Healthy Homemade Slush Puppies

Healthy Homemade Slush Puppies

The first summer that Jason and I dated, we subsisted mainly on frozen treats and the occasional peanut butter waffle. It was awesome.

Let me tell you about those frozen treats. We ate Popsicles of all flavors, Slush Puppies by the dozen, boxes and boxes of Minute Maid frozen lemonade. We both liked the raspberry lemonade ones better, but if there was only raspberry lemonade pop left, we’d save it for the other person. How womantic.


Here’s the thing about eating all those frozen treats, though. There’s the sugar bit, and the no real nutritional value bit, and the “you-are-adults-did-you-really-eat-all-those-Popsicles-in-one-sitting” bit.

And then there’s the weirdest bit of all. The bit where you realize just how much food dye is in those things, because it manifests itself….uh….the next day.

I’m not opposed to using food coloring, but dang, there is a LOT of food coloring in off-the-shelf Slush Puppies.

Healthy Homemade Slush Puppies

These bright happy puppies have zero artifice. There’s nothing but bright happy produce in here.

There are two kinds here. Apple-cherry, and raspberry-lemonade, of course! The apple-cherry is the sweeter of the two, and the raspberry-lemonade is tart and puckering and fresh.

I know you can buy slush puppy bags on various places around the interwebs, but I couldn’t be bothered. I made my own by cutting regular snack bags and then sealing them with heat (alternately using a skillet and a lighter). But if that doesn’t sound like your uh…bag….you can get any variety of bags here.

Healthy Homemade Slush Puppies

Healthy Homemade Slush Puppies

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 14 pops


  • 2 cored apples
  • 2 1/2 cups frozen cherries
  • 2.5 cups frozen raspberries
  • 2 cups grapes
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice


  1. Defrost the frozen fruit ('e just gonna freeze it again)
  2. Place the apples and cherries in a blender and combine until smooth.
  3. Place a cheesecloth or flour sack cloth over a large bowl and pour the cherry mix over that. Squeeze out all the juice. You should end up with bout 2 1/4 cups of juice. Discard the juicing solids, or use them in baking, if you wish.
  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the cherries, grapes, and lemon juice.
  5. Pour the juice into your bags. My bags were about 5.5 x 2 inches. I was able to fit about 1/4 cup of juice into each bag. Make sure to leave about 1.5 inches at the top, because you will need to seal the bag as well allow room for the ice to expand. Otherwise, the bags will burst once they freeze. (1/2 inch to seal, and 1 inch of room).
  6. Freeze for 8-12 hours, until solid. Makes 7 of each flavor.
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Five Simple & Healthy Breakfasts


1. Blueberries, kasha, almond milk, brown sugar

Combine kasha, blueberries, and almond milk in a bowl. Sprinkle lightly with brown sugar.


2. Pineapple beet juice, avocado, egg, Sriracha

For the juice, combine 3 medium beets and half a pineapple in a blender. Puree and strain through a flour sack cloth.


3. Overnight Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Oats

I know overnight oats are so last year, but that doesn’t stop them from being delicious. Combine 1/3 cup of oats, 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk, pinch of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp vanilla, 5 chopped dates, and 1 tbsp chia. Allow to sit in the fridge overnight. In the morning, add in a banana and a small handful of chocolate chips. Enjoy.


3. Raspberry Kale Mini Smoothie

Combine 3/4 cup frozen raspberries, handful of kale, 1/2 cup almond milk, and honey to taste in a blender. You can make it heartier by adding a banana or peanut butter, but it tastes really wonderful and refreshing as is.


5. Popped amaranth, strawberries, honey

Tips for popping amaranth:

1.No matter how much amaranth you’re popping, it will go all over the stove. Save yourself the cleanup time by using a large pot with a glass lid. 2. Don’t use any lubricants such as oil or non stick spray.  3. Instead of stirring, shake the pot back and forth vigorously….just like if you were making popcorn 4. Amaranth can be finicky. Start of by testing a spoonful in the pot. If it doesn’t burn, you’re good. 5. Let the pot get really hot before you put the amaranth in 6. Let a little over half of the amaranth pop, remove from heat, and continue to shake. It will continue to pop and you won’t get as many burned bits.