Katie & Todd Blake

Now, I have never been 100% on the watermelon band wagon. It seems like kind of a crap shoot, flavor wise, and I don't love the texture that much. But then Abigail learned about watermelon, or as she calls it, "mally-malon!" and I am a big fan of hearing her say mallymalon over and over again! Plus, I always love an easy, sweet treat to feed my girls in the summer! So I thought, why not watermelon ice pops?! There are a few different ideas out there for watermelon ice pops, so I tried two different versions.
Version 1: Half a small watermelon and a cup of vanilla yogurt blended together, then frozen.
Version 2: Half a small watermelon and 1 cup of "watermelon zinger" herbal tea, which as far as I could tell was just regular hibiscus tea with a picture of a watermelon on the box :) Obviously, I added a tbsp of honey to the tea.
And guess what? I should have just done what half of pinterest already did and stuck a popsicle stick in a cube of watermelon. The yogurt version tasted too yogurty. And the watermelon and tea version just tasted like watered down watermelon. Neither were terrible, but neither tasted like a true treat. And while I do like that my homemade popsicles are smaller and slightly healthier than a box of fudgsicles, I still want them to taste like a treat! I am a little curious about trying watermelon with a bit of my favorite ice pop filler- cool whip. But at the same time, if my kids love fresh watermelon as is, why would I add extra steps for a ho-hum product?
Next week: "invisible cookie dough" popsicles. It sounds intriguing and definitely like it'll be a treat, unlike the watermelon pops!

After the crisco pop disaster, I couldn't wait to try again. The main issue was obvious, but they also just weren't sweet enough. Or interesting enough at all. This time I remembered to get coconut milk instead of coconut cream, so I was already way ahead of the game!

1 can pineapple
1 can coconut MILK :)
1 lime, zest and juice
Half a carton of cool whip

And the verdict is- yum, but not YUM! The lime was definitely a plus, I loved the zest especially! Some people might prefer these pops strained, the pineapple is a touch stringy. But I liked them more textured. My main problem is they are more pineappley than coconutty. I was going to add Coco Lopez instead of cool whip for sweetness, but I didn't have enough. Next time I'll try that and maybe add half the pineapple. Bottom line- These were fun to eat and I could be perfectly content with the recipe as is, but I may keep tweaking them for that WOW factor.

This last week, Todd generously offered to keep the girls by himself while I went off to a final family reunion at my grandparents' house before they move. I wanted to leave my family with something sweet and delicious, since I knew they would be outside a lot! And after last week's disaster, I wanted to make sure it was yummy. So I did layered pudding pops again. Stick with what you know, right? 

I happen to love pina coladas and I've had a super simple popsicle recipe sitting on my pinterest board for years now that I have not made. Here's the recipe- 1 can pineapple chunks, 1 can coconut milk, and a tsp of vanilla. Here was the promise- It would be my "new crack." Clearly, this person has never tried any crack of any kind, because what a let down. Without sugar, the coconut flavor doesn't "pop" like a pina colada ought to. Honestly, these turned out truly truly terrible and it is partially my fault. I did not know that Thai Kitchen now sells pure coconut cream in the same cans as their coconut milk, so I grabbed a can of coconut cream by accident. I decided it couldn't really be that different and might in fact make the popsicles more tasty, but that was a grave error on my part. Coconut cream= vaguely tropical crisco. Even my undiscerning palate of a toddler wasn't tempted by these crisco pops.
I am disappointed, but also now on a mission. I will research the interwebs for less health-minded recipes for pina colada popsicles! I will look at the label on my cans of coconut milk! And I will find a pina colada popsicle recipe that makes me feel like I am sitting on a beach in Mexico!