Easy Healthy Summer Treats! 

Fast, easy, healthy treats for you this summer, whether you are looking for some low calorie treats for yourself  or want to serve the kids up some fruity treats. Believe me, my kids love chocolate and sweets as much as the next kid but they will also happily eat treats like this that don’t contain any sugar and this is what is important to me – that they also have a taste for non-sugary treats. Treats don’t have to contain sugar, there are plenty of things you can do with simply fruit and many more things you can do when you consider; dried fruit, yogurt, Greek yogurt, dark chocolate, cocoa, spices like cinnamon & nutmeg, eggs, wholegrain flours, even veggies (think carrot muffins, I’ve also seen and must try  beetroot brownies and avocado & chocolate mousse!), …. you get the drift!

My favourite easy healthy summer treats – Raspberry Frozen Yogurt Pops

I made these frozen raspberry yogurt pops with the kids as they had friends coming over the next day. These were very simply made with 2 ingredients – a large tub of natural yogurt and 1-2 punnets of very tart raspberries – I love tart raspberries!!  Blitz the yogurt and raspberries (or any other fruit) in a food processor until all the fruit is pureed and pour into ice-pop moulds and freeze for a few hours.

The kids’ favourite easy healthy summer treats – 1-Ingredient Banana Ice-cream

Oh-so simple, 1-ingredient banana ice-cream! Using a food processor, blend 1 banana for 5 minutes until it looks creamy. Pour into ice-pop moulds (or alternatively pour into a silicone muffin tray but remove from freezer before too hard). Optional extra … Pour some pureed berries into the mould first (inch deep) followed by the creamed banana.

Lemon Ice-pops

SHOPPING LIST

¼ tsp maple syrup

½ lemon

20ml boiling water

Cold water

METHOD

You will need ice-pop moulds In a jug, mix maple syrup with just enough boiling water to dissolve the syrup. To measure how much water you need, fill the mould with cold  water, leaving a little space at top. Then pour this water into the jug of syrup & hot water Squeeze in lemon juice. Taste – add more juice if desired Pour mixture back into mould and freeze.

Its important to have a healthy attitude to treats

I really hate the idea of kids thinking that healthy eating is only about mommy getting skinny, I think it’s damaging and it teaches them that you can eat what you want unless you are trying to lose weight. I always tell my kids this is healthy and that is healthy but that’s not so healthy so therefore you can only have a little of that, I don’t actually refer to foods as being bad as that can pose problems too … it’s better to teach them there are bad diets not bad foods, as everything is fine in moderation if the rest of your diet is good.

If you are looking for more ideas for healthy treats for kids you will find plenty in my new recipe book! bbc