Cold treats for hot days

Article by: Judy Romanowich Smith , Star Tribune
Updated: July 21, 1999 - 11:00 PM

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Frozen treats are hot items on warm days.

Kids hungry for snacks fling open the freezer door and enjoy the blast of frigid air that greets them. What looks good? Anything they can grab to go.

Stocking the shelves with homemade pops and other treats has many benefits compared with buying frozen goodies at the store: It's cheaper, fun and often more wholesome (but don't tell the kids!). And, not so incidentally, it's also a boredom buster for kids when they help with the preparation.

The ingredients for homemade treats aren't expensive, and you don't need to bother with special pop molds. Buy a bag of wooden sticks at a craft or variety store and a supply of 3-and 5-and 7-oz. paper cups and you'll be set for the rest of the summer.

The good stuff

Fruit and juice hide quite well in frozen treats. You can keep that fact to yourself or seize the teachable moment and talk about the USDA food pyramid to your children. The pyramid encourages eating 3 to 5 servings of vegetables and 2 to 4 servings of fruit each day. Keep track of your children's daily intake -- and yours. Make it a game.

Also, it's a good time to introduce to the kids -- and maybe to yourself -- the "5-a-Day" concept of eating at least five servings daily of produce.

To make this fun, explore with your children the games, songs and activities at the Web site http://www.dole5aday.com/menu/kids/menu.htm

. If you don't have Internet access at home, a neighborhood library may provide free access.

Let them help

Even the smallest children will enjoy helping to make their own frozen pops because most recipes are simple and quick, perfect for short attention spans.

My two youngest children, ages 5 and 6, take turns running the blender. They both enjoy watching the ingredients they just added to the blender pitcher swirl, change colors and foam up. They jostle to put the sticks into the partially frozen mixtures.

My oldest son, 9, who's partial to chocolate pudding pops, can whisk them up all by himself.

Fast and frozen

Here are three quick ideas to get you -- and your kids -- going with summer snacks.

* Freeze grapes to enjoy later. Simply wash some table grapes, pluck them from the stems and freeze. They are very refreshing, but don't give them to kids age 3 or younger because they may be a choking hazard.

* Freeze juice in ice cube trays. Use them to cool cups of lemonade, ginger ale or juice in complementary flavors. My daughter simply puts one in a small paper cup and sucks on it while watching TV.

* Peel ripe but firm bananas, cut them in half, insert a wooden stick and freeze. Once frozen, you can dip them in melted chocolate and freeze them again until hardened. Or enjoy them plain.

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