Healthy(ish) Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles

Is it still really hot where you are?  We’ve got a couple months left to enjoy super hot days and nights here in Arizona, so I thought I would find a way to create something sweet without an oven and without a ton of sugar.

I made these healthy(ish) popsicles with ½ cup of sugar divided amongst six popsicles plus enough left over for a slushy.  They turned out perfectly – not too sweet and not too tart.  I got that opinion from a couple of very savvy popsicle eaters, so I feel pretty confident sharing this post.

You can probably use up any fruit that needs to be eaten, but I had fresh strawberries and lemons that were on their last days, so that was perfect.

I had some molds on hand that I THINK might have come from Ikea, but I couldn’t find them on their site so maybe not.  In any case, they are old but worked out just fine.  They took a little hot water, but slipped right out.

I’ve heard silicone molds are really nice and don’t require hot water to release them.  There are tons of cute ones on ebay that have free shipping.  I’d have to make popsicles pretty frequently to get my money’s worth, though since I already have some.

I made this with fresh ingredients, but of course, if you want to make up something quickly, you could use juice or Crystal Light too.  I just wouldn’t consider that as healthy (ish).

Here’s the recipe:

Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles

• ½ cup water
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 10 or so sliced strawberries

Whisk water, sugar and lemon juice in a small sauce pan over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and let cool.  After cool combine with 1 ½ cups ice and 1 cup of water in a blender and blend until ice is crushed and mixture is smooth.  Place sliced strawberries in the molds and pour liquid on top.  Freeze for at least three hours.

Birthday Celebration

We have not seen our son Ryan since around Christmas, so celebrating his birthday over the weekend was tremendous, even though very low key.  John made his famous twice-baked potatoes and Ryan grilled filets under the misters. 

Nice to be invited for dinner and then have to cook it yourself, right? We capped it off with some absolutely, positively NOT healthy ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.  It was a treat, though.  Ooooh, I ate way too much

Red Skies

Firefighters are always on my prayer lists because the fires we have out west are so treacherous.  Even if they are sometimes necessary.  In any case, there must be a pretty big fire in southern California, because they are sharing their smoke with us here in Arizona and it has made for some really strange but beautiful sunrises and sunsets.  I snapped this picture very early Sunday morning out walking.  You can see a beautiful saguaro and an ocotillo in front of the mountains.

Grand Canyon

We did a day trip to Grand Canyon last week since I took a couple of days off midweek.  We were hoping to beat the heat a bit with the elevation, but it was about three degrees cooler than at home, so that didn’t work out.

I have mentioned before that I find the Divine in nature, and, well, it doesn’t get more grand than that place does it?  Yes, I found God there and delighted in it, but it was also very eerie because it was pretty empty. 

That made me wonder if there are people all over the world right now visiting places that are wondrous but very empty.  Are there people at the Eiffel Tower or Trevi Fountain sitting by themselves and appreciating it?

Like many others, I am spending a good deal of time praying lately.  Mostly short and confused prayers.  I am praying for the sick and the healthy and the frightened and those of us who hope that world will be somehow better when this is over.

I don’t want to leave this as a downer, because I’m so grateful for so many things.  Mainly for you right now reading this.  Sending love and peace and grace for your week.