Popsicles for Pennies

You can make popsicles cheaply and deliciously out of all kinds of wonderful things. All you need are some popsicle molds and something sweet to put in them. Get the popsicle molds at garage sales (Tupperware popsicle molds are easy to find there). Then fill your molds with any of the following and freeze:

• Juice (any kind)
• Leftover soda (that may have gone flat in a two liter bottle)
• Kool-aid
• Leftover yogurt (you can sweeten it with jelly or fruit if it's plain)
• Pudding
• Puréed fruit
• Chocolate milk
• Fruit Cocktail or the juice from canned fruit
• Leftover Fruit Shakes
• Whipped topping and fruit
• Jello/Gelatin
• Apple Sauce or Cranberry Sauce
• Pie Filling (I would tone this down with yogurt)
• Jam Jar Cleanout (from the Tightwad Gazette): Get all of the jam out of that empty jar by putting some milk in it, putting the lid on and shaking. Pour the flavored milk into a popsicle mold.

Fun Ideas

Striped: Layer popsicles with diffent colored or flavored layers of pudding, yogurt, or jello.

Parfait Pops: Layer with whipped topping in between. Yummy!

Party Pops: Add sprinkles, chocolate chips, marshmallows, nuts or coconut to your popsicles. You can also make them wild colors with food coloring.

Rocky Road Pops: 1 package of chocolate pudding, 1/2 cup marshmallows, 1/4 cup peanuts, mix, fill molds and freeze.

Pina Colada Pops: Whirl pineapple juice, coconut and banana in a blender, then fill molds and freeze.

Dreamsicles: Mix 1-2 teaspoons Tang® and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract with milk. You can adjust to your taste. Fill molds and freeze.

Rocket Pops: Layer red, then white, then blue Kool-Aid, juice or Jell-O for festive popsicles, reminiscent of what the ice cream man used to sell. Here are some ideas for mix-and-match rocket pops: Red: Red Kool-Aid, fruit punch, berry juice, red Jell-O or white with red food coloring (may turn out pink) White: White grape juice, milk, yogurt, coconut or vanilla pudding, vanilla fruit shake Blue: Blue Kool-Aid or Jell-O, or white with blue food coloring. Note: This is really easy if you just start off with white, split amount in three parts, and color one part red and one part blue. The kids won't notice it's all the same flavor. Click here for another recipe for Rocket Pops.

Fizzy Lifting Pops: Mix club soda and gelatin to make bubbly Jell-O, then freeze in molds. You could also try mixing club soda and juice, then freeing. Jell-O sells a line of "Sparkling Jell-O" that captures the bubbles when you add the club soda. It's cool! Wait till it goes on sale for 25 cents a box, then stock up!

Chocolate Banana Crunch Pops: This is a family favorite. Get bananas when they are cheap. Melt some chocolate and a little paraffin wax (yes, the kind for canning, it's ok to eat-it's in every candy bar) in the microwave (usually just 1-2 minutes will melt it). Dip bananas in chocolate and roll in chopped peanuts. Place on cookie sheet covered with waxed paper, and freeze. You can put a stick on the end if you want, we never do. They are wonderful and cheap to make.

Be sure to also see:

• Red White & Blue Popsicle Rockets Recipe