Summer Snacks
Ideas for Treats Kids Love
Some of the best treats for hot weather are icy cold summertime beverages, (cold drinks), and frosty popsicles. Kids love to make their own cool summer snacks. Use these icy cool ideas for some summer uncooking lessons.
Cool Beverages
Try lemonade with a maraschino cherry and a teaspoon of cherry juice. Serve over crushed ice or ice cubes and with a colorful straw which adds fun. Pink lemonade or limeade is good with a squirt of cherry too. Use real limes or lemons and add a slice to each glass.
Freeze the leftover lemonade in ice cube trays. When it is frozen, blend the cubes in a blender to make your own slushy.
Beverages like pop are better if thoroughly chilled. Try putting bottles of drinks like root beer and orange soda down in a plastic tub or metal basin to chill completely while you are working or playing. The chilling will make the soda taste especially refreshing.
Fruit juices like orange juice can be iced also. Pour over crushed ice and blend up to a thick drink Add a small amount of milk or even yogurt to the citrus smoothie.
Smoothies can be made with strawberries, blueberries, bananas, peaches or other fruit and milk plus a few cubes of ice to freeze the mixture in the blender. Pour into tall glasses. Experiment with fruit and ice cream or cold juice for a consistency and flavor you like.
Simple to Make Treats
Ice cream sandwiches can be homemade! Use large cookies and ice cream. Layer ice cream between the crackers and wrap each sandwich in plastic wrap or foil. Freeze solidly. Chocolate brownies or ginger cookies are good sandwich choices. Try chocolate, strawberry or vanilla ice cream.
Popsicles are fun, though messy, to make at home. Use fruit juice plain or with milk, cream, or yogurt poured into popsicle molds. Be sure to make plenty. These are so good they won’t last.
Mix juice with a little honey to freeze in a shallow pan. As it begins to freeze, stir often to cause the mixture to begin to crystallize. After it is well frozen, place chunks in a blender and blend into a mixture you can eat with a spoon.
Peel a banana and insert a sucker stick in one end. Dip the top half of the banana in chocolate sauce. Lay the "banana pops" on a cookie sheet on waxed paper and place in the freezer to freeze.
Grapes can be washed and dried. Pull all the grapes off the stems and put them in a Ziploc bag to freeze. Eat while still frozen. They are cool and sweet.
Easy Snacks
Tortilla chips make a nice summer snack with cheese grated over them and a 15 second heat in the microwave oven – just enough to melt the cheese. Or serve the chips with a dollop of sour cream and a spoon of salsa.
Crackers spread with cream cheese and a smear of jelly are a treat for days when you want a salty snack. Use pretzel or wheat crackers for a change.
Sliced apples with marshmallow or caramel dip are popular treats. Try slicing a sour green apple and serving it with sliced avocado and a drizzle of lemon juice.
Slice an orange and serve it with cherries or raspberries for color. Canned fruits like mandarin oranges and pineapple slices are good chilled in the can. Spoon some out and top with whipped cream.
Watermelon is a great treat especially chilled in an ice chest of ice water.
Let your snacks be heat free – no “cooking” makes the preparation easier and kids can prepare their own summer snacks for cool beat-the-heat treats from frosty drinks to crackers and chips.
Popsicles Today are Small
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