Oliver's Cooking Show: Strawberry Popsicles

We're still trying to get everything back in order from spending all spring and summer updating and selling our house. I'm finally getting around to posting the 5th episode of Oliver's Cooking Show, which I filmed back in May! Here he is making simple strawberry popsicles.

                                                         

Red, White, and Blue Popsicles

For the Fourth, I made homemade popsicles for the kiddos.  I layered pureed blueberries, Greek yogurt (that I sweetened), and pureed strawberries to create red, white, and blue layers.  I had to freeze the pops for about 10 minutes between layers to make sure they wouldn't run together.  It worked well, and both kids gobbled them up!

Banana Nutella Fudge Pops

I have to share this success pin from Pinterest:

http://pinterest.com/pin/216383957066403492/

Admittedly, I don't really like bananas, and these banana-based fudge pops were too "banana-y" for me. They were a big hit with my husband and toddler, though, and their texture was perfect--fudgey, gooey, and melty.
I halved the recipe and got four pops. Oliver seems to have lost two of the sticks for my popsicle molds, so I made two of them in silicone cupcake molds and used a wooden popsicle stick in them.

We ate them after they were in the freezer for only three hours, so it's possible they're not as gooey if left overnight. I'm not sure, but they were the perfect, healthy treat on a warm spring evening.

I plan on making these for my husband and kids all summer long!

Pinterest Challenge Day 21: Popsicle Memory Game

Isn't this homemade memory game adorable?
http://pinterest.com/pin/216383957066133372/

I wasn't sure if Oliver would be old enough to play it yet, but I pinned it to save the idea. I had some popsicle sticks, so I decided to make this toy this evening. I printed out two sheets of the popsicle images from the website linked to my pin. Unlike the blogger, I decided not to make them perfect by using an exacto knife. I totally understand that you want pieces to look as identical as possible for the memory game, but I decided that wouldn't be important with a two year old. Scissors did the job just fine.After I cut out each and every popsicle, I folded them over the edge of a table. When that was done, I decided to glue them to the sticks with glue instead of using double-sided tape, mostly because I did not have double-sided tape.

The game ended up looking really cute!
Unfortunately, it's too late in the evening for me to try this game out with Oliver. We'll give it a go tomorrow. Even if he's not into it just yet, I know this game will be a winner at some point!

Popsicles!

After taking a free class at Williams-Sonoma, I went home inspired to make my own frozen treats. I decided to freeze orange juice with some bits of strawberries and pineapple. I must say, the frozen pineapple in the pop ended up being quite tasty.

Oliver kept trying to get his hands on my popsicle, so I finally decided to let him try a taste. He was shocked by its cold temperature, but I think he liked it!