Jazz Ice Cube Stirs Guitar shaped ice tray
• Tovolo Yellow Groovy Ice Pop Molds
• One of my Tovolo Green Star Ice Pop Molds but in the base of my Rocket Ship Ice Pop Mold Set.

All images ©Jennifer Chait

I know, leftover veggies don’t sound like they’d make the best ice pops, but organic veggies can make for some yummy organic ice pops. Depending on the veggie that is.

I recently had a slew of leftover veggies and with no salad or homemade soup plans in my very near future, I decided to use the veggies for ice pops. The picture below actually doesn’t do them justice. In reality I ended up with some super bright orange ice pops.

You can, in theory, make homemade popsicles with any leftover veggies – yams, cucumbers, carrots, spinach and more. In the case of these orange pops, they were a little hit and miss, made with the following…

• Leftover carrots from packed school lunches during the week.
• Leftover zucchini from homemade veggie pot pie I made for dinner one night.
• Leftover tomato slices from when we had veggie burgers.

I also had a few leftover strawberries and a whole darn mango. The back story on the mango was that I was going to make pure mango ice pops this week, but after seeing all the leftover veggies laying around, I decided to use the mango to balance veggie pops instead.

Here was the general process.

• Gather leftover veggies and fruits - steam any super hard veggies.

   

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• Blend up the carrots. Then add other stuff - like more veggies and berries.

   

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• I was being lazy and did not steam the zucchini. It still worked out okay.

   

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• Add some honey, 1 1/2 cups water and the mango - and keep blending

   

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• End up with a creamy, lovely orange mixture.

   

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• Poured mixture into molds and freeze. I ended up with about 9 ice pops.

   

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Sometimes when you make ice pops without a recipe, you end up with issues. For example, these pops could have been a bit sweeter. They’re fairly savory. Also, because I used barely any sweetener, they stuck in the molds a bit more than I like. If you fail to add enough sweetener to ice pops, you can get harder, less mobile ice pops.

Next time I’d steam the zucchini first, because it took a while to blend, and because the zucchini didn’t entirely blend down, the pops have tiny white flecks that upset the constant orange flow.  I’d add more honey, or maybe a tablespoon of organic white sugar. I’d also add some leftover orange juice or a few more organic berries because they could have used natural sweetness too.

Cedar was nervous to try them, thinking I used yams (he’s been weirdly anti-yam for a year now???). After I assured him they were yam-free, he tried and liked these ice pops. He was extra impressed with the excellent bright color. Dave liked them too, but like me, he felt they could be sweeter. He also felt the mango taste was very strong, which is odd, because flavor-wise, I felt that the carrot taste was the strongest, while Cedar said the berries were.

My main point isn’t to the pin-point the flavor though, it’s to say, you can use ingredient freedom (go leftovers), and still get pops people will eat. These pops got a fairly decent review at my house – people will eat almost anything if you freeze it first.

• Learn more at Homemade Organic Ice Pops 101

Review summary: A beautiful book that will draw you and your family into the wonderful, and often healthy, world of ice pops.

Title: Ice Pop Joy by Anni Daulter; published by Sellers Publishing Inc. (March 11, 2011)

Cost: Retails at $18.95, but only about $13 on Amazon.

From the publisher:

“Let’s face it, all kids (and plenty of grown ups) love ice pops, but not all kids love healthy foods. This collection of wholesome and heavenly ice pop recipes are cutting-edge nutritious and delicious for the whole family…

You can indulge in tasty sweet, and juicy ice pops without consuming refined sugar and fake sweeteners. Using fresh, seasonal fruits; sweet, nutritious vegetables (yes! vegetables); protein packed whole foods; and a multitude of other exquisite ingredients, Ice Pop Joy contains a wide variety of recipes for scrumptious frozen treats any time of the year.”

What’s covered in Ice Pop Joy:

Daulter offers some quick words about why your family should eat organic, fresh and healthy fare. This book is about ice pops, not a health text, so she doesn’t dwell on these topics, but does offer useful fast info.

Other topics covered in the book include…

• Tips for getting your kids to eat healthy.
• Ice pop practicalities – finding equipment, non-toxic ice pop molds and freezing tips.
• Sweeteners to use for ice pops.
• Ice pop recipes.

What I liked about Ice Pop Joy:

As in Daulter’s last book, Organically Raised: Conscious Cooking for Babies and Toddlers, the food photography takes center stage, this time with gorgeous images by Alexandra DeFurio. For people who aren’t at all interested in ice pops, you will be after a quick peek though this book. The beautiful images really draw you in.

