Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles

Oh, I am excited about this cool summer treat!  When I was a little girl, my parents took us on a family vacation to Disney every year.  And since I was terrified of all rides except “It’s A Small World”, one of my favorite things to do was get a strawberry fruit-filled popsicle!  I think I wanted one as soon as we walked into the park (and honestly, would still be my Disney must-have)!

One of my other favorites… frozen lemonades and lemon Italian ices!  Yum! So while trying to think of a cool treat for our guests this weekend with no-sugar added, this brilliant idea hit me… combine the strawberries and the lemonade into a popsicle! It was simple, easy, and the only sugar is the natural sugar from the berries!

Ingredients:

1 quart of strawberries, cored

1 quart of Crystal Light or a similar low-calorie drink mix  (of course, regular lemonade could be used)

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

Using a food processor or blender, puree strawberries.

Mix up lemonade. Add 1-quart of lemonade to the pureed strawberries and blend.  Add lemon juice for a little more bite.

Pour into popsicle molds.  Refrigerate.

Simple!  These popsicles have a crunchier Italian Ice kind of texture because of all the lemonade.  For a creamier texture, use more strawberries than lemonade.  Yields 12 (wide) popsicles.

Here are a couple easy steps for using popsicle molds:

• When filling each mold, leave about 1/2″ of space at the top since your popsicle will expand as it freezes.
• Try to resist your delicious popsicle creation for about 4 hours or until the popsicles have frozen completely.
• Remove each pop by gently squeezing the sides as you pull on the stick.  If the pop doesn’t budge, run it under warm water for 5 seconds and try again.

When the weather heats up this summer, chill out with a no-sugar added, oh-s0-good strawberry lemonade popsicle!

Happy eating!