My girls and Second Son adore popsicles. The ones at the store are expensive or full of high fructose corn syrup or both! A few years ago, I used some gift certificate money to buy these Tovolo Star Ice Pop Molds, which I had read were BPA-free. I loved them so much, I bought a second set. All summer long, I leave enough room for them on the top shelf of my freezer and try to keep them filled. I like to send the girls outside with one each just after I put the baby down for his nap. By the time they come back in (sticky, of course), he's sleeping well and doesn't wake when they make a little noise.
It takes about five minutes to fill them up and another three minutes to clean up the mess. They usually have to stay in the freezer overnight before they're chilled enough to eat, but I bet it'd be faster in the deep freeze.
When I make popsicles, I use one cup of apple juice and one and a half cups of frozen fruit (whatever is in the freezer). I blend it up and pour it in - so very easy! First Daughter loves to put the tops on for me. The "recipe" is very forgiving; I've used other kinds of juice and yogurt for different tastes or textures. I've dropped marshmallows or tiny chocolate candies in before putting on the tops. I've made instant pudding and poured it in. I've even made hot chocolate and poured it in. My girls will eat all of it. (First Son just doesn't like any kind of popsicles. Ice cream is about the only thing he'll eat cold.) I've read some people put in a little honey or corn syrup to soften them up, but I've never had my children complain they're too hard.
These molds are easy to use and easy to clean. I just put them in the soapy water and pretty much rinse them out a few minutes later. (I think they're dishwasher-safe, but I hand-wash mine.) To get the popsicle out, run hot water over them for a few minutes. If the top comes off without the popsicle, just put the top back on and put them back in the freezer.
We dropped one once right out of the freezer and can see the crack in the plastic, but it still holds the liquid and freezes just fine.
Beware, though, some fruits stain badly. I can usually get out blueberry and strawberry but the blackberry (or something) in our frozen berry mix did not come out at all. Sometimes I make the girls change into "popsicle clothes" before they can eat one.
I only wish I could buy more of the pop molds without the star base (for less than the whole set). Then I could pull them off the base when they're frozen, leave them in a pile in the freezer and make more!
