These frozen fruit pops are made simply with just two ingredients—watermelon and 100% fruit juice—and no added sugars or artificial colors.
Why buy frozen Popsicles when you can make them from scratch instead.
Late last week, I got a call from NECN, a local TV station here in the Boston area, asking me to come in and record a segment on what to eat and drink on hot days to keep you cool. After several days of 90-plus degree weather, the segment was timely to say the least.
During the “live” segment, I gave four tips including this one: Make Homemade Frozen Fruit Pops to stay hydrated and to cool down. Making your own pops avoids the excess sugar found in many store-bought brands … and the artificial colors.
- Serves: 4
- Serving size: 1 Pop
- Calories: 30
- Fat: 0g
- Saturated fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 9g
- Sodium: 0g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 0g
- 1½ cups cubed seedless watermelon
- ½ cup 100% Pomegranate blueberry juice *
- * I like Minute Maid Enhanced Pomegranate Blueberry juice. If you can't find it, look for 100% pomegranate juice (I use POM Wonderful) would work just fine as would apple juice.
- Combine the watermelon and juice in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into four 3-ounce ice pop molds and freeze until firm, about 3 hours. To remove the pops from the molds, run under warm water to loosen.
- If you don’t have ice pop molds, divide the liquid between four paper cups. Cover each cup with foil, insert one craft stick through the center of each foil, and freeze.
Other ways to keep cool when the mercury rises …
Drink a Lot of Water! If water doesn’t float your boat, flavor it naturally with slices of cucumber, oranges or other citrus, strawberries, and mint to break from the boredom.
Go Heavy on Fruits and Veggies. Produce contains a lot of water, it’s easy to digest, and when you freeze it, you get the added cooling effect. I love frozen grapes (thaw them out for a few minutes so they’re just easy enough to bite into), blueberries, and even peas.
And my final tip, Eat Spicy Foods like chili peppers. Capsaicin, the natural chemical in spicy foods that makes them hot, helps to cool you down. Capsaicin revs up blood circulation, which brings more blood from the core of the body to the skin’s surface. And it dilates capillaries in the skin. The net result is that it makes you sweat, which helps to regulate body temperature. When you perspire, the moisture on your skin evaporates, and when it evaporates into the air, it brings some of your body heat with it. To feel the effects even more, stand in front of a fan.
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