• I loved the section on how to get kids to eat healthy. One of my pet peeves is when experts tell parents to hide veggies or other healthy foods from kids. You might expect Daulter to do this; after all she’s technically smooshing veggies into icy popsicles. However, she recommends showing the kids exactly what you’re doing. She notes, “Don’t hide the ingredients from them. Let them see that you’re making the pops out of and talk about ingredients with your children.” I 100% agree. Her other tips about “starting over” with healthy foods for your kids are good as well.

• In my review for Organically Raised, I complained that Daulter didn’t explain the sweeteners very well. In Ice Pop Joy Daulter goes over three natural sweeteners, but this time in a little more detail, which is nice if you happen to be a newbie to natural sweeteners.

• There are 7 different ice pop chapters – pure fruit, veggie, yogurt, tofu, herbal, chocolate and specialty. Each chapter starts off with a little forward about the main ingredients. For example, the herbal pop chapter kicks off with herbal tea basics, where to get herbal tea, how to buy and store it and some other little tidbits. Daulter does this for each chapter, which is a nice touch.

• There’s a nice page of resources at the end, with info on where to get molds, chocolate and other items used for pops.

• Ice pop taste test – so far we’ve made Pure Sunshine Organic Ice Pops and Soy Joy (a chocolate mint pop). Both pop recipes were deemed yummy at my house, and we want to try a bunch more – my two wish list pops are lavender flower and a refresher pop (made with watermelon). Having been making ice pops for a decade+ now, I can tell you that while we haven’t sampled all the recipes in Ice Pop Joy, most appear to be well thought out and are probably good.

Check out the gorgeous gallery of colorful (and uniquely flavorful) ice pops below. Once you see these amazing treats, it’ll be tough to resist Ice Pop Joy.

• Sour Girl Ice Pops

   

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• Purple Fantastic Tofu Ice Pops

   

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• Classic Vanilla Tofu Ice Pops

   

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• Peanut Butter & Chocolate Ice Pops

   

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• Tropical Tofu Ice Pops

   

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• Pistachio Tofu Ice Pops

   

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• Island Breeze Ice Pops

   

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• Pink Princess Ice Pops

   

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• Rockstar Ice Pops

   

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• Harvest Pops Ice Pops

   

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• Granola Goodness Ice Pops

   

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• Lavender Flower Power Ice Pops

   

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• Ice Pops For Breakfast

   

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• Bluebird Ice Pops

   

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• Blackberry Swirl Ice Pops

   

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What could be improved in Ice Pop Joy:

• The publisher hasn’t made Ice Pop Joy available on kindle (yet).

• Daulter recommends wooden sticks for pops, as they, “Lend an authentic and natural look to the finished pop.” Of course, I say you should go with a reusable mold, that comes with a reusable stick. Sure wooden sticks aren’t a huge deal if one kid uses them, but times all those sticks by all the kids in the world, and you’re looking at massive stick waste.

• One major perk of homemade ice pops is cost efficiency. I didn’t sit down with a calculator, but I’m guessing that Daulter’s recipes run a bit on the expensive side, so far as homemade ice pops go. Not all of them are more costly though – some will likely save you money over store bought.

• I really disliked the references at the end. If you wanted to link to more information about healthy foods, BPA and other issues, there are plenty of amazing eco-experts and green bloggers online, yet Daulter prints links to places like eHow and Associated Content – really? Very bad choices for many of the refs in my opinion.

• From what I can tell, the book isn’t printed on recycled paper. Daulter’s not actually touting this as an “eco-book” but still, her website, Conscious Family Living practically screams green living, and I’d guess Daulter considers herself an eco-advocate, so it would rock if this book was printed on recycled content paper.

• The book was printed and bound in China, meaning, it came a long way to get here.

Overall score:

4.5 out of 5 little trees!

I would have given this book a 4, due to the fact that it wasn’t printed on recycled paper, but I liked Ice Pop Joy more than Daulter’s other book, Organically Raised, which bumped it up a bit. I’m guessing I’ll use it more often.

This book mainly got 4.5 trees though, because while Ice Pop Joy had a few cons, homemade ice pops are one of the most eco-friendly treats you can invest in making for your kids, and it makes sense to have a great ice pop book on your bookshelf.

Store bought pops waste so many resources and a book like this will help you cut your store bought ice pop habit down to zero. Lastly, the recipes are fun and unique and the book itself is gorgeous, which should inspire you to create some ice pop ideas of your own too.

