Strawberries and Cream Popsicles

Summer is in full swing here and sometimes the temperatures are hot! Keep cool during the summer months with popsicles! I know we sure enjoy our fair share of popsicles! 

These Strawberries and Cream Popsicles make for a delicious and healthy snack! A tasty treat! 

Kids love to help make them and enjoy them on a hot summer day. We always have popsicles in the freezer during the summer. When the kids are playing or working hard they can come and grab a popsicle for a snack. A healthy and refreshing snack. Who doesn't love popsicles!?

Flavors of fresh sweet strawberries combined with a smooth cream combined together in this popsicle.

I used a Norpro Frozen Ice Pop Maker and this recipe works out perfectly for it! Simply fill the popsicle cells and put the sticks in and place in the freezer. The hardest part is waiting for them to freeze and set up.

When the popsicle are ready to enjoy, remove the lid and simply run the the maker under warmer water to loosen the popsicle, and make easier to pull out.

Keep cool on those hot days with popsicles. Kids love them!

This recipe can easily be used with any kind of fruit.

Strawberries and Cream Popsicles
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup strawberry yogurt
2 Tbsp Clabber Girl cornstarch
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp strawberry extract
3 cups fresh strawberries, chopped

Directions:
Add the milk, heaving whipping cream, and strawberry yogurt to a medium mixing bowl. Then add cornstarch and whisk together until smooth. Pour mixture into a saucepan and add the strawberry extract. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil, while continuously whisking. Continue whisking for about 4 to 5 minutes once mixture begins to boil, to thicken. Remove from heat and set aside and cool a bit.

While cream mixture is cooling, this is when I chop my strawberries. Place the chopped strawberries in a bowl.

Then divide half the cream mixture. Add one half the cream mixture to the strawberry bowl. Stir the strawberries and cream together. Set aside.

Use the other half of the cream mixture and pour a little in each popsicle mold, saving some to top off all the molds at the end.

Then fill molds to the top with the strawberry/cream mixture. Make sure to press down on the filled molds with a spoon, or insert a knife to get any air bubbles out. I banged the mold set on the counter some too. This will help the mixture settle and get out any bubbles. Add more strawberry mixture to the molds as necessary. Lastly top off each mold with the remaining cream mixture. Put the maker top on and insert popsicle sticks. Freeze overnight and remove from popsicle molds to serve.

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

 Enjoy this healthy and frozen summer treat!

This post is sponsored by Clabber Girl but my

 thoughts/opinions are always 100% my own

Oatmeal Sticks - A Rumford Complete Cookbook Recipe

It's back to school here in our town! The boys have been back for about 3 weeks! We had a great summer and looking forward to Fall. Looking through the Rumford Complete Cookbook this month, I was looking for something that could work for the kids' lunches or a snack and I came across this Oatmeal Sticks recipe.

I like to try to make up a variety of snacks for the kids homemade here and there. This recipe is super easy and doesn't take long to put together and bake.  Double or triple the batch to have more made up.

The Oatmeal Sticks recipe is on page 120 of the Rumford Complete Cookbook. Below is a photo of the recipe. 

Here is my version of this recipe.

Oatmeal Sticks

Ingredients: 

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

1/4 cup butter - softened 

1 1/2 cups scalded milk

1/2 cup oatmeal or rolled oats

3 tsp Rumford Baking Powder

Directions: 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder and mix together. Add the butter and blend in with the dry mixture. Scald the milk and then add to the oatmeal in a separate bowl and stir. Add the oatmeal/milk mixture to the dry mix and butter and mix together until well blended and smooth. Use hands and roll dough into sticks. I did about the thickness of a pencil, but a little shorter. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. I got 60 sticks out of one batch! 

I did have a small bowl of flour to add a little to the dough as I was rolling out the sticks that prevented it from sticking to my hands. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

My kiddos really enjoyed them. They were tasty plain and they really enjoyed dipping them in peanut butter! I will be making more again! A delicious, healthy, and easy snack! 

This post is sponsored by Clabber Girl Baking Powder but my

 thoughts/opinions are always 100% my own.

Gardening With Kids - Gardening Gives Food and More

I left off in the last post talking a little bit about harvesting produce with kids from the garden. The garden provides nutritious and delicious food for us to eat....and also preserve if you have abundance.

There is nothing like a fresh garden meal in the summer!

Picking your vegetables right out of the garden and using them in your meal - you can't get any fresher than that!

You might make fresh salsa from your tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cilantro in your garden.

You might enjoy stuffed peppers.

Sweet corn is always a delicious summer treat with any meal.

You might have a wonderful crop of green beans and can them to enjoy during winter.

Of course, picking fresh lettuces, spinach, radish, and green onions for salads is always refreshing.

Allow your children to cook meals with you. Sometimes its hard with little hands, but you might be surprised what they will eat knowing that they helped prepare it from what they helped grow and harvest.

Sometimes room is not available to grow everything you would like, such as fruits, where several plants are needed to pick a larger quantity. Look for local u-pick farms in your area and take your kids there to experience picking at a specialty farm. We go to a blueberry farm and strawberry farm every summer to pick bulk amounts of berries to freeze and make jam from. You might want look for local specialty farms in your area to pick strawberries, blueberries, apples, peaches, pumpkins and more.

