Zipzicles!!!

If you've been following my blog recently you might have read my post on Otter Pops.  If you haven't read it, click here.  After I wrote that article, my wife found a product on Pinterest called Zipzicles. Basically they are slender, reusable BPA-free zip top plastic bags so you can make your own homemade Otter Pops.  You can imagine how happy I was that my wife found these products.  God bless the internet, right?  This weekend, the stars aligned: it was 90+ degrees, we had no plans all day, we had the right ingredients in the house so it seemed like a perfect day to give the Zipzicles a test run.

Our ingredients

The company provides you with a couple of sample recipes on the back of the package so we tried one of their suggestions: strawberries and lemonade.  The recipe provided was as follows:

1 cup strawberries
3  + 1/2 cups lemonade
Puree 1 cup strawberries and 1/2 cup lemonade in a blender.  Once mixed, add 3 cups lemonade and pour into Zipzicle.

Pouring the mixture in the bags

Simple enough to do, right!  Once our mixture was ready we broke out a little funnel and filled the bags one at a time.  The recipe is supposed to make enough to fill all 12 bags that come in the package but we only had enough to fill 9.  After filling the bags, we put them in the freezer and 6 hours later they were ready to enjoy.


Once we were ready to try our finished product, I was anxious to see what my kids thought.  They were very excited to try them and they loved the flavor we made.  While we sat there and enjoyed our Zipzicles in the afternoon shade, we thought of new flavors to try so it looks like we'll be doing this again which is great!

What color is my tongue?

When we were all done with our Zipzicles, Reuben asked "What color is my tongue?"  Of course since there was no food dye in our treat, his tongue did not change color. He was a little sad about this, but mommy and daddy were quite happy!  We explained to him why his tongue had not changed color and he seemed to understand but still wasn't quite happy since he really likes that effect!  That's ok.  He'll survive.

Overall, I would say our Zipzicle experiment was quite successful.  We'd definitely make them again when the opportunity presents itself.  We might even try some "adult" variations with tequila for some dinner parties.  What recipe ideas do you have?  Let me know and maybe we'll give them a shot.

Disclaimer -- I did not receive any compensation from Zipzicles to write this post.  It is not an advertisement in any way and my opinions/thoughts/comments are my own.

Shira's Zipzicle

Reuben's  Zipzicle

Enough With the Otter Pops Already

My wife and I share a lot of responsibility with our twins.  We both work and we've been fortunate enough to have different work schedules so one of the ways we divide up some of the work is that my wife drops the kids off at their preschool and I pick them up.  Most of the time I'm there by 4pm and the vast majority of the time my kids have already had a snack.

Before I go too much further, let me say that our preschool has provided my kids with a very loving, nurturing environment.  They've met great friends, they've had great experiences and developed an early love of Judaism.  But one thing that our school needs to work on is the food they feed my kids.  

We provide lunches for them but the school often gives them snacks.  Since I pick them up I hear mostly about the afternoon snack. If you've ever met my daughter you'll understand why some people call her the "court reporter." She remembers everything and will report back to you anything you want to know about the day's events.  It's not common but there are some days that I pick them up and they have bright blue faces!  The "court reporter" yells, "Daddy, we had popsicles today!" They are smiling, excited to see me and they show me how blue their lips and tongues are.  Of course they're blue, that's what happens when you eat Otter Pops.

I know that some Otter Pops are now made with 100% juice and that they only have 40 calories per pop.  I know that some of you are saying what I've heard before, "Just lighten up." Well to be honest, I will not lighten up when it comes to feeding my kids, thank you very much.  When my kids feces is bright green the next day because of the food coloring in their popsicle, I will not lighten up.

There are plenty of alternatives to the neon glow of an Otter Pop.  Why not make some juice pops with the kids?  My colleague, Sumner Brooks, MPH, RD recommended frozen mango chunks.  I'm sure a handful of grapes or some watermelon would be equally refreshing as a popsicle.

I'm doing my best to raise my kids as intuitive eaters and I believe in the principles I've learned from Ellyn Satter.  My kids have eating habits that I'm proud of and I do not deny them any shortage of play foods inside and outside of our house but in the end the issue is this: when I see bright blue faces when I pick my kids up from school, a part of me feels like the hard work I'm putting in is being unintentionally undermined.  Dr. Yoni Freedhoff said it very well in this article he wrote, "Why is Everyone Always Giving My Kids Junkfood?"

Somewhere along the line, we've normalized the constant provision of junk food to children. It seems no matter how small the ship or short the journey, sugar pretty much christens each and every voyage on which our children set sail. 

There's simply no occasion too small to not warrant a junk food accompaniment. But for me, the strangest part of all is the outcry that occurs if and when I point it out. My experiences have taught me that junk food as part of children's' activities has become so normalized that my questioning this sugary status quo genuinely offends people's sensitivities and sometimes even generates frank anger.

I'm hoping that the status quo will change soon and that my kids will not be supplied endless amounts of sugar and food coloring in the coming years but that might not happen.  I hope that we stop relying on the highly processed food as our go-to snacks for our kids.  I hope that when it comes to treats, we make it from scratch instead of getting it from a box.

What do you think?  Do any other parents struggle with what their kids are fed when they are not with them?