Popsicles are a favorite treat for many kids — and their moms. Many of the popsicles you buy at the store, no matter how ‘natural’ they claim to be, are chock full of artificial colors, sweeteners, and who-knows-what. And most popsicles really amount to 3 words: sugar, sugar, sugar.

But let’s face it, popsicles at their core are just frozen liquids, and occasionally solids, that taste good. If you have a freezer, you can make popsicles. And if you have a juicer, you can make pulp-sicles. You can teach your kids the value of conservation and give them less sugar.Cantaloupe, Mint and Mango Juice  1of2

Making the most of juicer pulp

When you juice with your kids, you want them to get the immediate and delicious benefits of the fresh, nutrient-rich juice. So you probably don’t want to freeze a whole batch of juice.

But some of the softer fruits, such as melons and mangoes, leave a lot of juice in their fibers, even after you run them through your juicer (unless you have a dual disc juicer). So using those types of fruit gives you the best of both worlds — delicious juice and delicious pulp.

Cantaloupe, Mint, and Mango Juice

Makes about 4½ cups.

Ingredients

  • 1 cantaloupe, peeled, seeded, and quartered
  • 8-10 sprigs of fresh mint
  • 2 mangoes, halved, seeded, and peeled

Instructions

Process all ingredients through the juicer. Reserve pulp and 2 ounces of juice. Stir and serve.

A reservation

The reason you need to reserve some juice is to add a little bit of flavor and liquid back into your pulp-sicles. While your pulp will be good, it needs a little kick to make it tastier when frozen, since these pops are pretty mild yet refreshing.

Cantaloupe, Mint, and Mango Juice Pulp-cicles

Instructions

  1. Put your pulp and reserved juice into the blender and blend until smooth. This helps bring back a little sweetness and flavor.
  2. Spoon into the molds and use a wooden BBQ skewer to help get the air bubbles out.
  3. Freeze overnight.

The easy trick to getting them out of the mold is to fill a glass with hot water and put the mold in for a few seconds — then the pulp-sicle will slide right out.

Invent your own Pulp-sicles

Now that you’ve tried these pulp-sicles, make up your own recipe and leave it in the comments.