Summertime Party Treat Ideas plus an Easy Blueberry Lemonade Popsicle Recipe (#HABAusa)

Thank you to HABA for providing samples of fun silicone molds for us to base this review upon and for providing additional products for our giveaway prize.  All opinions expressed are our own.

Summer is almost here, and finding easy-to-make treats that cool off hot children is a must. HABA has come out with an amazing line of silicone molds that make cooking even easier. This simple but tasty popsicle recipe is sure to delight children and parents alike.

Easy Recipe:  Blueberry Lemonade Popsicles

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

1 cup lemonade

1. Use ½ cup frozen fruit per one cup of juice. We used frozen blueberries and lemonade (not freshly squeezed lemonade) because it makes for a sweet and tart popsicle that we love.

2. Pour all ingredients into a blender and push the “smoothie” (or similar) button.  Continue to blend the ingredients until it is almost completely liquefied. Occasional chunks of fruit are fine...in fact, they make it taste even better.

3. Gently pour into HABA Silicone Popsicle Trays (or Ice Cube Trays), being careful not to over-fill.

4. Freeze on a level surface until completely hardened.

5. Carefully remove popsicles from the silicone trays and enjoy! These do not freeze solid, but instead more of a popsicle texture because of the frozen fruit mixed in.

You can pour these into HABA Silicone Ice Cube Trays too and serve in tea, lemonade, or water for a nice little addition to drinks. While the flavored ice melts, your drink’s flavor starts to change.

These silicone molds are great for parties, barbecues, or just because. The Jungle Snake Silicone Cake Mold was fun to use and we elaborated on our cake by covering it with frosting and decorating it with gumdrop scales, eyes, and a Fruit-By-The-Foot tongue. And we can’t forget the “baby snakes”, aka gummy worms.

All the molds are very well made of sturdy silicone and they are dishwasher, oven, and freezer safe. We look forward to using ours for many years. You can purchase these and all HABA’s amazing products on their website, www.habausa.com. The silicone molds start at $9.49.


Enter to win a set of 5 HABA silicone molds (a $75 value) . . . 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck in the drawing!

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. A random drawing will be held shortly after the contest closing. The winner will be announced here and will be contacted via email. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new winner will be drawn.

Weekend Wishlist: Scrabble Tile Canvas Art, Sbyke (Scooter Bike), Ice Cream Sandwich Maker, and More!

It's Friday!  That means I've been browsing the new sales on Zulily.  I love shopping on the weekends because I only pay shipping on my first order and get free shipping on everything else from Friday through midnight on Sunday.  On holiday weekends, however, Zulily usually extends that free shipping deal for an extra day.  This weekend I only had to pay shipping once from Thursday through Sunday!

In addition to their regular sales events, Zulily is also having Blowout Sales in children's and women's clothing and shoes, as well as in accessories, kitchen, and home furnishings.  Yesterday, I ordered a boys Hurley hooded winter fleece jacket for $17.99.  I was having a tough time finding a hooded fleece jacket for my 9 year old son.  All of them for his age seem to have no hoods.  I'm so glad I ordered it right away because the jacket was gone already this morning.  I couldn't even find it on the website to share a link to it in this post.

What's new on my Zulily wishlist today?

1.  Norpro Ice Cream Sandwich Maker - $7.49 (Originally $11)

2.  Norpro Silicone Ice Pop Maker Set - $8.99 (Originally $14)

3.  'All You Need Is Love' Scrabble Tile Canvas Art - $17.99 (Originally $44)

4.  Yellow Polka Dot Cornhusk Tote - $12.99 (Originally $25)

5.  Silver 'Love' Beaded Leather Cord Bracelet - $16.99 (Originally $38)

6.  Boyz Wear Green & Navy Surf Shorts Set - Boys - $14.99 (Originally $40)

7.  Nannette White Floral Patch Tee Set - Infant, Toddler & Girls - $14.99 (Originally $40)

8.  Matte Black & Lime Green Sbyke - $172.99 (Originally $250)


If you haven't already, be sure to checkout my post "6 Tips for Shopping on Zulily"!  What's on your weekend wishlist from Zulily or somewhere else?

Easy Lactose-Free Milkshake Popsicle Recipes Using #LACTAID Products

This post was written as part of a paid campaign for The Motherhood.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Earlier this year, I attended a webinar to learn about cooking with lactose-free dairy products from celebrity chef and LACTAID spokesperson Melissa D'Arabian.  Out of what I learned from that webinar, the most important thing was that I can easily substitute milk and other regular dairy products called for in recipes with lactose-free LACTAID products.  Even though, I can mostly eat foods containing dairy, like pizza, Alfredo sauce, and ice cream, in small quantities without too much stomach upset, I have been staying away from a few favorites.  One of the treats I miss the most is vanilla milkshakes.  I make them for my husband and children, but I always go without.

Since the summertime weather is upon us, I thought it would be a wonderful treat to make some lactose-free milkshake popsicles for my family that I could enjoy as well.  I experimented with a few different recipes and will share two with you today.  The best part about making milkshake popsicles is that there is always milkshake leftover for you to drink after filling the popsicle molds!

