As the summer heat approaches us, there’s nothing more refreshing than some delicious, flavored ice! I remember as a kid I loved indulging in Mr. Freeze Pops. As I have gotten older (and wiser), I squirm when I see the ingredients that fill those ice pops.
Doing a simple search I found the ingredients listed in freeze pops:
INGREDIENTS: Water, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Fruit Juice (Contains One Or More Of The Following: Apple, Grape Or Pear Juice From Concentrate), Contains Less Than 2% Of The Following: Citric Acid And/Or Fumaric Acid, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Sodium Benzoate And Potassium Sorbate (Preservatives), Red #40, Yellow #5, Yellow #6 And Blue #1.
High fructose corn syrup is an inflammatory toxin that is bad for our health for so many reasons. Fumaric acid, artificial flavors, preservatives and fake colors are the other ingredients. When you see artificial dyes in food, question these. The only reason toxins are put into food are to make things look more attractive or to preserve them (which almost always strips away any nutritional value).
Food dyes cause tumors, chromosomal disorders, neurochemical effects, anxiety, allergies and more (please visit https://www.special-education-degree.net/food-dyes/ for an in-depth guide on food dyes and their alternatives).
Alternatives to food dyes: Beets, Carrots, Spinach, Pumpkin, Berries, Red Cabbage, Turmeric, Saffron, Paprika.
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I wanted to share a simple recipe to make easy, homemade Freeze Pops that are healthy.
- 1 cup organic Blueberries
- 1 cup Fresh Pineapple chunks
- 1 Cup of water
- Optional: If you pick fruit that aren’t naturally sweet, you can add a small amount of honey, agave or maple syrup to sweeten.
Blend all above ingredients together until fully liquified. Pour mixture into reusable freezer popsicle zip bags (or silicone reusable bags), 3/4th way full. Freeze and enjoy!
- You can use any fruits that you want to make these pops. I highly recommend using organic fruits as much as possible and if you have to use non-organic, I would refer to the “Clean 15 Dirty Dozen” list and only purchase the non-organic fruit on the ‘clean 15 list’. The ‘Dirty Dozen’ is the top 12 fruits and veggies that are highly sprayed with pesticides and toxic chemicals. Getting these organic are really important.
Amazon (Smile): Search for “Reusable freeze pop bags”: https://goo.gl/fpR6Ma