15 Easy Frozen Treats to Try This Summer

Chocolate Frozen Yogurt by Chelsea’s Messy Apron

For breakfast for a snack, stay cool with this homemade chocolate froyo!

Easy Frozen Lemonade Drink – Tastes of Lizzy T

Cool down with this frozen lemonade drink!

2o Minute Strawberry Banana Ice Cream by Fit Foodie Finds

This homemade ice cream is simple to make, and has protein powder for an extra boost of nutrition. You’ll need a food processor for this one.

Frozen Oreo Pudding Cake by Lil Luna

Oreos are one of my weak spot! This pudding cake has a variety of delicious textures, perfect for summer evenings.

Blackberry Sorbet by Happiness is Homemade

This sorbet is simple to make, and the recipe can be mixed or exchanged with other different types of berries.

Frozen Yogurt Granola Berry Bites by iHeart Naptime

These froyo bites are a healthy treat to pop in your mouth on a warm day!

Strawberry Pineapple Popsicles by The Little Epicurean

These light popsicles are kid-approved and are super easy for the kids to help make. They’re also made with all-natural ingredients.

Toasted Marshmallow Coconut Milk Ice Cream by How Sweet Eats

On a summer evening, roast marshmallows for this ice cream! Since it uses coconut milk, it also happens to be dairy-free.

Delicious Peach Lemonade Slush by Mom Endeavors

Frozen lemonade is always a great option on humid days!

Easy Three Ingredient Pineapple Sorbet by Fearless Dining

This sorbet is healthy and simple, with only three ingredients!

Skinny Frozen Peanut Butter Pie by Sally’s Baking Addiction

No oven is needed for this delicious frozen pie! It has a variety of chocolate-y flavors and textures great for the whole family.

Watermelon Ice Pops by Eat Yourself Skinny

These watermelon pops are so refreshing! Watermelon is a great fruit for a non-overwhelming flavor, making this a great summer treat.

Cookie Dough Ice Cream by Julie’s Eats and Treats

Cookie dough is my favorite type of ice cream! With homemade bits of chocolate chip cookie, this ice cream is irresistible!

Strawberry Vanilla Yogurt Popsicles by Yellow Bliss Road

Grab some vanilla yogurt for these healthy popsicles.

The post 15 Easy Frozen Treats to Try This Summer first appeared on True Aim.

After giving birth to my 5th child, I really felt like I was dragging. It’s not like your first where you get to take naps whenever the baby sleeps. It isn’t even like the second where you can put them down for a nap. With 5 young kids you are always on the go. I knew I needed to make a change to my eating habits.

I made a resolution that was a lot easier to keep than most that I see people make. Instead of giving up ice cream, I vowed to replace it with 100 Calorie Greek Yogurt from Walmart and eat a salad every weekday. I’ve kept my resolution and feel a lot better for it.

Yogurt Recipes

Yogurt is good on it’s own, but it really satisfies my cravings by adding my own special twist. So instead of ice cream cones, here are 4 different ways I 1-up my Yoplait® Yogurt!

1. Cake Batter – Vanilla or vanilla bean Yoplait® with 1 tablespoon of sprinkles.
2. Cobbler – Peach or Berry Yoplait® with 1 tablespoon granola and a tsp of candied pecans.
3. Cranberry Harvest – Vanilla or Cinnamon Swirl Yoplait® with 1 tablespoon chopped pistachios and 1 tablespoon chopped cranberries.
4. Banana Split – Strawberry Yoplait® with 1-2 tablespoons chopped bananas and 1 tsp mini chocolate chips

These four combinations are full of flavor and taste like a real dessert. My favorite is the Cranberry Harvest because I love the salty crunch of of the pistachios with the sweetness of the cranberries. Click here for more mix-in and yogurt recipe ideas or visit the Yoplait® Pinterest Board.

These are great alternatives to an ice cream party for the kids. They can choose their flavor of yogurt and then help them put in their mix-ins!

Yogurt is also great to use in baking because it keeps everything moist. Here are more yogurt recipes that our family loves.

Pumpkin Donuts with Greek Yogurt

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

3 Healthy Yogurt Snacks Kids Can Make

What kind of yogurt recipes do you like to make with Yoplait®?

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of General Mills. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Healthy Snack Solutions: Yogurt Recipes first appeared on True Aim.

I like to call these better-for-you because you can use healthier ingredients to make them more like breakfast, and less like dessert. It’s just like eating a muffin, but better!

Pumpkin Donut Recipe

To make these pumpkin donuts, instead of buttermilk I use Yoplait Greek 100 Yogurt that I got at Walmart. It makes them puff up nicely.

To mix up the batter, I enlisted my little donut Emma to help Actually she asked to help and how could I say know to such a sweet face!

