State officials say: Eat frozen treats
This week’s edition of Vida contains a brief featuring state officials’ recommendations for staying cool in extreme heat. My favorite piece of advice is:
“Avoid hot foods and heavy meals – they add heat to the body. Eat frozen treats.”
I’ve been making my own frozen treats for the past couple weeks, and these popsicles are the sole reason I have remained semi-sane during my first Fresno heat wave. (Is it really going to be over 100 degrees for the foreseeable future?!)
Image from Eating Well
You can make frozen treats, too! Just buy some cheap, plastic popsicle molds (mine are from Target) and then start filling them with sweet, fruity, juicy blends of goodness. So far, I’ve made blackberry yogurt popsicles, raspberry chocolate chip popsicles, chai popsicles, acai popsicles, and mango and coconut-milk-yogurt popsicles. And yes, they are all as amazingly refreshing as they sound.
Need some help getting started? Check out a few of these popsicle recipe recipes from Eating Well Magazine and Tree Hugging Family. Happy paleta eating!
Homemade popsicles? That’s cool! Yes, pun intended (Yeah, I know, I know). Great choice of ingredients. But, before I share my own recipe for keeping cool during these record-breaking temperatures, let me pause for a moment of reflection: I’m imagining our state officials eating frozen treats while talking about the budget!
Okay, enough. I’ve been keeping it on the cool side with the classic smoothie. Making them at home costs a fraction of what you would pay at Sonic Burger or at some overpriced ice cream joint.
Here’s my concoction: Ice (crushed or cubed, doesn’t matter because it’s blended), a bit of two-percent milk, orange juice (yes, OJ to make it sweet), bananas, apples, yogurt (strawberry, it’s the only way to go), and finally, real strawberries. Only thing is: My Margarita drink mix is stored in the cabinet over my blender, which sits on the counter. So, each time I blend together the ingredients for another Heavenly smoothie, I find myself in a short debate, with myself. I usually opt for the non-alcoholik drink, or else my speling is adversely affected.
Dan The Man
21 Jul 09 at 5:03 pm