Overall - I recommend Ice Pop Joy as a book you buy vs. check out at the library, because I think you’ll use it again and again.

Learn more about Ice Pop Joy:

• Buy the book – Ice Pop Joy
• Visit the Ice Pop Joy website
• Join Ice Pop Joy on Facebook
• Try Pure Sunshine Organic Ice Pops from Ice Pop Joy
• See some sample recipes from Ice Pop Joy
• Visit the author’s website Conscious Family Living

[ALL IMAGES: Courtesy of and ©Anni Daulter & Sellers Publishing Inc. Not to be used without permission.]

See my green product rating system and green product rating criteria or read more green product reviews.

Before I post my entire review of the new book, Ice Pop Joy, I thought I’d post at least one recipe from the book.

Pure Sunshine Ice Pop

There are all sorts of delectable looking ice pop flavors in Ice Pop Joy, such as lavender flower power, watermelon pops and even a creamy looking granola ice pop. I didn’t make one of the fancy pop recipes yet though. I decided on the fly to make some pops. Because I didn’t want to go to the store, I picked a recipe called Pure Sunshine (shown above) because I had all the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients for Pure Sunshine Ice Pops:

Ingredients for Pure Sunshine Ice Pops

• 2 cups chopped strawberries
• 4-5 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
• 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 1 cup purified water
• 1 cup ice

INGREDIENT CHANGES I MADE:

• I used all organic ingredients, which I suggest you do as well.

• I only had 1 3/4 cups of organic strawberries, so I substituted some organic frozen raspberries to make up the difference.

• I didn’t have fresh mint. I did have some dried organic mint. I wrestled with adding it or not – worried that it might not blend down right. I ended up using it and it blended down fine, but really fresh is always better when it comes to herbs in ice pops. Also, remember, if you use dried herbs, use less, as dried herbs pack more of a flavor punch than fresh.

• I used tap water, not purified.

Blend your ice pop mixture until smooth

To make your Pure Sunshine ice pops:

• Put all your ingredients into a blender.
• Blend until smooth.
• Pour mixture into reusable non-toxic popsicle molds.
• Freeze.
• Eat and enjoy.

This recipe made 6 large pops + a few tiny pops

I was able to fill 6 full sized ice pop molds with this recipe. Plus, for fun I made some smaller snack sized pops – for when a big pop is too much. I used our Fred Cool Jazz Ice Cube Tray to make the smaller pops (shown below). These small pops equal about 6-7 bites – a sweet little snack!

Ice pops made in Fred Cool Jazz Ice Cube Tray

Taste test:

What I thought: I thought the texture was excellent. Sometimes fruit-based ice pops can turn out a bit hard, but these were easy to bite into, yet still held together and didn’t melt all over the place. I thought they tasted good too, although they were a little too sweet for my taste. I think, had I made them with zero raspberries, that they would have been the right amount of sweet though. Raspberries really add kick. I also should have added more lemon juice. I didn’t measure, just guessed. I could tell that more lemon juice would have equaled really good taste.

What Dave thought: Boyfriend Dave says, “They smelled just like raspberry candles, but in a good way, like candles you’d want to eat.” He also said that if you don’t like raspberry seeds in your ice pop, skip these, but he didn’t mind them. Flavor wise Dave says, “These taste really good like raspberries and somewhat like strawberries. The raspberries overpowered the strawberries. This pop wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet though. It was refreshing and something I’d for sure eat on a hot summer day.” Dave, like me, also liked the texture.

Cedar loved the taste!

What Cedar thought: Cedar’s exact words were, “These popsicles are AWESOME!” He said that about four times. Then said he loved the raspberry taste and that the texture was a little hard at first, but, “Perfect once you get half-way thought the pop.”

If you’re looking for an excellent summer strawberry pop, then Pure Sunshine fits the bill. However, I’d make sure you have enough strawberries around. I only used 1/4 cup of raspberries and they took over the entire pop mixture. Of course, like I always say, one of the best things about ice pops is that they’re hard to mess up. Experimenting with new ice pop flavors is okay.

I hope you and your family like this sneak peak ice pop recipe. Coming up soon, a review of the entire book Ice Pop Joy.

+ Read the Ice Pop Joy review.

[All images ©Jennifer Chait]

On the post I did about non-toxic popsicle molds a reader, Joy, left a comment about some stainless steel popsicle molds, which I’ve always wanted but never heard existed. Well, folks they do exist. Check this out…

This ONYX – Stainless Steel Popsicle Mold is made with 18/8 stainless steel. It’s a single serve style ice pop maker too which is what I recommend because it’s easy to clean and use.

