Frozen summery goodness

Have you ever been out on a hot summer day -- running around, swimming, playing outside, etc -- and get the craving for something sweet and frozen? Well when you are living in a constant furnace with 100+ degree temperatures every day, you get that craving a lot. Normally, a good popsicle did the trick, that was until I looked at the ingredients and sugar contents of them.

A normal popsicle is made up of basically fruit concentrate and either sugar or high fructose corn syrup. All that sugar does is cause a spike in the blood sugar, ultimately leading to a drop in energy levels and afternoon grogginess. Wouldn't it be nice to find a good frozen snack that satisfied your craving while keeping you energized and was good for you too? I think I found it!

Homemade frozen yogurt pops! ... No no no, actually, homemade frozen greek yogurt fruit pops! Yummmm, I can taste them already. And what's even better is they are SUPER easy to make, and you can customize them to your liking. Fruity, yourty, sweet, not as sweet, etc. Here's what you need:

• nonfat greek (or plain) yogurt
• fresh/frozen fruit of your choice (berries, melon, pineapple, etc)
• milk of your choice (nonfat, lowfat, almond, soy)
• a pinch of cinnamon

Although plain nonfat yogurt is a very healthy choice (especially compared to the fruity kinds), i still prefer greek yogurt. The reason that I like greek yogurt versus plain yogurt is mainly because of the protein content. For every serving (about 6 oz) of plain nonfat yogurt, greek nonfat yogurt has almost double the amount of protein. And when looking for a snack that will satisfy and keep you going, protein is a must! Therefore, greek yogurt is my first choice whenever possible. 

When choosing a greek yogurt, my personal favorite is Fage Total 0%. It has a good consistency and a nice well-balanced flavor. 

But any yogurt of your choice will work just as well. The same freedom goes for the milk as well. You wont need a lot of milk, just enough to help thin out the mixture a little bit. Usually I reach for the lowfat or 1% milk, but on occasion I like to mix it up a bit with some vanilla almond milk. The vanilla almond milk gives it a slightly sweeter and nuttier flavor, making it a nice change from the norm. 

Now it is time to start putting it all together. Get your blender ready and start layering in the yogurt, fruit, milk, and cinnamon. The proportions are rough, but quite simple as well. I usually start out with 1 cup yogurt, 1 cup fruit, and about 1/4 cup of milk and a pinch of cinnamon. This makes a couple of cups of the yogurty goodness, so if you are wanting to make a bigger batch, you can easily double or triple this. 

Once it is all blended together, feel free to throw in a couple of chunks of fruit if you would like some whole pieces in there as well. Then take the mixture and pour into popsicle molds. If your popsicle mold didn't come with the plastic stick tops to place over each mold, then you can pick up a pack of popsicle sticks from the grocery store for a few dollars and use those instead. 

Leave the yogurt pops in the freezer for at least a 2+ hours until their set, and then enjoy at your liking!