For your kids to see these large specialty farms puts a whole new perspective on how and where produce is grown. For example, we just went to a u-pick blueberry farm and driving down the lane to where we would pick, my son said "These are ALL blueberries?!" They can see acres of one type of plant growing. I explained to him that the blueberry farm has workers to pick blueberries for customers to pick up or they can come and pick them themselves. Seeing these specialty farms helps put the whole idea of farm size into perspective. Kids can see that your backyard garden feeds your family. There might be some abundance of certain vegetables that you can share with others. Large farms, such as berry farms or pumpkin patches provides for several families, sometimes several hundred to thousands.

Gardening with kids has several advantages and provides such wonderful experiences.
- It educates them on where food comes from.
- Showing them planting to harvest and getting them involved is a great way to share the farm to    fork process.
- It teaches them what it means to live a sustainable and healthy life.

I hope you will show your kids where food comes from and enjoy the farm to fork process!

This post is sponsored by Indiana's Family of Farmers but all opinions, photos, and ideas are mine.

Gardening with Kids - The Harvest

If you remember in my first post about gardening with kids, I talked about some easy vegetables to grow in your garden and shared some tips how to get your kids involved in the garden.

This post is about the HARVEST! 

The most rewarding part of gardening in my opinion. 

The result of all your hard work in the garden......and you can sample and snack as your picking.

One exciting part about gardening is some vegetables continue to produce bounty after the first, second, and several  pickings.
Like green beans and tomatoes.......

By planting your garden from seed and/or transplants to picking what is produced and involving your kids in the whole process they are learning, seeing, and experiencing gardening with you. What a great way to show them how plants grow and where the food you eat comes from.

So what have you harvested from your garden? What is your kids favorite things to pick?

If you have the space try your hand at backyard gardening. Gardening is a great way to not only include your kids in the process but also to save some money. Who doesn't want to save a little cash on your grocery bill?!

For example:

Tomatoes in the grocery store cost between $1.50 to $3 a pound in the grocery stores. A 4 pack of tomatoes plants at a garden center is less than $2. Each tomato plant can produce roughly 8 to 20 pounds of tomatoes based on growing conditions and if staked and caged.

Potatoes cost around $4 for a 5 pound bag where as you can buy seed potatoes in the spring for 99 cents a pound. Cut those seed potatoes in fourths then plant. Each one will yield on average 5-15 potatoes give your a pretty high return on your seed potato cost.

When you think about your entire garden - lettuce, broccoli, cucumbers, onions, etc the money savings can really add up. 

You will also save money by eating what is in your garden. This may prevent you from going out to eat or will aid in providing ingredients to the dishes you prepare for your meals. Doesn't a dinner of green beans, red potatoes cooked with onion, sweet corn, and broccoli sound great to go with the steaks your having? Save yourself the $40 plus dinner bill going out to eat and have a nice meal from the garden you've grown yourself.

If you don't have room to garden at home, check to see if there is a community garden in your town. These are becoming more and more popular and are a great to take part in. Your children can help in the garden and also enjoy the rewards of gardening with fresh produce. You can also do some patio gardens with tomatoes in pots. Grow lettuce, green onions, spinach together in a spot for your salad needs.

The taste of your backyard garden produce will taste amazingly different that what you can buy in the store.

Stay tuned for the next Gardening with Kids post for different ways to enjoy and preserve what you're growing in your garden.

This post is sponsored by Indiana's Family of Farmers but all opinions, photos, and ideas are mine. 

Down At The County Fair

Last week was our county fair and although our kids aren't in 4-H yet, it will always be a part of our life. We usually go out most nights of the week and enjoy different parts of the fair. Having a breaded tenderloin sandwich, a funnel cake, several milkshakes, a pork burger, and a lemon shake-up are always musts on the list for fair week.

Being 10 year 4-H members has provided so many memories. 4-H is where I first learned how to sew, a skill I still use very regularly today. I took basketry and made several pieces that I love, including a fishing creel, a basket w a deer antler as the handle, and a baby cradle my last year of 4-H. I also did the photography project. It was always fun taking several pictures and then narrowing it down to your best and favorite one. Showing horses provided the most 4-H and fair memories! I grew up on a horse farm and had been riding horses since elementary school, but only showed them my last 6 years of 4-H.

My last year of 4-H showing my horse Tiny

My farmer showed beef, took the corn project, farm scene project, and woodworking. At fair time (and also throughout the year)  we always reminisce of our 4-H days. 

Having kids in 4-H allows you to enjoy it all over again and I cannot wait until our time comes ( 2 more years until our oldest can start). Next year we will enjoy mini 4-H! I can picture the projects that our kids will take and hope they will want to show an animal or two also (maybe a goats and Rhode Island Red chickens - what we have now). 

Until then we will enjoy the fair time as future 4-H parents! 

We enjoy the games and rides! 

The food and milkshakes!

We show off our Farmall 560 as part of the Retired Iron antique tractors and parade!

Our kids enter in the open class!

We serve milkshakes as part of our Farm Bureau Young Farmer group!

We enjoy watching 4-Hers show their heart out during animal judging! 

We enjoy grandstand events!

I enjoy when I'm asked to judge open class and 4-H projects. 

4-H will always be a part of our life and we will always enjoy going down to the county fair!