Summer is here and I’ve stopped buying popsicles and started making them using Kinderville Little Bites Ice Pop Molds!

One of my issues with buying commercial frozen treats are the ingredients.  Your typical freezie-type treat, for example, contains: simulated flavours, Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose (a ‘stabilizer’ – whatever that is), Sodium Benzoate and Potassium Sorbate, and food colouring.  I don’t know about you, but I have an issue with ingredients I can’t pronounce, and none of them sound very organic.  My other problem with your run-of-the-mill popsicles and freezies are that little hands have trouble holding onto them, and my son, almost three, usually ends up wearing most of his treat.

Kinderville makes a fabulous set of popsicle molds that resolves all of these issues.  Their Little Bites Ice Pop Molds come in sets of four (one each of the four colours pictured above), hold 3.5 fluid ounces, and are five inches tall.  They are made out of BPA-free, non-leaching silicone, and are dishwasher and freezer safe.  To make homemade popsicles, simply fill the molds up to the fill line with whatever ingredients you want (my favourite is organic mango/orange juice), seal by pushing down the lid, and place into your freezer lid-down.  When your popsicles are thoroughly frozen and ready to be eaten, just take them out of the freezer, pull off the lid, and warm the sides of the mold with your hand until you can push the popsicle up to the top.  The shape of the molds are perfect for small hands, and their rims help keep the popsicles where they belong – in the mold and off your child’s clothes (WAY less tears that way, too)!

You can purchase Little Bites Ice Pop Molds from Kinderville’s online store for $16.99 USD or from other online retailers including Raspberry Kids for $24.99 CAD (use discount code spiltmilk15 at checkout for 15% off!).

Need some popsicle recipes?  Here are some great ones – happy homemade summer treats!

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Kinderville was kind enough to provide us with one set of Little Bites Ice Pop Molds to give away to ONE lucky reader!  Thanks, Kinderville!

To Enter: Leave us a comment HERE (one per day only, please) telling us what kind of homemade popsicles you would make if you owned a set of Little Bites Ice Pop Molds .  Once you’ve entered by leaving a comment, you can gain additional entries like this:

• Follow @Kinderville and @SpiltMilkMoms on Twitter and tweet ” Summer’s here! WIN a set of Kinderville Little Bites Ice Pop Molds @SpiltMilkMoms http://tinyurl.com/22ocy5e #giveaway #contest “ and leave us a link for extra daily entries.
• If you ‘Like’ Kinderville on Facebook , leave us a comment for one extra entry.
• If you ‘Like’ Spilt Milk Moms on Facebook, leave us a comment for one extra entry.
• Mention this giveaway on your blog and leave us the link for one extra entry.

This giveaway ends at 12:01am PST on Tuesday, July 20th, and the winner will be selected using Random.org.  The winner will have 7 days to respond to our notification email before another winner is selected.  This giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.

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My husband and I LOVE food.  Even more specifically, we love varied and exotic foods from all over the world.  Italian, Greek, Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, French, Chinese – our love for food is as strong as our love of travel, so we would hate it if our child turned out to be a fussy eater.

One of the things I was unsure about is how to introduce baby to things like spices as well as which ones I should start with.  When we were on our Babymoon, I found this Cooking For Baby cookbook at William Sonoma.  We’ve only just started using it, but I love it.  It starts with simple purees for babies aged six months, but by seven months things start to get interesting with thicker foods like green beans and mint and asparagus “Risotto”, moving on to things like minced pork and pears, baby’s curry, and rice noodle primavera.  Finally, it includes real family-friendly meals like corn and salmon chowder, cranberry orange scones, aromatic couscous lemon-mint chicken, and hearty beef stew.

There are more than 80 very easy recipes in the book which also has beautiful photos and tons of information on everything from starting solids to different child-friendly herbs and spices.  I love how tasty and healthy each recipe is as well as how varied the tastes are, but most of all I love how easy it is to make Little Miss healthy foods that expand her palate and make food exciting.

Cooking for Baby is available in soft cover from Amazon or in hardcover from William Sonoma, and it makes a great gift!

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Annabel Karmel seriously saved my life when it came time for my son to begin eating solid foods.  Switching a baby to solids from formula or breast feeding is a scary thing, especially with your first child – I had absolutely no idea how to start!  As a result, I procrastinated about baby food until I saw Annabel Karmel’s Top 100 Baby Purees book in a store and bought it on impulse (I was attracted to the layout and how easy to prepare the recipes seemed).  Her simple, quick, and easy to read and prepare puree recipes took all the guess work out off how to get Oliver started on solids, and made me feel good about preparing all of his baby food myself.

Once Oliver was ready to move on from purees to toddler food, I purchased the Canadian edition of Karmel’s First Meals.  What’s great about this cookbook is that it begins with purees for babies and progresses to meals for toddlers and young children that the whole family will love.  The book is broken down into categories of age to help you determine which recipes would be appropriate for your child.  It also includes tips on nutrition and how to deal with allergies.  All of the recipes are made with quality ingredients, they are easy to follow, and they contain a wide range of options and variations (including a section for the picky eater).  One of my family’s favourite recipes has become the Tomato & Tuna Pasta Sauce recipe – and Oliver isn’t the only one who eats it up!

Annabel Karmel is the mother of three and a respected, best selling author of books about baby and children’s food and nutrition.  Her career was inspired by the tragic death of her firstborn, after which writing cookbooks became a form of therapy for her.  Karmel’s books can be purchased through Chapters Indigo or Amazon.com.  Bon Appetit!

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