Yummy Berry Rehydration Popsicles

Summer is here and who doesn’t love popsicles?  We are some popsicle loving fools around here.  I even give my daughter one each morning with her medicines.  It’s part of my trick to get kids to drink yucky medicine.

However, they are certainly full of sugar.

We tend to spend a couple of hours a day in the pool.  It’s hot and humid here in Florida.  My son loves to be in the water and my daughter is taking the whole “swimming is good for juvenile arthritis” speech that her doctor gave her to heart.  So far, it seems to be working since we haven’t had any flares since April.  I am pretty sure I just jinxed us.

They also like to spend time outside riding their bikes or scooters and generally getting all sweaty.

I do worry about dehydration though.  Both of the scrugglets love drinking water which is awesome!  I used to think I would have to purchase a couple of dairy cows and a soybean farm to save money on dairy and soymilk but watching me drink nothing but water (except on the few occasions I splurge and order a Coke at a restaurant) convinced them that it wasn’t as bad as they thought.

As summer heats up and summer soccer starts back up, I am concerned more with electrolyte loss.  I tried to get them to drink coconut water but it just isn’t their thing–especially not the unsweetened healthy kind.

So I decided to put the coconut water into a popsicle with fresh fruit as a “sweetener.”  It’s perfect! It’s a fun treat for the kids on a hot, steamy day and a healthy treat for me after a workout.  It’s actually easy and quick also.  They don’t even realize the popsicles are “rehydration popsicles!”

I just take slices of strawberries and a spoonful of blueberries and put them in the mold.  Pour the coconut water over them and freeze.  Yummy.

I also tried a couple of gatorade and fruit ones for really sweaty days.  Strawberries mixed with fruit punch gatorade and blueberries with the blue berry flavored gatorade.  We don’t drink much gatorade around here, though I did grab some for soccer practice.  We normally take the summer season off because of the heat, but Pork Chop wanted to try three versus three.  The prospect of not having to play defense sealed the deal for him.  The chance for him to learn to be a little more aggressive when it comes to playing offense and taking the shots sealed the deal for me.  It’s a win-win.  Summers should be spent outside, having fun, and getting exercise!

How do you like your popsicles?  Keep an eye out because I am trying out more popsicle variations.

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