Here Comes The Sun - Ready for Spring Ice Pops

By: Amy Weinberg

If you’re like me, March 1^st officially means spring to you. It means flowers are starting to bloom, snowstorms are turning into thunderstorms, and ice pops are once again edible. Yes, there is still snow on the ground. Yes, it still gets dark before 6pm. Yes, playoff basketball hasn’t even started yet. I do not care. To me, March = Spring. While I tend to commit to spring a little early, I understand that t-shirts and ice pops in March may not be for everyone. I’m not here to tell you how to spend your March. I am here to get you JACKED UP about spring and all of the fun desserts we will make to celebrate.

I am going to dive head first with this dessert and go straight for the ice pops. And no, I will not be turning our delicious coffee cake into an ice pop. (Although, if I ever figure out how to do that, you guys will be the first to know.) Instead, I’m going to give you an ice pop that will leave you feeling so great, so refreshed, that you'll be ready for that second slice of coffee cake in no time. 

I mean, who doesn’t love popsicles? They’re cool, refreshing, and you can make them out of just about everything. The ice pops I’m going to be making are even healthy.

What You'll Need:

1 cup spinach, packed

1 mango

1 banana

1 cup fruit juice (something lightly colored - I used Dole Mango, Peach, Banana juice) 

A blender

It probably could not be any easier to make these ice pops. Simply take your spinach, banana, mango, and juice and combine them in a blender. 30 seconds in my new NutriBullet and these pops are ready to freeze. 

Pour the combined ingredients in your popsicle molds, secure the tops, and pop them in the freezer for a few hours. 

As I was making these I was thinking to myself, "Why don't I make ice pops more often? They're incredibly easy to make and they taste great." Only when I tried to pop the ice pops out of the molds did I realize why I don't make ice pops more often. With three pop-less sticks sitting on my counter, I had one chance left to get this popsicle out of its mold and in one piece. 

Luckily, I was able to wiggle that last pop out of its mold.

And let me tell you, these popsicles were DELICIOUS. Who would have thought that frozen, blended up spinach would taste great? Certainly not someone whose desserts normally consist of coffee cake. But here I am, frozen spinach in hand, waiting for that grass in front of me to turn the same color green as the ice pop. 

After finishing my ice pop I turned to my mother to see if she could bestow any of her ice pop knowledge upon me. I remember making an ice pop or two when I was a kid so I figured she MUST have some insider tips to get the rest of them out. The one tip she gave me was so simple, yet so perfect - 

"Uhhh... Just dip the mold in warm water for a few seconds."

Of course it worked perfectly. Moral of the story, every now and then you just have to suck it up and ask your mother for help, even if you know that her response will be sarcastic.