Each set comes with one stand, 6 molds, 6 lids and 12 removable silicone rings that ensure proper stick placement.

The bummer issue about this mold set is the sticks. I’m leery of buying a set like this due to the fact that you’ve got to use wooden sticks which means ongoing costs and waste. However, these are pretty slick otherwise. If you could find some sort of reusable stick you’d be in business.

+ ONYX – Stainless Steel Popsicle Mold

Also check out 50 amazing homemade popsicle recipes.

In a previous post we looked at Non-Toxic Popsicle Molds for Homemade Popsicles. Then I got an email question about popsicle molds, asking if homemade molds might not be more eco-friendly than non-toxic popsicle molds you buy.

Maybe… in terms of reuse but there’s a big BUT involved here.

Homemade popsicle holders may be good because you get to reuse stuff you already have on hand, thus saving you money and saving the resources it takes to make new popsicle molds and ship them to you.

BUT

What about the sticks? That’s my issue with homemade molds. Yeah one popsicle stick may not be very large, but imagine an entire summer of sticks stacked up. How many homemade popsicles does you child eat in the summer – how about all year round? My son can eat three + ice pops a day in the summer and he normally eats one a day even in cooler weather. Got more than one kid? That’s a lot of sticks; we’re talking 500+ for one child. What if every child on your block had 500 sticks. Can you see that pile of wood?! Wooden sticks aren’t very reusable either. You can wash and reuse but in my experience most kids chew them.

ALSO

Many homemade items you might use for homemade popsicles are oddly shaped and not suitable for kiddos. You’ve got options like…

• Paper cups – what the vast majority of homemade popsicle makers suggest. NOT eco-friendly.
• Plastic cups – what many other people suggest but you have to make sure your plastic cups are BPA free.
• I saw a super cute suggestion which involves mini aluminum baking cups (shown above) but again you’ve got those damn sticks to contend with.
• Reused yogurt cups – which one, are rather wide and large for a smaller child and two, are also not very eco-friendly. It’s nice to reuse yogurt cups but better if you buy those large containers of organic yogurt rather than tiny cups.

PS You shouldn’t use glass of any kind as homemade molds. Getting the ice pop out could be tricky and the glass could even break.

The best idea?

Krystina Castella, author of Pops!: Icy Treats for Everyone offers the following about sticks.

I believe ice is not a pop until it has a stick. Sticks help to get the pop out of the mold, prevents icy liquid from getting all over your hands and can be used as a design feature to give your pops style. I collect sticks of all sizes shapes and materials and try them out when making my pops. Wooden coffee stirrers, bamboo barbecue skewers, cocktail stirrers and cocktail picks are available in many forms, colors, shapes and sizes making great aesthetic sticks.

So, if you collect reusable sticks of some sort, say like bamboo skewers or non-plastic cocktail stirrers and then use them with reusable yogurt cups or mini molds you could come out ahead green-wise. However, you’ve got to be careful that kids don’t get sticks that are too small (choking hazard) or too sharp. It could take some hunting to find the perfect reusable mold-stick combo.

All in all, this is why I suggest an excellent set of non-toxic popsicle molds, reusable sticks included. Homemade popsicles should be easy and fun and all this hunting down of safe reusable sticks and molds seems like it would zap the easy right out of homemade ice pops.

That said, I’m not always right. Tell me what you think. Is it greener to use what you have (yogurt cups, etc) than to buy popsicle molds?

With sunny days on the way it’s easy to get ice pop fever. In the last two posts we looked at the benefits of homemade popsicles and saw some great non-toxic popsicle molds. Now it’s time to look at some cool popsicle recipes.

• Subscribe to Growing a Green Family to see new ice pop posts and more green family tips.

My favorite ice pop flavors are root beer, tangerine juice, watermelon and lemon ice tea – not all together! I’m pretty boring though; there are many more amazing ice pop flavors you can make.

• See more popular Growing a Green Family posts!

Tips for making the best popsicles: I’ve been making homemade ice pops for myself and son Cedar for years. Over said years we’ve figured out some helpful tips, such as…

• Go organic. In the recipes below I don’t say “organic this” and “organic that” but I do mean organic when possible. If you find a recipe that looks good just switch out conventional ingredients for organic.

• Leave room at the top of your mold, because all fluids expand a bit when freezing.

