I have great memories of hot summer days spent at the beach, running to the kiosk to grab a Split or Banana Paddle Pop. If only my mother knew what was in them!

There’s no need to deprive our kids completely, but be warned – most store-bought ice blocks are full of preservatives and refined sugars, and pose more of a health risk to them than a benefit. Sure, eating the occasional one is alright for our healthy kids, but the reality is that in summertime, our kids can easily hoover down more than one a day. That’s where the Zoku Quick Pop Maker comes in, where you can whip up your favourite healthy ice-blocks within minutes!

It has taken me some experimenting to figure out the Zoku and what will work (I can be daft like that). In the end, I opted for the ‘keep it simple, stupid’ approach and created a couple of recipes that cooled the kids down, provided a well-balanced snack, and tantalised their tastebuds all at once!

The other day my kids could not hide their disappointment when I brought out the old ice blocks that we had previously made in plastic moulds. They like to be involved in the spontaneity and magic of the Zoku – creating, mixing and pouring the mixture and watching it freeze before their eyes.

In only seven minutes you have an icy, delicious flavour explosion!

The recipes I created make a fruit-filled snack full of fibre, vitamins, good fats and protein (yoghurt, milk and little extras to boost the nutritional content of the ice blocks).

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Banana Choc-Honey, Mango Lime, Blueberry Smoothie, Mango Surprise!

Mango Lime

1 – 2 mango cheeks (to taste)
1 cup natural yoghurt
1/2 lime
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Blend all the ingredients, pop into fridge to chill, then pour into the Zoku

Miss 7 loved the mango suprise

Mango Surprise (variation of Mango Lime!)

Chop 1 mango cheek into small cubes
Blend yoghurt, lime and maple syrup
Drop 2-4 mango cubes into bottom of Zoku, pour over the yoghurt mixture and repeat until the top

Could they look any happier?!

Banana Choc-Honey

1 large banana (fresh or frozen)
1 cup milk (I use raw or unhomogenised)
1 tablespoon cacao
1-2 tablespoons raw honey

Blend all the ingredients , pop into the fridge to chill, then pour into the Zoku

Berry Smoothie

I used leftovers from the bluberry version of this recipe so just popped it in the Zoku. No waste and great taste!
Halve the recipe if you just want to make it specifically for the Zoku.

Thank you LimeTreeKids for sending me the Zoku, we plan to have lots of fun beating the heat this summer!

Do you have a Zoku? I’d love to hear your favourite recipes?

Bren x