Happy 4th of July my American friends! I hope this year finds you healthy, happy, and grateful for the freedoms we have here in America!
In honor of Independence Day (and my sweet tooth), I’d like to combine holiday festivity with health by introducing you to my herbal patriotic popsicles! These popsicles are not only sugar-free and delicious, but they contain herbs which make them even better for your body!
If you have these ingredients on hand and some sort of mold, whip up a batch of these popsicles for your 4th of July celebration! You won’t regret it!
Fourth of July Herbal Patriotic Popsicles
My large family loves spending time together! We have lunch with each other every Sunday, we see each other several times during the week, and if it’s a holiday, you can believe we’re having some sort of get-together.
This year, our annual 4th of July celebration will be the busiest yet. We have tons of healthy food to eat, we have a big family kickball game planned, and of course, we have fireworks to shoot when it gets dark.
And like all good parties, dessert is not optional. Sure we’re going to have watermelon and fruit salad, but it’s only fitting to have something extra special and of course, patriotic.
This year, I decided to make sugar-free herbal patriotic popsicles for all the kiddos as a treat.
You certainly don’t have to make this recipe sugar-free if you don’t want to. The only reason I am is because one of my sister-in-laws has nixed sugar and gluten in her home due a kid with serious allergies. Yes, when we have get-togethers now, we have to get a little more creative and find ways to make delicious desserts without sugar or gluten. It’s been interesting, but we’ve come up with some pretty good desserts (as well as a few duds) if I do say so myself.
This recipe of herbal patriotic popsicles can be adapted to suit your needs. I’ll share some great options with you below so you can pick and choose what works for you and your family.
Ingredients:
Makes 20 popsicles
Bottom (Red) Layer
- 2 cups strawberries
- 1/2 cup hibiscus tea (here’s how to make herbal tea)
- 1-2 teaspoons stevia/erythritol mix (feel free to use honey or maple syrup here if you’re not going sugar-free)
Middle (White) Layer
- 2 cans coconut milk (yogurt works great too)
- 1-2 teaspoons stevia/erythritol mix (feel free to use honey or maple syrup here if you’re not going sugar-free)
Top (Blue) Layer
- 2 pints blueberries
- 1/2 cup elderberry tea
- 3-4 teaspoons stevia/erythritol mix (feel free to use honey or maple syrup here if you’re not going sugar-free)
You’ll also need a popsicle mold of some sort. This is the one I have, but this one is a great option too. You can also use mini dixie cups if you don’t have a traditional mold.
Directions:
In order to keep the popsicle colors from mixing together, you’ll need to pour and freeze each layer separately. It does take a bit longer to do it this way, but it’s the only way to prevent all the colors from mixing. And yes, it’s totally worth the extra time. Just watch your kids faces when they eat these babies!
Start by blending ingredients, one layer at a time, and set them aside in mason jars. You should have one red, one white, and one blue (really deep purple). Also know that some of the layers will thicken up as they sit in your fridge. This is totally okay. Just give it a good stir and spoon it into your molds.
Fill popsicle mold 1/3 of the way full with bottom red layer mix. Put your sticks in and your lid on your mold. Freeze for 30-40 minutes before moving on to the second layer.
Take the lid off your mold and fill popsicle mold 1/3 of the way full with the middle white layer. Put your lid back on and freeze for another 30-40 minutes.
Take the lid off again and fill the mold 1/3 of the way full with the top blue layer. Put the lid back on and freeze for 1-2 hours.
When your popsicles are nice and frozen, remove the lid and run the mold under hot water to loosen the popsicles. Remove them and store them in a storage container in the freezer until time to eat. Enjoy!
So there you go. Sugar-free herbal patriotic popsicles that are festive, delicious, and super healthy for you and your kiddos. Enjoy, and happy 4th y’all!
Blessings, Meagan
Do you think that stevia/erythritol is a good “whole foods”/or at least “whole foods acceptable” sweetener? Would you use the powdered or liquid version? Thanks!
It definitely doesn’t fall into the real food category, and it would not be acceptable if you’re trying to stick with that style of eating 100%. From my understanding, stevia/erythritol blends are quite processed (most all white powdered products are). Honey or maple syrup would be your best bet if you wanna stick with a real food diet.
The only reason I used it is because my SIL has cut out all sugar with her kids, and we wanted a fun dessert that all the kids could enjoy. She’s trying to maintain healthy blood sugar levels, and I guess she’s read so much about the unhealthy effects sugar has on the body (and there are so many opportunities for our kids to have a “little” sugar here and there) that it’s just easier to say “no” to it all.
I’m not quite sure where I stand on this whole sugar issue at the moment. I realize that sugar (in all forms) can be bad. I also realize that we need to have moderation in all things in life. I think the idea behind cutting out sugar is a good one, but I’m not sure about the long-term effects these sugar substitutes may have on our or our children’s bodies. I’ve read things about adrenal issues and the sweet flavor contributing to sugar cravings so I really don’t know. Only time will tell. For now, I stick with a real food approach most all the time. I sweeten my kids foods with natural sweeteners, we rarely have desserts, and when we do, we always eat reasonable amounts after we’ve eaten a well-balanced meal in order to minimize blood sugar spikes. Hope that helps, Janell.
And, I used a powdered blend (the one I linked to) in this recipe. It’s the best one I’ve found so far as far as simple ingredients go.
Hmmm… thanks. Sounds like she may be on the Trim Healthy Mama plan or thinking, with the blood sugar and cutting out sugar. I’ve been reading about their plan, and their enthusiastic use of stevia/erythritol, trying to decide what I think of the processing in those ingredients. I like the rest of what they have to say because of the balance they encourage.
BTW…it would be helpful if your blog alerted one to a reply to their comment :o)–I just found this when I thought to look to see if you had replied. Thanks for your reply, Meagan!
Yes, Janell. Their plan is similar, but that’s not what she’s doing. She doesn’t follow any special diets or anything like that. She just doesn’t like the effect sugar has on the body and simply decided to cut it all except fruit sugars.
Anyway, I guess they both (real sugars and healthy-ish sugar substitutes) have their advantages and disadvantages. Personally, I like real food sweeteners are best, but at times, I lack self-control and want to eat the whole batch of cookies. Real food or not, that’s bad for my body. I don’t care how much grass-fed butter and soaked flour (or even gluten-free flour) it has. So, when I have a sugar craving and want to eat all the cookies, the healthiest sugar substitute I can find is probably best in that case. Ideally, I wouldn’t crave sugar and neither would my kids, but sweets are addictive. Now, when I’m not craving sugary junk, and I feel in control of myself, using real sugars is fine because I don’t eat the whole batch of cookies, therefore, I’m not getting all that sugar in my body.
I do like a lot of what THM says. It’s a bit much for me though as I don’t like having two versions of everything in my house for the S and E meals. And, I hear you about the comment thing. I’ll be sure to tell my web developer that so we can make sure the new GUH site has that as an option. Thanks!!