• Allow fizzy liquids, like soda water or root beer, to sit a while and de-fizz before freezing, so they’re less likely to bubble over in the molds.

• Make sure you’ve cleared enough room in the freezer. I’m always making pops then realizing, darn, I didn’t clear a space for them.

• Juice and tea both freeze REALLY rock hard. The only way to really get juice or tea to freeze softer is to add more sweetener or less water. For example, if you’re going to make apple juice pops, and you’re using organic concentrate, make the apple juice with a cup less water. A little pureed melon in a pop will also help cut the rock hard texture down.

• If you freeze ice cream textured treats use the right molds. These would be push pop style, not traditional molds. I offered some push pop mold ideas in the non-toxic popsicle molds post.

• Write down ingredients you use in your ice pop creations. The only thing worse than a terrible ice pop flavor idea, is the best flavor idea ever that you can’t remember how to make.

• You can add fun stuff to your ice pops like edible flowers, nuts, candy sprinkles, fruit slices, and more.

• You can freeze almost anything. Really. As you’ll see below, an insane amount of foods can be made into ice pops. Kids even like vegetable popsicles. Don’t be afraid to experiment. If you make a flavor mistake it’s no big deal.

I’ve collected (or experimented with) a ton of ice pop flavors. Some freeze hard, some freeze slushy, some are super sweet and some are delicately flavored. You have to play around with your own ingredients to see what your family likes. However, there are enough ideas here to keep you busy for a while. Now grab the kids and freeze up some fun in your kitchen.

50 Amazing Homemade Popsicle Recipes (and other ideas about good stuff to freeze)

1) Apricot – Mix 2 cups organic apricot juice with 1/2 cup organic soy milk (or organic skim milk) and freeze.

2) Pomegranate Apple Pops (shown above) – via the Pops! Icy Treats for Everyone website – visit to see many other amazing ideas.

3) Homemade chai tea pops.

4) Creamy root beer popsicles. Note you can make basic root beer pops too, but it’ll fizz too much and create a weird airy pop if you just open a can, pour and freeze. Instead, open a can of root beer, let it sit in the fridge for a day til flat. Then pour into molds and freeze.

5) A tablespoon of organic raspberry or blackberry jam mixed with water or milk or juice to thin it out. This is nice for that last bit of jam in the jar.

6) Lavender sorbet or try a milk & honey lavender sorbet mix.

7) Pineapple and carrot juice with some actual pineapple bits.

8 ) Honeyed Peach and Blueberry Pops

9) Plain old carrot juice – or add in some wheatgrass juice if you grow some. Or if you want it more smoothie textured, see a great carrot smoothie recipe.

10) Smashed strawberries and blueberries – this works better with fresh berries; simply mash them up in a bowl, smoosh into molds, freeze.

11) Rocky Road Fudge Pops.

12) Green smoothie pop – puree 1 1/2 cups plain almond milk, organic skim milk, soy milk, or so on (any old milk you like) with 1/2 cups packed baby spinach with the stems removed and 1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh cherries or mixed berries. Make sure it’s blended well, pour into molds, freeze.

13) Lemon raspberry yogurt pops.

14) White peach and flower smoothie – pretty colors shine in this ice pop mixture.

15) Organic pregnancy pop – Brew up some strong organic ginger tea. Mix in some honey (just a bit) and freeze. Ginger pops not only taste great but ginger helps fight morning sickness as well.

16) Apricot Mango – one of Cedar’s favorite juice flavors and it also makes excellent pops.

17) Homemade organic lemonade or limeade.

18) “Glitter” pops – My son Cedar likes these these. Sadly, they take some time so I don’t make them often, but they’re fun. Sprinkle colored sugar into your mold. Fill the mold half way with water. Freeze a while. Sprinkle more colored sugar in. Add more water. Freeze. I can’t figure out how to simply mix the sugar in because it’ll melt and or sink to the bottom. These pops look more glittery if you make them with yogurt – the sugar doesn’t dissolve much in yogurt. Cedar loves ice though. So… we make them with water.

19) Dandelion smoothie pop.

20) Blueberry and Vanilla Parfait Pops.

21) Maraschino-lemonade pops.

22) Organic applesauce – sometimes thick applesauce needs to be mixed with a little water or it freezes funny.

23) Coffee pops – I’m a coffee freak so plain old coffee with lots of cream and sugar, frozen up in molds is fine with me. However, if you want to get super fancy you can add some organic chocolate syrup or even try a homemade Frappuccino recipe then freeze it.

