Strawberry-Kiwi Popsicles
Living down in Mexico for as long as I did, I ran across a million varieties of something called "Agua Fresca" (Fresh Water). In essence, they are a fruit, or a mixture of fruit, which are mashed, soaked, chopped, and/or pureed then mixed with LOTS of water and sugar. Some also use nuts, grains and spices, but most are just a mixture of fruit, water and sugar. For all tends and purposes, "Lemonade" is an "Agua Fresca"!
See, sugar, much like salt, as a flavor enhancer. It tends to take the flavors and aromas from an ingredient and STRETCH IT! This is how a watermelon, mixed with gallons of water and some sugar, can bring cool refreshment to a large body of people! It's inexpensive, fun, tasty and brings a smile to many more faces than just the lone watermelon ever could!
The same exact idea and method applies here! By taking a fruit and mixing it with your favorite sweetener, then stretching with water (cream or yoghurt, and a bit of salt), you can freeze yummy little frozen snacky sticks of goodness! The stretch-ability of the sweetener and salt has a fantastic little side effect for us low-carbers. It dilutes the carbs naturally found in the fruits, allowing us to eat full flavored popsicles made from actual fruits! Through this method, you can eat a wider variety of fruits than you might ordinary eat while staying low-carb. I can envision a mellow pineapple pop. Can't you?!
In addition to being cool on a hot day, inexpensive fun for the whole family, a great way to tickle the taste buds with the forbidden fruit and being a fun way to play with foods ... popsicles also have two other FANTASTIC benefits. By nature, they are rooted in "portion control". It's not like a bottomless barrel of ice cream. It's just a single ice-olated pop! Finally ... popsicles last! You can make a big batch and stash them in the freezer where they'll live for weeks and months! They don't go bad in a day or two. This means you can make a variety of flavors and save them up ... for a bright and sunny day!
Note: The mold used for these popsicles is the Tovolo Star Ice Pop Mold.
See, sugar, much like salt, as a flavor enhancer. It tends to take the flavors and aromas from an ingredient and STRETCH IT! This is how a watermelon, mixed with gallons of water and some sugar, can bring cool refreshment to a large body of people! It's inexpensive, fun, tasty and brings a smile to many more faces than just the lone watermelon ever could!
The same exact idea and method applies here! By taking a fruit and mixing it with your favorite sweetener, then stretching with water (cream or yoghurt, and a bit of salt), you can freeze yummy little frozen snacky sticks of goodness! The stretch-ability of the sweetener and salt has a fantastic little side effect for us low-carbers. It dilutes the carbs naturally found in the fruits, allowing us to eat full flavored popsicles made from actual fruits! Through this method, you can eat a wider variety of fruits than you might ordinary eat while staying low-carb. I can envision a mellow pineapple pop. Can't you?!
In addition to being cool on a hot day, inexpensive fun for the whole family, a great way to tickle the taste buds with the forbidden fruit and being a fun way to play with foods ... popsicles also have two other FANTASTIC benefits. By nature, they are rooted in "portion control". It's not like a bottomless barrel of ice cream. It's just a single ice-olated pop! Finally ... popsicles last! You can make a big batch and stash them in the freezer where they'll live for weeks and months! They don't go bad in a day or two. This means you can make a variety of flavors and save them up ... for a bright and sunny day!
Note: The mold used for these popsicles is the Tovolo Star Ice Pop Mold.
Servings: 6 Servings
Calories: 28.013333333333kcal
Ingredients
Kiwi
- 2 each kiwi fruits peeled and coarsely chopped
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp 'Swerve' or other sugar replacement
- 1 dash salt
Strawberry
- 1 cup sliced strawberries
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp 'Swerve' or other sugar replacement
- 1 dash salt
Instructions
- In a blender, puree the kiwis with the water, vanilla, sweetener and a bit of salt. You don't want to puree for too long, as the seeds will turn the whole mixture a dark ugly color. Just long enough to break them up. You can strain the seeds out, if you like a more consistent perfect green, but I opted to leave them in. Evenly divide the mixture into the molds. The liquid should rise about halfway. Place in the freezer WITHOUT their handles.
- When the kiwi mixture has frozen, in a blender, puree the strawberries with water, vanilla, sweetener and a bit of salt. Pour the strawberry mixture into the molds. Fit your handles into the base of the molds and freeze until solid.
- To remove from the molds, hold under hot tap water for about 15 seconds. The pops ... pop right out!
Nutrition
Serving: 6g | Calories: 28.013333333333kcal | Carbohydrates: 18.5g | Protein: 0.5g | Fiber: 1.1666666666667g