Green 'sickles

Now that warm weather is upon us we are delving into more cool sweet treats for afternoon snacks and after dinner desserts. These green 'sickles are so far our favorite indulgence. Though sweet and delicious they are also chalk full of nutrition as well. The green color comes from several large handfuls of kale, spinach and collard leaves.

I used this idea of a green smoothie recipe from Ali and Tom's website Nourishing Meals.com Really any smoothie you love will make great popsicles and give your kids a great nourishing snack during the hot summer months. Here's the recipe I used:

In a blender add the following:
1 honey crisp apple (I used a gala apple)
1 1/2 barlett pear
1/2 of a lemon only its juice
1/2 inch chunk of fresh ginger ginger. (leave the skin on but it is up to you)
1-3 T of maple syrup (I added this because when the smoothie freezes the flavors diminish some so adding a little natural sweetener can keep the sweet and it gives the pop a better consistency)
1 1/2 cups no sugar added apple juice ( you may not need this if you are using a vita mix...I used a ordinary blender)

Blend all of this until well incorporated and then add:
1 1/2-2 collard leaves (with or without the thick vein)
1 1/2 -2 Kale leaves
1 -1 1/2 fist fulls of spinach.

Add more no sugar added apple juice if needed and blend away. Once the mixture is well blended pour into a mold. Set in your freezer and later you will have a nice frozen treat.

Yummy!