24) Organic fudge pops.

25) Tangerine juice – tangerine lime is really good too.

26) Red beans and coconut.

27) Blend 6 oz fresh raspberries, 1 1/2 cup plain or vanilla organic yogurt, 3/4 cup water and mint (either a handful of fresh mint leaves, or 2 tsp mint syrup) together well and freeze.

28) Blackberry ice cream for push pop style treats.

29) Swirled pudding pops – grab any two flavors of pudding you like, pour into mold, then swirl the pudding flavors together with a knife before freezing. Need an homemade organic chocolate pudding recipe?

30) Strawberry orange juice jello pops – not vegan.

31) Honeydew lime.

32) Fresh pureed peaches, a tablespoon of honey, and whole small wild blueberries. Mix & freeze.

33) Rose and Champagne Sorbet – I have not made this recipe as pops, so I’m not sure how they’d turn out, but if they did work out I think it’s an awesome idea for a green summer wedding. I’m considering trying it with a cheap champagne first to see if the taste comes through. This one is not so kid-friendly obviously.

34) Brew strong green tea, mix in honey, some sugar and freeze.

35) Tomato and Avocado Popsicles (shown above) – a savory ice pop with layers that are too much work for the everyday ice pop lover, but these would make a fab and unique summer party treat.

36) Strawberry Yogurt Smoothie Pops.

37) Mashed bananas, a dash of milk, peanut butter, and chocolate sauce – (mix smooth & freeze).

38) Mango Kulfi.

39) Jello pops with fruit bits. I used to think there was some big secret to making jello pops. There’s not. You make the jello and add some fruit (I like chopped cherries) then you pour it into molds. I think the texture is a little funny but Cedar likes them. If you’re vegan or just don’t want commercial gelatin, you can find vegan jello-type products at most natural grocers.

40) Pureed watermelon mixed with white grape juice.

41) Pink grapefruit, vanilla ice cream & mint pop.

42) Sweet potato pops – cook, mash, mix smooth (adding some soy milk or apple juice to thin it out), sprinkle in a little nutmeg, freeze. These are really strange but good – no joke. I actually found this by accident. I used to make homemade baby food when Cedar was little and he loved sweet potatoes so I’d make a bunch of sweet potato puree at a time and freeze it. One day I had my frozen baby food cubes out and he grabbed one and started licking it. Weird, but, oh well. It’s a healthy pop.

43) Banana & pomegranate

44) Chamomile sun tea pops – just like it sounds. Make sun tea & freeze. I love lemon ice sun tea pops too but I add sugar or honey to mine.

45) Apple cranberry smoothie pops.

46) PLAIN WATER – plain water is way fun to freeze. Every kid I know likes plain ice pops and water is important, we need lots of it to stay healthy. Also, if you’re having a summer picnic, you can make plain water pops with beautiful tiny edible flowers, flower petals, small whole berries, or whole herb leaves in them. Stick them in a bucket of cubed ice to serve and everyone will think you’re some sort of Martha Stewart genius. I’m serious. Make some. People will fawn over you… for freezing water. Go figure.

47) Flavor infused water pops – better than plain water in my opinion. Grab a large mason jar, or regular old juice pitcher. Fill it with H2O, add sliced citrus fruit (one whole fruit should do it), and let it sit in your fridge for a day. Pour into molds, freeze.

48) Fruity creamy swirly yogurt pops.

49) Plum, melon, spinach & celery pops – 2 plums, 2.5 cups of pureed watermelon, 2 cups fresh baby spinach, 2 celery stalk, and about one cup water or light flavored juice. Blend all the produce (not including liquid) to death. Add in enough liquid to get a thick smoothie-like texture, pour into molds, freeze.

50) Herbal pops – Herbal pops are amazing and if you do your research first you can make them with medicinal qualities which is excellent for sick kids (or you). You can use lavender, thyme, basil, and more – really any herb. You’d be surprised at some of the tasty ice pops herbs make. IF you’re nervous try a sample first by making herbal ice cubes. Then you have less waste than whole pops.

To make a basic herbal ice pop mix you can make herbal tea by boiling herbs in a few cups of water for a good long while on your stove and use the liquid for your pops. Or try the alternative sugar method below.

The sugar method -  pound herbs down with a pestle and mortar (or food processor). Add an ounce of super fine sugar and pound to make a paste. Next, boil a liter of water with about 2 ounces of super fine sugar for five minutes. Add the juice of two lemons or not – this step depends on what you’re trying to create. You can add orange juice, lime, etc. You could even just add more water or some saved tea. Mix the herb mixture and the water mixture together. Stir well with a whisk. Cool down before filling your molds.

