Brutal cold lunch truth.
Packing a healthy lunch to take for work or school isn’t always easy. At least at my house, sometimes my family makes negative comments about what is (or is not) available to choose from. I know it’s hard to believe…but sometimes they even complain! I started making these fruity jars of slush to add some popsicle-like fun. Actually, I store the jars in the bottom of the deep freeze until I want to make them available, like a well guarded secret. Tricky, right? To my delight, when I pull these from the freezer I never get one request for taking hot lunch. I usually have to say, “Wait, please don’t eat them all! I want one, too!” Try them and see what happens to the standard packed lunch at your house…I highly recommend pairing them with Baked Egg Cups!
Ingredients
- Strawberries, sliced and frozen, 12 oz
- Fruit cocktail in syrup, 40 oz
- Crushed Pineapple, 20 oz
- Bananas, 3 diced
- Orange Juice concentrate, frozen, 12 oz
Partially thaw strawberries so they can be separated.
Mix all ingredients together including all the juices from the canned and frozen fruits.
Pour into 4 or 8 ounce jelly jars or small styrofoam cups with lids (purchase from a restaurant supply store).
Freeze upright until solid, minimum 12 hours.
Place in lunchbox or picnic basket directly from the freezer. Ready to eat approximately four hours later.
Notes
Almost any fruit fresh or frozen can be substituted. Try to keep the juice amount and total volume approximately the same for best results. * I try to buy BPA free canned fruits if available. * This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.
Don’t forget the spoons!
If you are taking these on a picnic or sending them in a lunchbox, the rookie mistake is forgetting to send a spoon. This spoils the fun in a hurry, trust me…I may or may not have done this.
All fruit amounts are approximate.
If you add more fruit you will need more jars. Simple math, right? Just keep in mind you will need some syrup or juice in the recipe to freeze it all together as you find your favorite mix of fruits. I make a mix of 8 ounce and 4 ounce jars. That has changed based on the age of my kids and the size of their appetites at lunch time. A good rule, however, is to use 4 ounce jars for kids under second grade. This way they still get a balance of other good stuff in that lunch box.
In the past, I have used styrofoam cups sold with lids from a restaurant supply store. This works, too, but both have pros and cons. The styrofoam cups are light-weight and disposable when you are finished with the fruit. This is good. Occasionally, a small hole would get poked in the cup somehow if it was thawing in a lunchbox and one of my children happened to sit on their backpack with their lunchbox inside. That was messy. So, depending on the situation, jars are my first choice.
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