Recipe {Carrot Top Pops}

It's pretty safe to declare the summer of 2014 the "Summer of Popsicles!" Thanks to our friends at Big Top Pops, we were completely inspired to try all kinds of fun combinations of fruits, vegetables, and herbs.  These Carrot Top Pops have definitely been a big hit this summer! 

The ladies behind Big Top Pops love to create gourmet ice pops in some bold new flavor combinations! Sarah and Gina try to promote positive associations to vegetables, rather than the "there's puréed broccoli hidden in your brownies" approach (although we're not above that occasionally too!).  And so, we give you...

Carrot Top Pops

This pop has a vibrant, orange color that kids LOVE and is a great one to make for teething toddlers! We typically make these with an organic cane sugar simple syrup, but if you are lucky enough to live in a state with great citrus, you may not even need it! This pop would be equally scrumptious with honey as the sweetener too.

COOKING WITH KIDS TIP: Lucas and Chuck had a great time adding the carrots to the food processor and juicing the oranges!  For younger kids, purée the carrots and make the simple syrup ahead of time for a recipe that comes together quickly.

Simple Syrup
 (Yield 1/2 cup):
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup organic cane sugar
Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Stir frequently until sugar has dissolved and remove from heat. Allow to cool to room temperature or place in the refrigerator

Pops 
(Yield 24 oz., or about 10 two and a half ounce pops):
1/2 lb carrots after they have been washed, peeled, and cut into medallions
1 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed and strained
6.5 tablespoons simple syrup (recipe above), or to taste
Cover carrots with cold water and bring to a boil. Boil until carrots are fork tender and drain, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Purée the carrots in a blender with some of the reserved liquid until the carrots are very smooth. Add the orange juice and simple syrup. Pour into molds, add sticks, and freeze until solid.

Recipe {Strawberry Yogurt Ice Pops}

Lucas and Chuck picked their weight in strawberries this weekend!  Karen and I challenged ourselves with a little "what can we make out of all these strawberries before they go bad?" 

A good friend gave Chuck a Zoku Pop Maker for her first birthday, so I decided it was about time to open this box and get poppin!  Since the was my first time using the Zoku, I decided to keep things simple.  

Recipe:
3 parts strawberry
1 part yogurt (we used Greek)
1 part milk (we used 2%)
1 part honey

Place all the ingredients in a blender or food processor, and mix until smooth. If you are using a Zoku Pop Maker, these take about 7 minutes.  I think that was the only learning curve for the Zoku; cream based pops take longer to solidify than water based ones. 

Chuck absolutely loved her yogurt pops! Can't wait to see what else we come up with!   

Recipe {Sprouted Chickpeas}

We always like trying and experimenting with new foods! We are big chickpea fans (is there anything that doesn't taste good dipped in hummus?) Naturally, sprouted chickpeas have been on my list for a while -- we decided that this was the week to give them a try! The whole process takes a couple of days to complete, but we had fun observing our chickpeas plump and sprout!

First you need to soak the dried chickpeas overnight. We put them in a large mason jar and by the next day they had tripled in size. 

While in the mason jar, give them a good rinse.  Wrap a piece of cheesecloth over the top of the mason and store upside down in a bowl.

Over the next two to three days,  rinse them a couple of times times a day until your chick peas have 1/8 to 1/4 inch sprouts. 

After your chickpeas have sprouted give them one last rinse, have them dry a bit on a towel

Place the dried sprouts on a cookie sheet and place in an oven at 375°. We baked ours for around 45 minutes.

 While the chick peas are still hot, toss them in a bowl with desired flavorings. We decided to flavor ours with some olive oil, honey, cinnamon, and just a pinch of sea salt. This coating gave the chickpeas a nice little sweet crunch.