Learn more…

To score more ice pop flavor ideas just look through your kitchen, your cookbooks, or your garden and experiment like mad. You might also want to visit People’s Pops. These folks make ice pops. Their blog is a little sketchy (light on posts) but from what I can tell they’re planning some sort of ice pop world takeover and they always post the oddest flavor ideas like rhubarbalicious, cherry & cocoa, cantaloupe & basil and more. It’s a good place to gain ideas.

If you come up with a super amazing ice pop flavor come back and let me know in the comments.

Other ideas…

• Pure Sunshine Organic Ice Pops
• Ice Pop Joy – a luscious book full of ice pop recipes.
• Stainless steel non-toxic popsicle molds
• Pure Sunshine Organic Ice Pops
• Leftover organic veggie (and fruit) pops
• Homemade Organic Watermelon Ice Pops
• Boozy, sweet and savory homemade ice pops for adults
• Reusable Bamboo Sticks for Stainless Steel Popsicle Molds

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[Lead images via Flickr]

• Read other popular Growing a Green Family posts!

Before you check out the non-toxic popsicle molds below, you may want to start with the benefits of homemade popsicles. After scoring some popsicle molds, take a look at 50 amazing homemade popsicle recipes.

• Subscribe to Growing a Green Family to see new ice pop posts and more green family tips.

Non-Toxic Popsicle Molds for Homemade Popsicles

If you’re going to make homemade popsicles, of course you’ll need some non-toxic popsicle molds. I’ve used TONS of ice pop mold over my life – some better than others. Following are the features I look for in a good popsicle mold.

Reusable: Anyone can make ice pops in a paper cup with a wooden stick but that’s not really eco-friendly right? You’re still creating trash. Look for dedicated popsicle molds that you can use without having to buy extra accessories (i.e. more sticks).

Non-toxic: Look for popsicle molds that are non-toxic. This usually means molds made of silicone, which is naturally chemical-free. Some plastic popsicle molds are also free from BPA and other chemicals.

Single serve: In my experience ice pop molds that offer single serving ease are WAY easier to deal with than molds that stick together. One, they’re easier for kids to get the pops from. Two, single serve molds allow you to take one pop out at a time vs. taking the entire tray out and holding it under running water. Three, they’re much easier to wash. I will occasionally use tray-type molds or ice cube trays but I like single serve molds better and so does my son.

Dishwasher-friendly: It’s a total pain to hand wash popsicle molds. Enough said.

WHAT IF – you can’t find the perfect toxic-free popsicle molds?

If all you can find are plastic molds and you’re not sure that they’re chemical free, you have to weigh the pros and cons of reusable popsicle molds vs. store bought ice pops. In my opinion, even traditional plastic ice pop molds are more eco-friendly than store bought popsicle. Store bought ice pops are wrapped in disposable ink printed paper or plastic, while at the very least plastic molds can be used over and over again. Reusable molds will always cut down on waste and the energy used to manufacture store bought pops. One option may be to make your own popsicle molds.

The very best popsicle molds… In my opinion,Tovolo Ice Pop Molds have all the features you want in a good reusable popsicle mold and very few cons. All Tovolo popsicle molds feature single serve ice pop molds that sit steady in a matching base. You can easily remove one pop at at time after freezing. Each mold handle has a handy drip guard base that actually work pretty well. Molds are also dishwasher safe and BPA-free. My son loves the bright colors and fun shapes of these molds too.

The main con we’ve run into with Tovolo popsicle molds is that the bases are awkwardly shaped and take up a weird amount of space in your freezer while you’re freezing your pops. After freezing I always take the pops out of the molds and place then in a square container – my son just grabs them from said container. Besides the oddly designed base we do love these molds though. We’ve had a few sets for about three years now, washed them often and they’re in great shape.

• Tovolo Yellow Groovy Pop Molds – great basic molds – these are larger than most ice pop molds too, so great for older kids.
• Tovolo Green Shooting Star Pop Molds – I like these star shaped molds best – pretty!
• Tovolo Blue Rocket Pop Molds- these are my son’s favorite. He thinks the rocket shape is awesome.

Tovolo Ice-Cream Pop Molds – these are super cute molds. You can use them for creamy ice pops made with yogurt and fruit or homemade pudding. Kids will LOVE them.

