Pineapple Mango Frozen Smoothie

I broke out the ice-cream maker today for the first time this year. It is incredibly hot for not actually being summer yet and apparently it is only supposed to get hotter by the end of the week. I thought ice-cream would be a good treat but I wanted to make it a healthy snack instead. So, I came up with what I think to be a brilliant idea. Put a smoothie into the ice-cream maker. It worked, mostly. If you want a real ice-cream this is not the recipe for you. However if you want a non-dairy frozen ice-cream like treat that is a healthy snack, this is for you. I am totally going to try more combos to see what other fun "ice-creams" I can make this summer. With the temps hitting the century mark this week, we are going to need it.



 


Pineapple Mango Frozen Smoothie

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups Vanilla Flavored Almond Milk
1 ½ cups Vanilla Flavored Coconut Milk
1 Ripe Banana
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2-3 cups Frozen Mango Chunks
1 cup Frozen Pineapple Chunks


Notes:
If you use unflavored milks you will want to up the vanilla to about a tablespoon and maybe add some sweetener.
I used 2 heaping cups of mangos so it was probably close to 3 cups.
If you can’t find frozen fruit you can used canned (drained) or fresh but I would freeze it first to help keep the cold consistency.

Directions:
In a blender combine the milks, banana, vanilla and half of the mango chunks. Blend until totally combined.
Add the rest of the mangos and pulse until they are starting to break up then add the pineapple chunks pulsing a few more times until there are small little bits of fruit but not totally pulverized.
Pour your concoction into your ice-cream maker and let it do its thing.
In about 15 minutes (at least for me) or a little longer, you will have a great, yummy soft serve consistency.
If you want it a bit harder transfer it from the ice-cream maker to a container. Put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes and you are good to go. Freezing the "ice-cream" for longer than that will make more of a granita consistency which still tastes good.

Spinach Popsicles

Yes, you read that correctly. I made Spinach Popsicles and the girls totally love them. I think it is totally awesome they think something with spinach in the name is a treat. It all started in March with a shamrock smoothie I had made that had some spinach in it to turn it green. The girls had casually or jokingly (or both) said that it was good enough to be a popsicle. Of course I just had to see if they were correct.







I loaded the blender with spinach and yellow fruit and some juice and blended it to oblivion.

The resulting color wasn't the most inviting for a popsicle and I started having my doubts as I filled 8 little molds, put in the sticks and put them in the freezer.














I gave the girls the extra mixture as a smoothie that they happily drank telling me it was good. After a quick sigh of relief, I told them the rest was being frozen as popsicles for them. They were totally on board with the idea.

My taste testers all agree that these are really delicious and we must have them again.

I love that they are packed with fruit and veggies and are totally green without any food dye. A win, win for all.

Here’s what I put in them.

1 - 2 cups fresh spinach (I didn't totally measure this part out so it is approximate.)
1 cup frozen mango chunks
1 cup frozen peach slices
1 banana
 2 cups 100% juice - pineapple, orange, or apple juice (I used a pineapple/mango/orange combo, it’s really tasty.)
1 quick drizzle of honey (Frozen peaches tend to need some sweetening.)
1/4 tsp. arrowroot (This is optional; it keeps everything thick and creamy.)

Loosely fill your blender with spinach to the top. It looks like a lot but it really isn’t.
Pour in the juice and dump the fruit in.
Add the honey to taste and arrowroot if you are using them.
 Blend until completely mixed. The mixture will be very green. The more spinach you use the greener it gets. Just be careful to balance out the spinach with fruit so it stays fruity. Don’t use anything that is red, purple or blue as it will change the color to something completely unpleasant, but adding any yellow fruit you have works nicely.
Pour into popsicle molds and freeze.
This makes roughly 4 cups of smoothie mix.

I wouldn't call them Spinach Popsicles or your kids could give you this face.

Shamrock, Lucky, Dinosaur, Popeye or plain Green Popsicles would be a better name unless your kids love spinach.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie-Popscicles

It's heating up around here which means it's time for popsicles. I love making fun frozen treats for the kids. If I make them, then I know what they are eating and I can make them healthy and tasty.
Here is the first of many Popsicle concoctions of the summer.
Strawberry, Banana Smoothie-Popsicles

These make a great smoothie, popsicle or even an ice cream.

The ingredients are easy to keep on hand to whip up anytime you need a healthy treat to help keep you cool.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie-Popsicles

2 cups frozen strawberries

2 very ripe bananas (frozen or not, either way)

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

1/4 tsp arrowroot (optional)

1 Tbsp honey






Throw it all in the blender and go to town. If the mixture is too thick, you can add more milk or even some juice if you need to. I used canned coconut milk because that was all I had left but using any kind of coconut/almond/rice or even regular everyday milk will work fine.

Note - The arrowroot is a binder and helps everything thicken up and not separate. You do not need to use it but it really does make a difference in the end consistency.

When everything is mixed thoroughly pour into popsicle molds and freeze.

Or pour in a glass and drink up.

Or... you can pour into an ice cream maker and make a yummy ice cream. This is such a versatile concoction. 

Strawberry Banana Smoothie-Popsicles

The kids asked me to make these again before they had even finished eating these ones. A good sign they were tasty. I love that they are eating whole fruit and no food coloring. These are in my must make again folder and since I make these smoothies often it won't be hard to just pour some into molds for popscicles when we need a cool tasty treat.