DIY OTTER POPS: A REFRESHING AND FUN SUMMER TREAT FOR KIDS

As we dive into the warmth of summer, it's essential to have refreshing and fun treats that not only tantalize our taste buds but also provide a healthy twist. One such treat that has become a staple in many households is the DIY otter pop. These colorful and flavorful pops are made from a combination of fruits, veggies, and healthy ingredients like chia seeds, making them an excellent choice for kids (and adults!) looking for a cool and fun way to beat the heat.

One of the standout features of these DIY otters is their versatility. With a few simple ingredients and some creative thinking, you can create pops that are not only delicious but also nutritious and visually appealing. Take, for instance, our Strawberry Watermelon Chia Seed Pop. We start by using a food processor to liquefy our watermelon and strawberries. It's essential to use partially frozen strawberries, as they add natural sweetness and flavor to the mix. Once the mixture is smooth and creamy, we add chia seeds, which provide a boost of omega-3s and fiber. Chia seeds also help thicken the mixture, making it perfect for pops.

Brooks, our trusty sidekick, takes over next, adding the chia seeds to the mixture and giving it a quick stir. The mixture is then set aside for 30 minutes, allowing the chia seeds to expand and give the pop its unique texture. Once the mixture has thickened, we fill our pops molds with the mixture, leaving about half an inch of space at the top to ensure they don't overflow when frozen.

Now, let's talk about our Red White and Blue Pops, affectionately known as "American Pops" by Brooks. For the red pop, we use raspberries and add some grated carrot for a burst of color and nutrition. The raspberry puree is created by defrosting the berries and blending them with a little bit of juice. Next, we create our blueberry puree by defrosting those lovely blueberries and adding a splash of juice to get them flowing smoothly through the food processor. The mixture is then combined with yogurt (we prefer regular yogurt for its thinner consistency) and topped with more yogurt for an extra creamy treat.

Last but not least, we have our Orange Pop, which features half an orange and some mango puree. To add a pop of color to this recipe, Brooks sneaks in some grated carrots. The mixture is blended until smooth, and the pops are filled with a generous helping of the delicious concoction.

When it comes to making these DIY otter pops, patience is key. We recommend freezing them overnight for optimal results. But don't worry if you're short on time – Brooks has a trick up his sleeve: filling the pop molds halfway through the freezing process will give you a perfectly frozen treat in no time. And when the moment of truth arrives, your kids (and you!) will be rewarded with a refreshing and delightful snack that's both healthy and fun.

