I love Popsicles and ice pops year round, not just during the summer months. I think they are a great way to enjoy a sweet treat without the fat and calories. Some are even low in sugar or sugar free making them the ideal snack.
Sadly a lot of the ice pops you find in the store are filled with dyes and other not-too-good-for you ingredients. Think about it… that blue ice pop has to be colored with something? It’s colored with blue dye. Ewww.
Many children have bad reactions to food dyes, as well as dairy products and products that contain gluten. That is why many parents opt to make their own treats and snacks. That way they know exactly what their child is consuming.
I have made my own ice pops in the past. I have used ice pop molds or even something as simple as a paper cup and a Popsicle stick (fill the cup with fluid and freeze a little. Add in the stick then freeze until solid. Remove from the cup or peel the cup away and enjoy). Making your own is certainly easy, and it’s great knowing that you know exactly what they were made from. In the past I have used fruit juices and sugar free beverage mixes.
These kind of ice pops are great, but they are no exactly portable. You can’t really tuck them in a cooler and take on the go with you. You also wouldn’t want your child eating one in the car because you know it’s going to make a big mess, especially when it starts to melt.
There is a solution to making homemade ice pops more portable – Zipzicles!
Zipzicles are clear plastic Ziploc-type bags that you simply fill with your favorite beverage, zip close and pop in the freezer. When it hardens you have your very own ice pop that you can grab and take on the go with you. It’s literally that easy!
Zipzicles sent me a package to try out for myself. The package contained 12 Zipzicle baggies.
My kids came up with a few ideas about what they wanted in the Zipzicle bags. So we made a variety of ice pops. Unfortunately my kids used Dr. Pepper in a couple of them. When they expanded the Zipzicle bags ripped open and there was slushy Dr. Pepper all over the freezer. We had to toss them out. There was no way we could reuse those bags.
There is a fill line on each bag but I made sure my kids DIDN’T reach the fill line, just to be on the safe side.
The remaining flavors were made from orange juice (straight out of the container) and cranberry juice.
Filling the bags was easier then I thought. We just pinched the bag open so that the mouth was wide enough to pour in the beverage. You can use a funnel if you have one too.
It’s best to let them stand upright in a cup in the freezer. We used a spare plastic cup for ours.
The hardest part about using the Zipzicles was waiting for them to freeze so that the kids could enjoy them.
The bags can open and close easily with the small Ziploc-type zipper at the one end. You can also reuse them over and over again. Simply wash them out, rinse well, check for any holes and then refill with a new beverage.
There is an area on each bag where you can write down what flavor the Zipzicle is. That is a great idea! That means you can create several varieties to serve to guests at a birthday party or backyard barbecue. There are plenty of recipes on the Zipzicle website to give you some inspiration, or you can come up with your own recipes.
On their website there is a recipe for “Swamp Monsters” which is a Zipzicle with a Gummy Worm frozen inside the liquid. The Strawberry-Lemonade and Tangy Blueberry sound yummy too. You can even create creamy Zipzicles! There is a recipe for Root Beer Creamsicles. I am going to try and make an Orange Creamsicle using orange juice and milk. Yummy!
It’s important to note that Zipzicles are BPA-free and recyclable.
Zipzicles are affordable too! They are only $2.99 for package of 12. You can find them at several retail locations or order them online at www.Zipzicles.com.
Personally I think this is a fabulous idea. It’s one of those products that make you think why someone didn’t think of it sooner. 🙂
Kimberly
*I received free product samples in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and were not influenced in any way.
Audra Weathers says
I have gotta get some of these for my daughter. I love how they can be used over and over! 🙂