Recipe:  Lactose-Free Berry Milkshake Popsicles

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup LACTAID milk

1-3/4 cup LACTAID Vanilla Ice Cream (packed)

Approximately 1/2 cup of frozen berries

4 to 8 popsicle molds

NutriBullet or blender

Step 1.  Put the lactose-free milk and ice cream into the blender.

Step 2.  Add all the frozen berries to the blender.

Step 3.  Blend for 15 to 20 seconds or until the desired consistency is reached.

Step 4.  Carefully spoon the mixture into the popsicle molds until they are filled to the top.  Then place in the popsicle handles.

Step 5.  Freeze popsicles overnight.  Then remove from the molds and enjoy.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The next recipe is a chunky one.  It calls for peanuts, so if someone in your home has a nut allergy, you can replace the peanuts with small broken pieces of pretzel to get the same salty sweet taste combination.

Recipe:  Lactose-Free Peanut Waffle Cone Milkshake Popsicles

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup LACTAID milk

1-3/4 cup LACTAID Vanilla Ice Cream (packed)

Approximately 40 salted peanut halves
1 large waffle cone broken into small pieces

4 to 8 popsicle molds

NutriBullet or blender

Step 1.  Put the lactose-free milk and ice cream into the blender.

Step 2.  Blend for 15 to 20 seconds or until the desired consistency is reached.

Step 3.  Carefully spoon the mixture into the popsicle molds until they are filled up to 3/4" from the brim.

Step 4.  To each mold, add a few waffle cone pieces and then a few peanut halves.  Use something narrow, like a chopstick, to push the chunks downward in the thick milkshake mixture.  Continue to alternate adding waffle cone pieces and peanut halves until the milkshake is level with the brim of the popsicle mold.

Step 5.  Place in the popsicle handles carefully.

Step 6.  Freeze overnight.  Then remove from the popsicle molds and serve.

My favorite of the two types of milkshake popsicles was the Peanut Waffle Cone.  I might try it with chocolate-covered peanuts next time.  My children, however, all preferred the Berry Milkshake Popsicles and did not care for the chunkiness of the other.  I think it is because they are slow eaters.  If the Peanut Waffle Cone Popsicles are allowed to melt, then the waffle cone can start to become soggy.

Of course, LACTAID products can be used in more than just dessert recipes.  Take a look at this mouthwatering recipe for Lactose-Free Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce shared by Melissa D'Arabian on the Today Show recently . . .

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

If you thought that looked good, be sure to visit Recipes.Lactaid.com for more inspiring ideas on how to make delicious lactose-free entrees, side dishes, soups, desserts, and much more.

Giveaway & Review: Better-For-You Popsicles & Ice Cream Sandwiches (5 Winners) [CLOSED]

Every mom knows that the snacks which are convenient to offer our children are also convenient for us to grab when we need something quick. Popsicle brand ice cream treats has recently confirmed this in a mom survey. That is why their lines of reduced calorie and low-fat products contain more variety than ever.

I have to admit, I use to be a person who refused to go near any food products that even hinted at being low-fat, reduced calorie, or even sugar-free. Now at age 36 and as a mother of 3, I finally have to admit that I am not longer that size 1 college student who could eat anything I wanted and still felt and looked healthy. While my children are still young, it will be easy for me to switch to better-for-you snacks. There are many foods they have not even tried yet, so they will never know the difference.

Fudgsicles are something I remember eating since grade school. They are a perfect example of something my 6 year old had never tried before. That is until I presented him with one of these low-fat Fudgsicles.

Can you tell by this photo whether our son enjoyed his first Fudgsicle experience?

(One suggestion I have for this product . . . it would be helpful to put the flavor on the wrappers when there are 3 varieties in a box. It was easy to distinguish the white chocolate because I could still see the color through the opaque wrapper, but it was impossible to tell which ones were milk chocolate and which were dark.)

************************************************************************

Let's move onto my and my husband's experiences with the 100 calorie Klondike Ice Cream Sandwiches. Having sampled 100 calorie snacks of different types from a wide variety of brands, I think neither of us had any aversions to trying this Klondike product.

I personally could not tell the difference between this better-for-you ice cream sandwich and a regular one. Since ice cream sandwiches are one of my husband's favorite warm weather treats, I highly depended on his opinion. He said that this product, although it was not overly rich, tasted very good. We both agreed that it is something we would certainly purchase and keep handy in our freezer.

You should be able to find better-for-you Popsicle, Fudgsicle, and Klondike ice cream products in your grocer's freezer section. To keep up with the latest ice cream news, you can find Popsicle on Twitter, Klondike on Twitter, and Klondike on Facebook.

Thank you to Unilever for providing us with product samples on which to base this review and for providing coupons for free product as prizes for this contest.

What you can win:
FIVE lucky readers will each receive 2 coupons for free Popsicle brand ice cream products.

Limitations:
This giveaway is open to U.S. addresses only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:
Look through the vast variety of Popsicle brand ice cream treats. Then leave a comment telling me which treat you would try first if you won this contest. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2) For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, blog about this contest linking back to this post AND Popsicle.com . Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments with the link to your blog post.

4) Friend me on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Facebook profile.

5) For 2 extra entries, share the link to this contest post on Facebook. Then leave TWO separate comments with the link to your Facebook profile.

6) Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7) Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8) Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

9) Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

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(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:
This contest will be closed on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!