Apr. 28, 2008 - Much Ado Over A Popsicle
Calling all moms (and dad's) out there is cyberspace!! As warmer temps arrive for all of us, it is time for the yearly ritual of making popsicles. We do this for a multitude of reasons.
1. Health: Nathan is allergic to artificial colors, and none of us need that stuff in our bodies anyways. The ingredients in a commercially available popsicle are just chemicals and coloring which tastes good, but is gross. Corn syrup is bad for you/makes you fat. Even the "natural" ones have chemicals in them.
2. Cost: We try to be thrifty in all things and if you have priced a popsicle lately.....you know what I am talking about. They are outrageous for what you get.....colored sugar water! A plastic popsicle mold is $1 at the Dollar Tree and it makes 4 pops. I have 2 now and will be purchasing 2 more by the end of the summer. I was rummaging around my fridge at noon time scavenging for stuff for popsicles. Any bit of this or that will do. I made some homemade lemonade yesterday out of some lemon juice (free lemons of my friends tree) that I had frozen, so I used the last of that. So homemade popsicles help use up the little scraps of fruit, juice, yogurt, ect in the fridge instead of them going in the trash. THey are good for fruit that is right on the edge also, just put it in the smoothie maker and voila! A treat! instead of trash.
3 The environment: Commercial popsicles are over packaged and the materials are not great on the decomposition end either. Wood for the sticks? well....trees still die for that. Plastic wrapping on the inside of that paper makes it not compost very well. They come in a bag or box that if not recycled, ends up making for alot of trash in the landfill. When they get broken or wear out/leak the plastic molds can be recycled into something else, instead of going in the trash also, but they last forever. We are working on our 3rd summer with the ones we have now.
4. Commercialism: The commercialism you buy into by getting the Scooby Doo or Sponge Bob Square Pants on the box kind or worse......the kind they saw on TV!! Don't get me wrong, my boys watch Saturday morning cartoons and they used to ask. Now they know better. I have always strived to make my boys smart consumers, still working on the girls, and for them it started with popsicles and breakfast cereal. (head shaking) poor things.... It is just an early lesson in having to have the "right brand" to be cool.
So that is about all I have to say about popsicles....lol. I know it is a strong stance (tongue in cheek) but the lesson is deeper that just a popsicle. It is about thought. About what goes in your body, what you spend your money on, what the products you buy do to the Earth, about choice. It only takes about 2 minutes out of my day to provide a health snack for my children. So anyone out there have any new ideas as to what to make them out of?? By the end of the summer I have just about run out of creativity......
Comments
Apr. 28, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by CrossView
Really great points! And we do make ours- when I can find the popsicle maker thingy.
But sometimes, we break down and get the cute new ones. I'm the world's worst at falling for the cute factor. =D
Apr. 28, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by 4sweetums
I agree on all points. We love homemade around here. I am going to try and make multiple layers this year.
Blessings,
Dawn
Apr. 29, 2008 - Good reminder.
Posted by REInvestor
I haven't made these in a few years, but I don't really buy them either.
Snacks? Well our latest are making kefir and kombucha, both fermented drinks. My kids love kombucha, made out of black tea and sugar and fermented a week with a kombucha "mushroom." Weird stuff- but it tastes great and is good for you.
