Penny Pincher's Popcicles and Homemade Frozen Desserts

Cut your summer treat budget in half (at least) with these money-saving recipes. These are not your usual "freeze a cup of juice and put a stick in it" ideas, though even those are great once in a while. Sometimes you want something a bit more fancy and a box of frozen treats can be close to five bucks a piece! if the box had like twenty treats OK, but my kids can polish a box of 6 in one sitting. (I won't mention how many I eat.)

Frozen fruit kabobs
Pineapple chunks
Cherries
Grapes
Banana chunks

Dip in melted chocolate chips for an extra sugary treat. Place on a skewer and on a cookie sheet in freezer. You can put in a freezer bag for storage when frozen.

Make ice cream sandwiches
Chocolate graham crackers broken into the perforated squares
Cool Whip (any flavor) (or use vanilla, chocolate and strawberry to make a Neapolitan)
spread a nice thick layer of Cool Whip (about an inch) on crackers and freeze.
place in freezer bags when frozen

Super easy snacks using prepackaged goodies:
Take any pudding cup or the small yogurt cups and stick a Popsicle stick through the foil lid and freeze
Or just use the yogurt in tubes like Go-Gurts and put in the freezer for a freezer pop.

Frozen peanut butter cups
1 (8 oz.) Container Cool Whip
1/3 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/4 Cup Chocolate Syrup

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Mix the peanut butter and Cool Whip. Spoon into cups and top with syrup.
Freeze and serve with a spoon.

Watermelon Pops
Slice water melon into small triangles (the size of an average Popsicle)
Soak in sugar water for an hour or two.
Stick Popsicle sticks in and freeze.

Fourth of July Pop

Blue Raspberry Kool-aid
Mystery Flavor Kool-aid (white)
Cherry Kool-aid

Use the small paper cups (like for the bathroom)
Pour a small layer of Blue Kool-aid in each cup.
Top with tin foil and carefully place a Popsicle stick through he foil into the Kool-aid.
Freeze for an hour or until just slushy.
Pour next layer (white) and freeze again until slush.
Finish with the Blue and freeze until frozen.
Peel of cup and serve!

These treats are sure to be a hit this summer and won't break the bank every time your kids' friends are over!