Pink Lemonade Popsicles!

With the heat wave passing through the Eastern United States, everyone is looking for ways to cool off. So I came up with this homemade popsicle that is great for anytime of the day!

My family is working on being careful with food combinations so that we can have prime digestion after each meal. One of the things we look out for is combining fruits with vegetables. It is alright to have citrus fruits with veggie meals (oranges, grapefruits, lemons, kumquats, etc.); but eating other fruits with vegetables can cause fermentation and prolonged digestion. This is because fruits digest rather quickly, compared to vegetables; and the broken down sugars will begin to ferment if it sits in the stomach acid for too long.

Enough with the yucky A&P stuff (anatomy and physiology). 

For the stated reasons, this recipe uses... BEETS! Hint to the chef: don't tell anyone until after they are done and they want to know. My brothers loved it when they ate it; but when I was informing them of how I intended to make it, they asked me to keep the recipe to myself. =)

Beets strengthen  and purify the blood -- which explains their deep red color. Most people cook them because it tastes better. The sugar in the beets is more pronounced when you bake the beets in their skins, and then peel after cooking. It is delicious; but the nutritional content is higher when you eat them raw. 

As for me, I have bad memories of my mom juicing beets. The taste is okay; but it has a strong flavor. But blend it raw with lemons -- and yippee! Nutrition you can swallow.

Pink Lemonade Popsicle

Ingredients: 

• 1 tablespoon of lemon zest (optional and adjustable)
• 1 cup of lemon juice
• ¼ cup of raw beet
• ½ cup of brown sugar
• ½ cup of water
• 1 tablespoon kuzu powder
• Sliver of ginger (optional)
• 2 cups of ice

Directions:

1. Zest the lemon, then cut, and squeeze juice into measuring cup; place in blender.
2. Peel and chop the beet(s); place in blender.
3. Add the other ingredients, excluding the ice. Blend until smooth.
4. Add ice, and blend on high for about two minutes.
5. Pour into molds, and freeze for a full twenty-four hours.
6. Enjoy!