Friday, June 22, 2012

Red White and Blue Star Pops!


I am so excited to share this recipe I created this past week!  Just in time for the 4th of July, but they are a fun treat for any summer occasion.  What I love about them, is that they are all-natural, organic, and sugar-free!  No icky food dyes, or who knows what is in some of the frozen pops from the store.  Plus you get the bonus of making these with your kids...we had a blast!  Now these do take time, so plan on that, but they are easy!  Most of the time is spent waiting for each layer to freeze before you can add the next one.  Worth the little effort it is.  They are super cute and yummy!

Gather your ingredients (Missing is the vanilla which I chose to add at the last minute...)  You can get the awesome star molds from Tovolo off Amazon.com.

You simply boil the fruit (separately with a Tbs. of water each), and puree in a blender or food processor.  Directions given in the recipe below.  Here is the strawberry layer ready to freeze.

The yummy yogurt layer.

The final blueberry layer!

Please excuse the poor quality picture here, but it was hot out! :)  I had a enough of each layer left over to even make 6 mini ones...so fun!

Red White & Blue Star Pops

2 Cups Fresh Organic Strawberries, quartered
2 Cups Fresh Organic Blueberries
2 Tbs. Water, divided
1 Cup Plain Organic Yogurt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 Tbs., and 6 tsp. Organic Agave Nectar, divided


Place the berries (strawberries in one pan, and blueberries in another), in medium sized sauce pans on the stove.  Add 1 Tbs. of water to each pan.  Bring each to a boil, then loosely cover and simmer for 5 minutes.  Puree each in a food processor or blender separately with about 3 tsp. of agave nectar each.  (I only used 2 tsp., and we all agreed they could be a tad sweeter, but you can sweeten to taste!)  Transfer blueberry mixture to a container with a top when cool, and place in the refrigerator for later.  Using a small spoon, fill each mold 1/3 the way up with the strawberry mixture.  Place in the freezer upright and freeze for 3 hours. When the 3 hours are about up, mix the yogurt with the vanilla, and 2 1/2 Tbs. of agave nectar well with a whisk.  Add the yogurt layer to 2/3 the way up the mold.  Freeze for another 3 hours.  After frozen, add the final blueberry layer.  Gently, but firmly, add the top of the mold.  (It can be tricky getting it to go into the frozen yogurt layer a bit.)  It is best then they freeze 4 hours or overnight.  


Enjoy!

My two cuties enjoying some on a hot afternoon...



Pin It

Seaside Vacation Part 5

The final post from our beach vacation!  We had a great last day on the beach...

This one cracks me up...Matthew and Hope having a struggle over something... ;)

The kiddos!

Family pic...

Surfer J...

He loved it...

Great shot of Matthew mid-air jumping in the waves...

Matthew and Haylie...so sweet!

Wave bros...

Papaw and all his grand kids...

The "Truman House"...Seaside is where the movie "The Truman Show" was filmed starring Jim Carrey.  It was the movie Chris and I went to see on our first official date as well!

The last sunset was beautiful!

Thanks for a great vacation Dad and Mom!!

Seaside Vacation Part 4

Even more from our great beach vacation...

We had a fun meal out with the entire family on Thursday...oysters on the half shell for $5 a dozen during happy hour!

Matthew with his funny "orange" mouth...

Ummm, let's just say family pics on the beach were not a success this year...this is how most of them went...

Probably the closest to a half-way decent one...gotta love life with a 4 year old and 18 month old!

I was happy we got a good "walking away" shot though! :)

Even used it for my blog header... 

You can really see the similarities between Chris and Jacob in this pic...

All the "kids"...

Group shot...

My parents with all their grand kids...

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Seaside Vacation Part 3

Yet another post on our fun beach vacation! :)

Chris and I enjoyed a fabulous date night out!

Chris relaxing in the pool...

Chris and Jacob having fun in the pool...

The kiddos at the pool...

Our sweet nieces Haylie and Hope...

Jacob and I...

Papaw and Haylie with their annual "hat" picture...

The kids enjoying a movie...

Fun times at the beach video:

Friday, June 15, 2012

Seaside Vacation Part 2

A continuing post of more fun from our beach vacation!

Chris wave boarding...

Moi wave boarding...

Jacob and I in the water...

Matthew still enjoyed the shovel this year...

The kiddos at the beach...

Chris and his boys...

Matthew and Hope...

Ahhh, this is the life!

Jacob's favorite place by the pool...the shower!

It was great to have our own pool...

We celebrated Jill's birthday!

Matthew enjoying a snow cone downtown Seaside...

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Seaside Vacation Part 1

We had an excellent time as usual on our annual Selzer/Doherty family vacation.  This year we chose to go to Seaside, Florida.  An adorable little town in the panhandle, near Destin.  The beach was beautiful, and so were the views from our condo!

Chris and Jacob take in the view...

First night on the beach with the boys...

Overlooking the beach...

Papaw and Hope building sandcastles...

The beach can be tiring!

Family pic...

It was wonderful to have our niece Lauren with us this year to help with the boys!

Jill and Matthew...

 Out in the water...

 Who are these old people with hats?? :)

Our little swimmer...

Here is some video of Matthew showing off his new swimming abilities!