Make Your Own Frozen Summer Treats – Frugal Challenge
My family loves all those yummy frozen treats that look so pretty in the grocery store, but in order to buy them each what they want, my grocery budget would be seriously depleted. However, the nice thing about figuring out how to live a frugal lifestyle is you have to get creative to save money. That’s when you come up with the best ideas to live well and not sacrifice every luxury.
Of course, many people know how to make a popsicle, so I won’t go into a lot of detail here. I’m just going to share a few ideas for frozen treats that our family has been experimenting with. We’ll start with just a few favorites.
1) Classic Kool-Aid Popsicle. The classic Kool-Aid popsicle is certainly a tradition in our house. Mix up a batch of any flavor Kool-Aid, using a bit less water so the flavor is more intense, pour into either popsicle forms or plastic cups with popsicle sticks inserted (purchase at any hobby or party store), and stick in the freezer. Do this in the evening and you will have popsicles for a treat after lunch the next day.
2) Yogurt Fruit Popsicle. Take the classic popsicle up a notch or two with yogurt and fruit. Use a plain yogurt, drained overnight in a colander in the refrigerator. Mix together the yogurt with any fruit you like, smashed up nicely, a squeeze of lemon, and a dash of sugar. Put this mixture into plastic cups with popsicle sticks and place in the freezer. Again, do this in the evening so your yogurt pops are ready when you are the next day.
3) Drumstick-style Ice Cream Cone. Even fancy drumstick-style ice cream cones can be made at home rather than buying the pre-packaged ones. A box of the classic cylindrical sugar cones is relatively inexpensive, and you don’t need a fancy ice cream. You will need a way to keep the cones upright in the freezer. A wire shelf works well if you have one, or a shoe box with appropriate size holes cut out of the bottom works. Just be sure to cover the box with wax paper before placing the cones in the holes. A real drumstick-style cone has a drop of chocolate in the bottom that keeps the melting ice cream from running out. Purchase plain old chocolate coating, the cheap stuff. It works better and is easier to use than real chocolate. Melt down a small amount to drip in the bottom of your cones. Another ice cream parlor trick is to drop a Malted Milk Ball into the cone before filling with ice cream.
Once you finish that, scoop the ice cream into the cones, pressing down gently to fill the cone up, then make a nice round top with a final scoop. Place in the freezer until the ice cream is good and hard. Now, melt enough of your chocolate to top each cone. Remove the cones from the freezer and quickly dip each one in the melted chocolate and place back in holder. If you want to be real fancy, you may dip the cone’s chocolate topping into some chopped nuts. Place back in freezer until chocolate hardens, remove and wrap in plastic, sealing tightly, and return to your tray in the freezer.
Won’t your family be surprised when they ask for a freezer treat and you produce your very own homemade specialties? Because you can make them for less than it costs to buy, and because you can use fresh, wholesome ingredients, you’ll feel just fine about providing your youngsters with all the treats their little hearts desire!
June 29th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Thank you so much. Such a neat thing to do. My kids love popsicles all year long and it’s getting a little expensive. I can’t wait to try these, especially the drumstick. Thanks!
June 29th, 2009 at 11:22 am
We make mini ice cream sandwiches by sandwiching a scoop of ice cream between two cookies and wrapping them up to set up in the freezer. We have made them with sugar cookies, and chocolate cookies. We also sandwiched reece’s cup ice cream between peanut butter cookies. My youngest daughter plans to open a popsicle stand this summer to sell her homemade ice cream treats.
June 29th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
My husband and I are in love with Cold Stone Creamery, a semi-gourmet ice cream shop, in our area. They have half-off Wednesdays, which we frequently attend, making the grand total for the 2 of us $5 for our favorite treat. The ice cream comes with different mix-ins, such as marshmellows, chocolate, peanut butter, cookie dough, among a long list. Our favorite is called “Peanut Butter Cup Perfection” which we have now decided to make at home. We buy our favorite chocolate ice cream, thawed just enough to be able to move it around. We also store the cutting board in the freezer for an hour or two before, just to keep the ice cream a little colder. On the cutting board, we mix into the ice cream the chocolate sauce, peanut butter and a Reese’s peanut butter cup for each of us. The concoction goes back in the freezer to re-freeze in little dishes (I’d eat the whole thing if I made more at a time!) and its a fun treat that is equal in taste to Cold Stone, but almost half the price!
June 29th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
We had popsicles all the time when I was growing up, with homemade yogurt and foraged blueberries. I had forgotten about that!! I really need to try some of these things. Just have to make a little room in the freezer… Thanks
July 4th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
When I was a little kid, my mom used to take prepared chocolate and pistachio instant pudding and scoop it into ice cream cup cones and freeze those (I can’t remember if she wrapped them in plastic—I would). The pudding only came to just above the rim, but it filled up the bottom very well. These were a great, cheap, not-very-messy snack in during summer time.
July 24th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
I make popsicles from the juice drained from canned fruit. A good combination is peach juice and juice from the can of wild blueberries in the muffin mix. I also use a mix of homemade yogurt, frozen orange juice concentrate and vanilla instant pudding mix.