To make them healthier, in place of refined or brown sugar, I like to use honey or another natural sweetener. Instead of butter, you can substitute apple sauce or apple butter for a more intense flavor. In place of regular flour, try whole wheat pastry flour.

After you make your pumpkin donut batter, you can put it in a gallon ziplock bag and cut the tip off of one end to make it easy to put in the donut tin if you have one. I don’t have one, so I use a mini muffin tin and put about a tablespoon in each mini muffin cup. You can also double the recipe and freeze half of it for later. Just defrost it in the fridge before baking.

You can also try cooking them in a cake ball maker. I’ve tried that too and it works great. Just cook them for 10-12 minutes.

These little babies are versatile! You can also freeze them after they are cooked. To reheat, just warm them from freezing in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

Healthier Pumpkin Donut Recipe with Greek Yogurt

 

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

This pumpkin donut recipe uses greek yogurt to make them light and fluffy, plus reduced sugar and natural ingredients make them more of a breakfast food and less like a dessert.

Author: True Aim

Recipe type: Dessert, breakfast

Cuisine: American

Serves: 2 dozen mini donuts

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp butter, apple sauce, or apple butter
• ½ cup honey or brown sugar
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 container Yoplait Greek 100 Yogurt (about ½ cup)
• 1 cup All purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare your donut pan or muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. Beat together butter, sugar, pumpkin, egg, vanilla and yogurt until smooth.
3. Add in dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.
4. Put batter in a gallon ziplock bag and cut the tip off to help you fill your donut pan or scoop 1 tbsp of the batter into your mini muffin cups.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

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My kids prefer the powdered sugar though! Besides, just a little bit of it goes a long way.

Have you tried to make donuts at home? Share your experience below!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of General Mills. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Healthier Pumpkin Donut Recipe with Greek Yogurt first appeared on True Aim.

So break out the summer food and activities while you still can! Make some watermelon lemonade slushies and head outside to enjoy the beautiful weather while the kids burn off energy chasing each other in a last season game of tag.

Watermelon Lemonade Slushies

These are SO addicting. They taste like sweet and sour candy, but are probably a lot better for you. Well, maybe.

First things first, freeze your watermelon by taking a melon baller and scooping out the balls onto a pan lined with a non-stick sheet or wax paper. My kids LOVE using the melon baller for some reason, so they helped me out with this part. Then, freeze overnight or for at least 3 hrs.

If you are making the lemonade, you’ll want to do that ahead of time too so it can chill in the refrigerator before you add it to the frozen watermelon balls.

I just used some Simply Lemonade to make it fast and easy. Besides, I’m pretending the laziness of summer is still here.

Fill up your blender to the brim with the frozen watermelon balls. If you don’t like your slushies so sweet, then use some crushed ice with the watermelon. Cover the watermelon ice balls with the chilled lemonade and blend until smooth.

What you get is the best slushie flavor and texture. I was temped to just drink them all myself. I served mine in mason jars with straws for the kids and it made 4 jars full.

If you have an overripe watermelon, this would be a great way to use it. I can’t stand eating mushy watermelon, but if you put it in this slushie it will give it a strong watermelon flavor.

So I sipped the last of my summer goodbye. Until next time, I’ll miss you!

The post Goodbye to Summer: Watermelon Lemonade Slushies Recipe first appeared on True Aim.

My kids made a week’s worth of snacks all by themselves! No joke. It was really fun and easy and it just took one day with the help of a little yogurt.

First my daughter made mini Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Muffins. Then, my other kids helped make Yogurt Fruit Popsicles, Frozen Yogurt Sandwiches, and Yogurt Bites.

3 Easy Yogurt Snacks Kids Can Make

First, we started the Frozen Yogurt Sandwiches because it takes a little while for the yogurt to freeze up. We picked 3 different kinds of Yoplait yogurt, now made with 25% less sugar, to put in our sandwiches; strawberry, strawberry cheesecake, and orange cream.

You can add chopped fruit to make these even healthier. I put a little mango in the strawberry because I had a mango I needed to use up.

My daughter helped me keep an eye on the yogurt in the freezer. After 45 minutes, we tested the consistency and stirred it up so it wouldn’t get too hard in spots. Then we checked it every 15 minutes after that, stirring each time.

After about 1 hour and 15 minutes, it became thick, but soft enough to scoop onto our graham crackers. The 3 containers of Yoplait, made 6 large Ice Cream Sandwiches. I cut each into 4 pieces and so they are perfect for snacking!

Yogurt Fruit Popsicles

While the Yoplait yogurt was thickening in the freezer, we made our second snack. We used small paper cups, frozen fruit, 3 different kinds of yogurt, and sticks to make our popsicles.

Emma helped me with this snack and divided about a cup of frozen fruit between 6 small paper cups. Then she scooped the yogurt in and mixed it all up.

