Frozen Fruit Cups
I have learned something about myself this summer: I don’t do the summer months well. I am not sure if it has to do with age, as I am creeping up to the halfway point of my 30’s, or if this summer has just been extra unbearable, but I do not I am not gracefully surviving this summer. Yes, this winter I did day dream of fresh summer air, longer days, gardening and catching lightening bugs with the kids. The reality of this summer has been long hot humid hazy days, millions of mosquitoes at sizes I have never seen before, and you can not even walk across your yard to get your mail without getting covered in sweat, no one wants to garden in this nonsense. The heat seems to be setting off migraines for me, and the air quality is making it difficult to breathe, basically I am counting down the days til Fall, and trying not to heat up my kitchen.
One of the fun things about living in our area (it certainly is not the weather this year) is we get to meet a ton of people from all over the country. Some just passing through, others serving a mission locally and stay for up to 2 years. This recipe for Frozen Fruit cups was given to me by a woman from Texas. I don’t think know I could not survive for a minute in the Texas heat. It is the perfect treat for the kids on these steam-bath days of summer. The frozen fruit cups are cool and refreshing, and the kids love mixing them up. Best part is there is no baking! Mix and freeze, my 7 year old could manage this almost unassisted. We like these still partially frozen, they are really a nice treat and a good way to get more fruit into the kiddos diet.
Like anything you make yourself you are in full control of what goes into your kids snacks. Use fruit cocktail in pear juice to skip the heavy syrups. Add more fresh fruit as it is seasonally available, blueberries in place of some of the bananas is always good. Do not be afraid to experiment with the recipe to make it your own!
Frozen Fruit Cups
Ingredients
- 4 cups frozen peaches (thawed and chopped into large chunks)
- 2 cans mandarin oranges (drained)
- 1 can crushed pineapple (drained)
- 1 can fruit cocktail (drained)
- 4 medium firm bananas (chopped into chunks)
- 2 cups red seedless grapes
- 1 can frozen pineapple-orange juice concentrate (thawed)
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
Instructions
- Combine the peaches, oranges, pineapple, grapes, fruit cocktail, bananas, juice concentrate and lemon juice in a bowl and mix until combined.
- Place in small disposable plastic cups and cover with plastic wrap or foil. Freeze until firm.
- Remove from the freezer 45 minutes to 1 hour before serving to thaw.