My littlest one was sick last week. It’s Kindergarten, so it’s to be expected—5-year-olds are not a particularly hygienic demographic, so illnesses spread like wildfire at that age. She doesn’t get sick too often (particularly since she kicked the nasty habit of licking everything in sight—including shopping carts, doorknobs and bathroom stalls), but when she does get sick, she goes all out. So, when she came into our room in the middle of the night with a stuffy nose, fever, and sore, swollen glands, I knew it was time to go into full blown virus fighting mode. I made a freezer full of Tropical Orange Pops to boost her fluid intake and vitamin c levels while soothing her cough and sore throat. And thank goodness I did, because it turns out the poor kiddo has mono, so she will likely feel icky for awhile!
Tropical Orange Pops to the Rescue!
Every time the kiddos would get sick I used to stock up on natural fruit popsicles from the grocery store. But, man, those get expensive! And, they usually have an unholy amount of sugar. So, a few years ago I started whipping up my own fruit popsicles to give them when they’re sick. (Actually, these are yummy enough that they’ve become a staple in my freezer year-round just because they make a delicious and healthy snack.) I’ve even made batches and given them to friends in care packages when their kids were sick. They always go over well. But what I love most about the Tropical Orange Pops, aside from their awesome color, is how easy they are to make. They literally have 3 ingredients and take 5 minutes to whip up in the blender. The hardest part is waiting the five hours they take to freeze!
Tropical Orange Pops
Equipment
- 24 2-oz popsicle molds or 12 4-oz popsicle molds
- high speed blender
- freezer
Ingredients
- 6 cups frozen tropical fruit (pineapple, mango, strawberry) I like to use the Good & Gather Organic Tropical Blend from Target
- 3 cups orange juice
- honey or stevia to taste—optional
Instructions
- Toss all ingredients into the blender and blend for about 2 minutes. It may need to be stirred once or twice because the consistency is thick like sorbet.
- Spoon or pour into 2-oz popsicle molds.
- Freeze for 5 hours.
Notes
Benefits of Pineapple
Another thing I love about these popsicles is that they contain lots of pineapple. Aside from being absolutely delicious, pineapple has some great health benefits. It contains an enzyme called bromelain which, according to the National Institute of Health, is often used to reduce nasal swelling and inflammation. And some people claim that it’s more effective than cough syrup at reducing coughs. Now, take that with a grain of salt—I am not a doctor, nor do I have any way of empirically testing bromelain’s efficacy at reducing the cough that my daughter has. But, I figure that anything that potentially soothes her throat while getting some fluids and nutrition into her is a good thing!
Resources
- I like to use Target’s Good & Gather Organic Tropical Blend for the fruit. It’s delicious, organic and easy to buy.
- As far as popsicle molds go, once again I use the Chosigt molds from Ikea. I love that they come in the 2-oz size which is just perfect for little hands. They are BPA-free and crazy cheap. However, if you don’t have an Ikea near you, you can buy them on Amazon as well and save yourself a trip out.
- And, as usual, I am totally in love with my high speed Vitamix blender. It blends these popsicles in a a snap! But, if you don’t have a high speed blender, you could just add a little more orange juice to the recipe and blend for a longer time, stopping to stir more often.
Enjoy your popsicles!