The sticks can be used to clean the inside of the cup. After you put the stick in, just tap the cup down on a surface to make sure there is no air on the bottom.

We put those in the freezer and they were ready in about 3 hours. To remove the cups, I just cut a slit in the top and tore off the cup.

Yogurt Bites

This was the easiest snack to make and I did it mostly for my baby, but popping a few of these in my mouth really helps suppress the need for something sweet in the evening before dinner.

I let my son have a little fun with this one. He helped me fill the plastic bag with yogurt and then squeezed it out on a nonstick baking mat. If you don’t have one of those you could use parchment too.

We slipped it in the freezer and then after an hour, they were ready to pop in our mouths for a cool and sweet bite!

Which snack do you think your kids would like the best?

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Yoplait®. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post 3 Easy & Healthy Yogurt Snacks Kids Can Make first appeared on True Aim.

4th of July Snack Plate

To make your snack plate you just combine your favorite red, white, and blue fruit or veggies on a platter. I picked strawberries and blueberries and I also used pineapple cut into triangles to make a star shape in the middle. It might be easier to get a starfruit instead.

For the white in my platter, I used marshmallows. This was a special treat because of the 4th of July celebrations. My kids never eat them otherwise. We’ve also used Jicama before which is an edible root that will soak up flavors from the fruit. I like to put cinnamon on it to give it a little more flavor.

It’s totally up to you what you want to put on your fruit platter. The fun part is arranging it so it’s pretty. My son Colton helped me put all the fruit on the plate.

We talked about how our fruit looked like the colors of the flag and how 4th of July was coming up. He was pretty curious as to what that was. Not sure if he understood, but I did my best to explain it to a 3-year-old.

He sure did like this fruit plate! Gone in seconds, I had to reload it with more yummy fruit! Now I just need to figure out a fun veggie plate that disappears just as fast.

What kind of fruit will you use for your platter?

The post Easy 4th of July Fruit Plate for Kids first appeared on True Aim.

Ice cream is a no-brainer dessert during the hot summer months, but when I want to make it really special, I pull out the stops with my homemade Ice Cream Cake.

It’s really the best way to eat cake! Guaranteed to bring you HUGE smiles and maybe a giddy squeal or two. No need to get out all the extras to serve ice cream on the side, it’s already there. Just slice and you’re good.

Homemade Ice Cream Cake

My favorite kind of ice cream to use is Blue Bunny Cookies and Cream. I’ve tried others in the past, but always ended up having to add extra cookies to the ice cream to make it taste right. With the Blue Bunny kind I get at Walmart, I never have to do that.

You can make this recipe into a round cake by doing the exact same steps, but using a round cake pan and cooking the cake for 20 minutes less. But I really like the rectangle shape because it fits so easily in the freezer.

While the cakes cool, I soften the ice cream at room temperature. Then I cut the tops off the cakes and put one in the bottom of my rectangular pan.

My daughter helps me add raspberry preserves to the cake and then the softened Blue Bunny Ice Cream on top. You can put whatever filling you like. Chocolate syrup is delicious too. On top of that goes the other piece of cake flipped upside down.

I cover it and put it in the freezer for a few hours to harden which makes it easier to put the frosting on. My favorite frosting recipe for this cake is a Vanilla Whipped Buttercream. It is totally optional and you could just top it with a little whipped cream to make it easier. I just like the look and taste the frosting adds.

Chocolate Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Cake

 

Print

Prep time

2 hours

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

2 hours 50 mins

 

The BEST Ice Cream smothered between moist chocolate cake

Author: True Aim

Recipe type: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• 1 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter or margarine
• 1¼ cup granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1½ cups milk
• 3 cups Blue Bunny Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
• ¼ cup Raspberry Jam or Chocolate Syrup

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare bread pans with cooking spray.
2. Combine chocolate chips and butter in a microwave safe bowl and melt them together until smooth.
3. Mix sugar and chocolate with a mixer until well combined. Add vanilla and eggs 1 at a time and beat until fluffy.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Be careful to spoon your flour into your measuring cup and level instead of scooping it directly with the measure cup and compacting the flour.
5. Add the dry mix ½ cup at a time to the wet batter and then add in the milk and mix well.
6. Pour into prepared pans and bake 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If using round pans decrease cooking time to 35-40 minutes.
7. Cool cake completely while softening Ice cream at room temperature.
8. Cut the tops off of your cake making the surfaces level. Grease one of your pans again and return 1 layer of cake to the pan.
9. Top with jam or syrup and cover the cake with the softened Ice Cream. Top with second cake layer cut side down.
10. Freeze for a few hours or until the ice cream has hardened. Remove your cake from the pan with the help of a knife and put on a serving platter or plate.
11. Top with whipped cream or cover with your favorite frosting and freeze until the frosting hardens. Serve with sprinkles or extra cookie crumbles.

