Whew!  Have the hot days of summer been rather overwhelmimg for you?  Are the kids a little grumpy? (Ok, maybe even VERY grumpy!)  Are you looking for a way to cool everyone down?  Take a look at what we tried at our house that really helped!  This is so simple you’ll wonder why you haven’t already thought to do it.  Make ICE CUBES but not just out of water!

Would you like to give your kids popsicles but the ones in the store are loaded with extra sugar and you’re trying to cut back?  Just use the juice you normally serve them.  Fill an ice cube tray or two with your favorite juice and freeze.  Could it be any simpler?!

Here are some of the ones we made:

These are great to just suck on like a popsicle.  You could add in some sticks before you freeze them to make them easier to hang onto.  You can use these in a cup of juice and it won’t taste diluted like it can with ice cubes made with water. Mix and match flavors till you find a new favorite – like apple juice ice cubes and grape juice or pineapple juice ice cubes and orange juice. 🙂 Like to make smoothies or slushies?  Throw some of these ice cubes into the blender with whatever other ingredients tempt your munchkins’ taste buds, whiz it up together and slurp away!

My favorite thing that we froze into ice cubes turned out to be PUDDING!  YUMMY!  I used instant vanilla pudding for one batch and then instant chocolate pudding for another batch. They taste great!

My hubby has even been helping me eat these! 😉

As you can see from the pictures, I froze the juice or pudding in the ice cube trays and then dumped them out and stored them in freezer bags in the freezer.  Grab a few out of the bag whenever you need a cool drink or snack.  I’m planning to try a small glass of milk with chocolate pudding ice cubes to make a chocolate milkshake. 🙂

One more suggestion for ice cubes – this one is for the grownups that love iced coffee!  Brew some coffee and freeze it into ice cubes to add when making iced lattes or iced coffee drinks.  🙂  Again, you’ll get the coldness without diluting your drink!  Oooo, and what about taking coffee ice cubes and chocolate pudding ice cubes and some milk in a blender…?!  Or maybe try a Purple Cow shake with some vanilla ice cream, grape juice ice cubes and a bit of milk? The ideas and combinations are endless!  Try a few to cool off and let me know what your favorite combination is!  🙂