My childhood summers: cantaloupe juice popsicles

Guess what?  I am doing a popsicle series.  Why? because I am addicted to making popsicles, my kids are addicted to eating them, we live in the hot, humid sunshine state…and it’s fun.

Since this is my first summer as a stay at home mom, which I didn’t plan for or think about when I wrote about 9 ways being a SAHM surprised me back in January, I’ve been thinking about my childhood. My mother was a stay at home mom for most of my youth and I remember having Ramen noodles for lunch, running outside, and playing soccer in the fields behind our house, tearing apart clover flowers and making “rice,” and then running back home to cool off with ice cold glasses of cantaloup juice.

I’m pretty sure cantaloupe juice is a filipino thing, at least I assume it is because only other filipinos know what I am talking about when I describe it.  Anyway, it is delicious and I was shocked to realize I have never made it for my kids. I made some for them recently and they love it.  Then I took it another step further and made it into a popsicle, which they love even more…(probably because they aren’t used to juice that you need a fork to finish. Oh I forgot to mention that part…)

Here it is, sweet deliciousness.

You need:
a ripe cantaloupe
this scraper thingy that you can get at the Asian store or grater works too (My mom used to use this utensil that looks like a lemon zester but had slightly larger in diameter “zesting” holes)
1 tsp of vanilla
1/2 to 3/4 cups of sugar (or truvia ideal blend)
about 6 cups of cold water
a mesh strainer

First I cut the cantaloupe in half and scooped out the guts and seeds into a bowl that I set aside. (Save the guts!!!)

Then I cut the cantaloupe in slices and scraped/grated the fruit into long strips. I grated them straight into my juice pitcher. (Yes, this is pretty messy.)

After all the fruit is “pulped” into the pitcher, pour in about 4 cups of cold water.

Put the guts that you set aside in the mesh strainer, position it over the pitcher, and pour the remaining cold water over it. I then squeeze all the juicy goodness from the cantaloupe seeds and guts to make sure it goes into the pitcher.

Mix in the sugar to taste and add the vanilla. Stir, chill, then enjoy.

This drink puts the whole “lots of pulp” label to shame since it is filled with stringy pulp. My kids got yummy juice plus all the fiber that is lot in traditional juices.

The magic, though, really happened after we froze the juice into popsicles. The pieces of fruit froze into a refreshing poolside treat. Try it! It’s different but tasty. Eating this popsicle was like reliving my childhood summers–frozen and served on a stick.

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