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If you’d like to try Blue Bunny Ice Cream for yourself, they are partnering with Chips Ahoy for a yummy in-store demo on the 4th of July at your local Walmart.

Check out even MORE recipes you can make with your favorite Blue Bunny Ice Cream or just follow them on Pinterest! Leave a comment below, which recipe would you like to try and with what flavor?!

The post Chocolate Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Cake first appeared on True Aim.

All my kids love using a knife. It makes them feel all grown up, but there are a few things that I do to make sure they are safe. First, all my knives are very dull. I never let them use a sharpened knife. Next, I make sure they are standing on a sturdy surface and am right next to them just in case something happens.

Easy Fruit Salsa Recipe

This recipe is so easy, the trick is to cut the fruit into small pieces. I usually cut down the whole fruit into manageable pieces for my daughter to finish into little squares. However, the strawberries and kiwi are soft enough for her to do on her own. I think see was concentrating pretty hard while she was cutting everything. How about you?

Apple, Mango, and strawberries make up the majority of this salsa, but you can use any combination of fruit and I think it would be good. For tart fruit, you may need to add more jam or extra sugar.

To serve, we usually make cinnamon tortilla chips in the oven. Those are good even alone! Combined them with this salsa and people will rave about them!

Easy Fruit Salsa Recipe

 

Print

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Amazingly tropical, here's nothing to this salsa, just chop and mix!

Author: True Aim

Recipe type: Side, fruit

Cuisine: American

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 2 Golden Delicious Apples
• 1 Pound Strawberries
• 2 Mangos
• 2 Kiwi
• 1 Pint of berries (usually Raspberries, but can substitute black berries)
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 Tablespoon Strawberry/Raspberry Jam or Jelly
• For Cinnamon Tortillas
• 6 Flour Tortillas
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• Cinnamon & Sugar (about 2 tbs sugar and ½ tea cinnamon)

Instructions

1. Chop apple, strawberries, mango, and kiwi into small ½ inch pieces. Mix with the juice of half a lemon and Jam. Taste and adjust, adding more lemon or jam if needed.
2. For Cinnamon Tortillas, preheat the oven to 375. Butter tortillas on one side and sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar. Use a pizza cutter to slice into triangles.
3. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden and toasted. Cool on wire racks and serve with fruit salsa! Yum!

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Have you made this before? What kind of fruit do you or would you like to put in it?

The post Cooking with Kids: Easy Fruit Salsa Recipe first appeared on True Aim.

Welcome to Mom’s Library

This post is filled with parenting tips, activities for young children, crafts, devotionals, recipes, and more!

Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss the next Library!

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This Week’s Featured Posts…

Homemade Sand Slime

I want to make this so I can play with it myself!

No-Side-Effect Natural Medicine Cabinet

Because of this post, I’m making some changes to my medicine cabinet!

Raspberry Sundae Meringues

If these don’t make your mouth water, something is wrong with your taste buds.

Would you like to participate?

Please follow me and support your fellow bloggers by visiting some links! Grab a button if you were featured! Mom’s-Library free resources for moms

The post Free Resources: Mom’s Library #135 first appeared on True Aim.

Welcome to Mom’s Library

This post is filled with parenting tips, activities for young children, crafts, devotionals, recipes, and more!

Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss the next Library!

Click here to see all Mom’s Library Posts

This Week’s Giveaway!

Entertain Your Kids with eSpectacular!

eSpecatacular Kids is an online video library teaching kids about magic, storytelling, and theater. They are offering one of our readers a 3-month subscription to their video library!  To learn more go to Castle View Academy. To enter your name for a chance to win, just use the Rafflecopter widget below.  Good luck!

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This Week’s Featured Posts…

Crock Pot Lasagna 

Easy to cook and transport.

Baked Cheesy Chicken Nuggets

Guess what kind of crust these have? It’s yummy by itself!

The BEST Slow Cooker Ham

Tastes like candy and melts in your mouth.

Chicken Pot Pie Puffs

My favorite filling in hand-sized puffs.

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Addicting! You can never make enough of these little bites of salty sweet goodness!

Snickers Poke Cake

’nuff said.

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

My aunt always makes these at Christmas time, but anytime is a good time for these!

Oreo & Coke Dump Cake

The title is the how-to. How awesome is that!

No-Bake Eclair Cake

No body better be on a diet at your next potluck because you’ll ruin it by bringing this! They won’t be able to resist.

Cookies and Cream Bars

These are my downfall.

Grain-free Banana Nut Butter Donuts

These look amazing and it is nice to have something for everyone at a potluck.

Easy Strawberry No-Bake Pie 

Skinny Strawberry Lemonade Cake

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    Please follow me and support your fellow bloggers by visiting some links!   Grab a button if you were featured!  

The post Everyone Will Thank You for Bringing Over One of These Recipes! first appeared on True Aim.