Natural Juice Push Pop Popsicle’s

6 homemade push pop Popsicle’s made with real fruit juice.

The Best Juice Popsicle’s

One thing that I love to have in the freezer during the summer time is a bag full of Popsicle’s for the whole family. There are so many wonderful flavors to choose from and they’re so tasty but which ones do you buy? Well, lately I’ve stuck with the old Otter Pop or Fun Pops style of Popsicle because they’re cheap, self contained (less mess) and there are a ton or flavors to choose from, including tropical. The problem is that my kids want to eat them at all hours of the day and their little bodies just don’t process added sugar the way they process naturally occurring sugars. I’m not an idiot, so I started looking at my Juice drinks a little closer and guess what I decided to do? If you’re thinking, “Start a Taco shop?”, you’re absolutely right!

3 different Natural Juice companies that make a variety of fantastic juices.

Natural Juice for Popsicle’s

I started drinking these Juice’s a while back because, let’s be honest, I don’t cook and eat the healthiest food in the world. I’ve got some great recipes on this website but I don’t appropriate and balance my diet well, with fruit and vegetables. I’m an entree eater and instead of spending the amount of time it takes to prep and prepare an entire meal, I usually just cook one amazing dish for everyone. That’s where these drinks come into play.

Now already I’m getting hounded with questions about the sugars in these Popsicle’s and drinks. I am not an expert, nor am I trained in the medical field or Nutritional arts and, while I’m at it, I’m not affiliated or receiving any compensation for advertising these products either. In my opinion, that’s what Google and other die hard blogger’s are for. So, you won’t find that information here. I will, however, tell you about my personal experience with Natural Juice.

A few years ago I was inspired to start juicing, thanks to that Netflix Show, “Fat Sick and Nearly Dead”. I purchased an $80 dollar juicer, $50 dollars in fruit and vegetables and I started a 7 day cleanse. Boy was I deleterious, literally. Not only did I not know what I was doing but I couldn’t believe how horribly expensive it was to live that way. I wanted to be healthier but not at the expense of taking food off of my children’s plates. That $50 dollars in fruit and vegetables only gave me 2 quarts of juice (64 oz). Drinking a 12 oz serving of that, 3 times a day exhausted that juice in the first 2 days! How anyone affords that life style is beyond me.

Now, I realize a juice cleanse is quite excessive with the juicing but even just incorporating one glass a day exhausts 2 quarts of juice, before the 7th day, per week. Guess what, that’s still $50 dollars a week in just fresh fruit and vegetables that I can’t afford. That’s why I buy these natural fruit and vegetable juices for $6 and $7 dollars per 64 oz bottle and I realized that they would make some amazing Push Pop Popsicle’s, too.

Natural Juice Push Pop Popsicle’s video tutorial from PoorMansGourmet.

Happy National Strawberry Day

Where do strawberries come from?

Many people don’t know that Strawberries aren’t actually berries at all. They come from the rose family and the seeds on the out side of them are the ovaries of the flower, with a seed inside each one. Strawberries are one of the only fruits that can be grown in every state and they are one of the first fruits to ripen in the Spring. There are over 600 varieties to choose from. A Smaller strawberry has more flavor and a larger strawberry is watery and not as sweet.


My kids and I love a bowl of this vanilla yogurt topped with granola and fresh strawberries

Growing Strawberries

I grew up on a small family farm where we grew every fruit and veggie under the sun and I’d like to share a few tips I learned along the way. Strawberries are really easy to grow but hard to kill though in the winter you’ll want to bury your plants under a small pile of straw to protect them. Then rake off the straw in the spring when the plants show new growth. You can generally expect full grown fruit within a few months, depending on the season. Just be sure to pick them when they have fully ripened because they will not ripen any further, like other fruits, once they are plucked.

Strawberry Yogurt with fresh strawberries

Cleaning and Storing Strawberries

Once you have picked them be sure to store them in a moisture proof container. If you wash them first, be sure to store them in a vented container so they can stay dry. They grow mold very quickly and will go bad even quicker the more moisture they accumulate. So don’t stack to many on top of each other either because they bruise easily, which also speeds up the turning point.

Some people get technical with hulling their strawberries but it’s not really that complicated. Just pull off the stem or cut it with a paring knife. If you cut it on an angle and circle around just the white tip it will pop right out and you’ll save more of the delicious fruit. Strawberries also freeze well and will last for several months in a zip lock bag.

PMGK’s Berry Syrup is to die for

What to do with your Strawberries

By now you may be wondering what recipes you can use these yummy Strawberries for. I love them fresh all by themselves. My kids will put them in a bowl with yogurt and granola. They ask for this often as an after school snack. The girls and I will put them in our morning smoothies. We always make sure to have bag of frozen berries in the freezer just for this. I saved the best for last. PMGK has the most wonderful berry syrup recipe that we use strawberries for and it is my favorite to put over pancakes or waffles.

Berry Syrup – Strawberry, Raspberry and Blueberry

Youtube Berry Syrup3

I promised to show you how to make Berry Syrup on my Oreo Waffles video and here it is. It goes great on Pancakes and French Toast as well and It doesn’t get any easier than this. You can also add a pinch of Cinnamon if you’d like and either Vanilla or Maple to authenticate the syrup but it isn’t necessary. This recipe can be as thick or as thin as you want to make it by adjusting the cornstarch.  Also, you can make this a singular recipe by using one fruit only to make your syrup if you prefer just Raspberry or Blueberry syrup only.  And, if you prefer, you can puree this in a blender when it’s done if you don’t want it to be chunky like mine.

Be sure to check out that Oreo Waffle in the link below and the Cherry Topping if you’d like another alternative to the Berry Syrup.  I also make mean Puff Pancakes that go wonderfully with either one of these toppings!

CLICK HERE for Oreo Waffles
CLICK HERE for Cherry Topping

Berry Syrup Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Berries (Strawberry, Blueberry, Raspberry)
1 cup Water
1 cup Sugar
1 tbsp Cornstarch, mixed with water to avoid lumps
1/2 tsp vanilla or Maple (optional)
1 pinch cinnamon (optional)

Be sure to watch the video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make this Berry Syrup.