Tovolo Freezer Jewel Pops – I like these, but they’re tiny, thus better for younger kids or they could be fun for a party.

ONYX – Stainless Steel Popsicle Mold – I’ve written about these before, so I won’t re-hash them here, but you can read more about these stainless steel molds in that previous post.

If you’re interested in dual flavored, multi-layered pops check out the Tovolo Red Rocket Dual Freeze Pop Molds or Tovolo Blue Star Dual Freeze Pop Molds.

Kinderville Little Bites Ice Pop Molds – these are made with BPA-free, non-leaching silicone. I think they’d work well for homemade yogurt tubes – or frozen yogurt tubes. There’s also Norpro Silicone Ice Pop Makers which are bigger than the little bites.

• Jokari Cool Cones – these clever reusable cones can be filled with homemade ice cream or slushy type pops and used like store bought push pops; but with no waste.
• Orka Ice Pop Molds – made with silicone with a drip cup to catch messes.

Monster Fun Ice Pop Molds – ADORABLE!

And just for the wee ones in your house – Annabel Karmel Fill and Freeze Puree Pops.

More cool popsicle gear to have on hand…

• Hamilton Beach 50242N WaveMaker 10-Speed Blender – a blender is very useful for making ice pops. Luckily, you can pick up an inexpensive blender anywhere. For example, the blender shown above is under $40. You can also look at garage sales. It doesn’t need to be ultra fancy – just so long as it’s strong enough to blend some crunchy stuff like frozen berries, ice or carrots it’ll work. It is useful to get a blender with an easy pour spout – it’s hard to pour mixes into ice pop molds.

• Pops!: Icy Treats for Everyone – this is an excellent book PLUS the author’s website is fabulous and even has directions for making your own non-toxic molds.

• Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book – you don’t just have to freeze liquids. You can also make ice cream pops. This book is a great guide and you don’t need a totally fancy ice cream maker either for many of these recipes to work.

Which ice pop molds are your favorite?

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Spring is right around the corner and summer will soon follow so it’s time to start thinking about homemade popsicles. If you have kids you know what I’m talking about when I say popsicles are a must have summer treat. Like my son, your kids are probably totally addicted to all things icy and lickable.

Traditional popsicles offer flavor on a stick sure but also come with a slew of problems such as garbage cans full of wrappers, plastic, wooden sticks, and cardboard. Sure you can recycle some popsicle trash, but rarely all of it. Plus if you want organic pops, they’re hard to come by and expensive. It’s far better to make your own homemade popsicles or ice pops.

Benefits of homemade popsicles:

They’re eco-friendly: Homemade ice pops eliminate trash. All those sticks, boxes, wrappers and junk that comes with traditional popsicles (times 100s over just one summer); well, you won’t get that with homemade.

Homemade ice pops can be healthy: Homemade popsicles can be healthy depending on what you choose to freeze. It’s smart to feed your little ones organics, but organic store bought popsicles are crazy expensive; not so when made at home. Homemade popsicles won’t have anything weird in them like added colors, chemicals, or flavors. You can make homemade ice pops as natural as you like.

You get to use up leftovers: Using up leftovers is a very green way to handle food. Waste is not eco-friendly. With that in mind, I’ll freeze almost anything – chocolate milk, old smashed berries, carrots that might go bad soon, older yogurt, bottom of the jar blackberry jam or applesauce and more. Seriously, if it can be blended in the blender, I’ll blend it, freeze it, and there’s a 95% chance my son Cedar will eat it without thinking twice. He just thinks ice pops are a treat, not a ‘leftover’ food.

Homemade popsicles save money: EVEN if you don’t use leftovers to make them, your homemade popsicles will cost far less than store bought. You’ll save on the garbage bill, you’ll save on entertainment (see below) and face it, store bought popsicles can cost anywhere from $2-$4+ per box. So long as you get some long lasting quality popsicle molds plus have a decent blender you’ll be in the ice pop making business for years to come

It’s cheap entertainment: Maybe Cedar just likes the simple things, but going through the fridge, choosing ingredients, and concocting fun blender messes to freeze does keep him entertained for a good hour or so. Since I’d be making ice pops anyhow, getting Cedar involved is an entertainment bargain and educational to boot.

Personally, I’m hard pressed to find a better year round value, let alone summer value than homemade ice pops. They’re green, they’re tasty, and they’re kid-friendly fun.

Coming up some eco-friendly, non-toxic homemade popsicle molds plus some amazing homemade popsicle recipes.

Do you make homemade popsicles with your kids?