So go ahead, get creative, and make your own DIY otter pops today! With a few simple ingredients and some imagination, you'll be well on your way to creating a summer of treats that are not only enjoyable but also nutritious. Who knows what other flavors and combinations you'll come up with? The possibilities are endless, and we can't wait to see what you create next!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi guys my kids recently came across otter pops for the first time and have not stopped talking about them since but they are basically just full of water and sugar and food coloring so of course we had to find a way to make our own so today we're going to share with you three delicious all natural diy otter pops i'm meg and i'm passionate about finding ways to make life with kids easier in the kitchen so for all of the otter pops you will need a special plastic bag show them what it looks like it's a long rectangle zips at the top and you can find these in our amazon store i will leave that link below and then you will most likely need a funnel show them what it looks like you can just use a tiny one sometimes if you're using something that's super liquidy for the ingredients then you don't need it but i do like to have one on hand and then finally if your kids complain of cold fingers these guys are super cool they're neoprene and you just slip the pop right in the fingers don't get cold right bricks is a huge fan of these so let's talk about the rest of our ingredients so the first thing we're going to do is a strawberry watermelon chia seed pop so we'll use a food processor to get everything liquid starting with our watermelon brixie we'll put that in there and i find that if you cut up a watermelon it tends to go bad pretty quickly so this is a really nice way to extend the life next i have some strawberries they're kind of like partially frozen you can use them frozen unfrozen whatever put oh he's already got them in there and next we're gonna whip it up puree it so i'll put the top on and then brook so you can start it all right so our strawberries and watermelon are totally liquefied i'm going to pour them out into a bowl and then brooks is going to add the chia seeds now these are so great because they have omegas and a little bit of fiber but they do need to expand a little bit before you put them in the freezer so he's going to sprinkle all of them in there and then give it a quick stir and now we'll set it aside for 30 minutes before we fill our pops our mixture is all set you can see it's thickened up a little bit and next up we're going to fill our pops so i got one open now i have a trick to making these fill a little bit easier only do this if you're healthy but and then i'm gonna put my funnel in here and brooks is gonna do the scooping so scoop a bunch in there and we'll see it all get in the chia seeds look like watermelon seeds you want to leave about half an inch empty so you can actually close the pot and then once it's zipped i have just a plastic mason jar that can go in the freezer to help me put it upright and now we'll put it in the freezer next up we have our red white and blue pops which brooks calls our american pops and for the red we're using some raspberries you want to show them what that looks like so i've thawed these raspberries which gives off a little liquid and that is perfect because it really helps them puree so you can put those in the bowl and next up i'm going to sneak in a little veggie with these red peppers so brooks you put them right in there and then we need to make our blueberry puree so again i've defrosted these and they have a little juice brooksy we'll put those in there we'll put the top on and puree and you want to process these pretty well because of the skin on the blueberries so brixie do you want to hold the bag for us get it open i unzipped it and then i'm going to use a funnel for this one so put it in and then i'll scoop the raspberry to start it's going to be so pretty when it goes in it's pretty it does look pretty cool mommy thank you and next the vanilla yogurt and you can really use a regular yogurt or greek yogurt for this i like the regular because it's a little bit thinner goes through the funnel easier and next up we have the nice blue of the blueberries oh loving that loving that and then let's top it with a little bit more yogurt that looks delicious and finally we have our orange pop so brooks is going to take half of an orange that i peeled put it into sections put it into the food processor and then we have a little bit of mango you can use fresh or frozen that goes in there and then finally we're gonna sneak in a little veggie what's that carrots grated carrots so put that in there great for color kids won't even really taste it and then brix will put the top on for us to puree for this pop we don't need a funnel because it's so liquid so i'll just hold one of the pops open and brooksy will pour it right in smells so good this one perfect i usually freeze my pops overnight in the freezer but of course i had some already made so brooks could show you guys how awesome they are push it up take a bite show them what it looks like pretty darn good so yummy yummy so i love these diy otter pops because you can pretty much make them your own try different fruits and veggies different add-ins like chia seeds and mix it up so your kids are happy all summer long thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you next time bye guys now i'd be really impressed if you could shoot a hoop ah basketballhi guys my kids recently came across otter pops for the first time and have not stopped talking about them since but they are basically just full of water and sugar and food coloring so of course we had to find a way to make our own so today we're going to share with you three delicious all natural diy otter pops i'm meg and i'm passionate about finding ways to make life with kids easier in the kitchen so for all of the otter pops you will need a special plastic bag show them what it looks like it's a long rectangle zips at the top and you can find these in our amazon store i will leave that link below and then you will most likely need a funnel show them what it looks like you can just use a tiny one sometimes if you're using something that's super liquidy for the ingredients then you don't need it but i do like to have one on hand and then finally if your kids complain of cold fingers these guys are super cool they're neoprene and you just slip the pop right in the fingers don't get cold right bricks is a huge fan of these so let's talk about the rest of our ingredients so the first thing we're going to do is a strawberry watermelon chia seed pop so we'll use a food processor to get everything liquid starting with our watermelon brixie we'll put that in there and i find that if you cut up a watermelon it tends to go bad pretty quickly so this is a really nice way to extend the life next i have some strawberries they're kind of like partially frozen you can use them frozen unfrozen whatever put oh he's already got them in there and next we're gonna whip it up puree it so i'll put the top on and then brook so you can start it all right so our strawberries and watermelon are totally liquefied i'm going to pour them out into a bowl and then brooks is going to add the chia seeds now these are so great because they have omegas and a little bit of fiber but they do need to expand a little bit before you put them in the freezer so he's going to sprinkle all of them in there and then give it a quick stir and now we'll set it aside for 30 minutes before we fill our pops our mixture is all set you can see it's thickened up a little bit and next up we're going to fill our pops so i got one open now i have a trick to making these fill a little bit easier only do this if you're healthy but and then i'm gonna put my funnel in here and brooks is gonna do the scooping so scoop a bunch in there and we'll see it all get in the chia seeds look like watermelon seeds you want to leave about half an inch empty so you can actually close the pot and then once it's zipped i have just a plastic mason jar that can go in the freezer to help me put it upright and now we'll put it in the freezer next up we have our red white and blue pops which brooks calls our american pops and for the red we're using some raspberries you want to show them what that looks like so i've thawed these raspberries which gives off a little liquid and that is perfect because it really helps them puree so you can put those in the bowl and next up i'm going to sneak in a little veggie with these red peppers so brooks you put them right in there and then we need to make our blueberry puree so again i've defrosted these and they have a little juice brooksy we'll put those in there we'll put the top on and puree and you want to process these pretty well because of the skin on the blueberries so brixie do you want to hold the bag for us get it open i unzipped it and then i'm going to use a funnel for this one so put it in and then i'll scoop the raspberry to start it's going to be so pretty when it goes in it's pretty it does look pretty cool mommy thank you and next the vanilla yogurt and you can really use a regular yogurt or greek yogurt for this i like the regular because it's a little bit thinner goes through the funnel easier and next up we have the nice blue of the blueberries oh loving that loving that and then let's top it with a little bit more yogurt that looks delicious and finally we have our orange pop so brooks is going to take half of an orange that i peeled put it into sections put it into the food processor and then we have a little bit of mango you can use fresh or frozen that goes in there and then finally we're gonna sneak in a little veggie what's that carrots grated carrots so put that in there great for color kids won't even really taste it and then brix will put the top on for us to puree for this pop we don't need a funnel because it's so liquid so i'll just hold one of the pops open and brooksy will pour it right in smells so good this one perfect i usually freeze my pops overnight in the freezer but of course i had some already made so brooks could show you guys how awesome they are push it up take a bite show them what it looks like pretty darn good so yummy yummy so i love these diy otter pops because you can pretty much make them your own try different fruits and veggies different add-ins like chia seeds and mix it up so your kids are happy all summer long thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you next time bye guys now i'd be really impressed if you could shoot a hoop ah basketball\n"