Zoku Smoothie Pops

Smoothies are tough to make the right amount of if you don't have a recipe. You add a little of this, a little of that...it's not sweet enough, you add a little more of this...not the right texture, you add more of this...

Inevitably I always end up with too much and either force myself to drink too much or throw it away. I have tried to save it but Always end up with a separation of a juicy mixture on the bottom and a foamy grossness on top.

Today I made a smoothie with some frozen mixed berries from Costco, some apple juice, some yogurt and some mango (and in the end, I had to add a teensy bit of sugar because it was still a bit too berry sour). My daughter LOVED it (even without the sugar -- "More? More? More? she asked) and so did I but even we couldn't polish off four cups and my husband hates raspberries so he wouldn't go near the stuff.

What to do?

Enter Zoku.

I found my frozen pop maker in the back of my freezer, pulled it out, stuck in the sticks, and poured the extra smoothie right out of the blender into the Zoku. Seven minutes later? Bam! I pulled them out of the Zoku freezer and placed them into a tupperware between pieces of waxed paper, to be saved for a hot day. (Yes, it would be more convenient if I had the Zoku storage container, but my storage method seemed to work pretty well.)

Thank you Zoku. My days of smoothie waste are over. My days of healthy frozen treats have just begun!

Please note, I am sure you could do this with a standard ice pop maker too, but you'd have to wait longer and admittedly, the Zoku is just plain fun! (And I love that they have a cute single Zoku maker now!)

Which brings me to another point. I had a bit of a problem with the first Zoku unit I had, but the customer service at the company is just phenomenal! Five stars! (Out of five, sillies!)

Look what I got for xmas

The fun begins and I say fun because I think my addiction is more in designing than popsicles. The Zoku popsicle maker instantly freezes liquid and you can make really cool designed popsicles. Well so the recipe book shows at least but honestly I am not sure if I will ever achieve this after my first take. 

Cherry and Grape Koolaid

Vanilla and Fudge with cookies in the middle

I've only tried this thing out once and think its going to be a playdate staple...that is how this got its first test run. The girls thought it was so cool to instantly make popsicles. Mom thought it was cool to make fun designs or at least attempt because really these aren't so cool! 

All in all I think its a fun product but I am sure the novelty will wear off. Or hopefully not. I know Bethany got one, had issues, got another, had more issues and finally threw the towel in and Zoku then sent her a free one. Wow...a company that really stands behind their product with customer service. So they get an A for that. Mine worked totally fine out of the box. Oh and they get an A for a nicely designed product too. It's pretty sleek and very compact. It makes three pops at a time (7-10 minutes per 3) and you can get about 9 pops before they just won't freeze anymore. It's probably the size of a Turkey Hill quart.

Expect to see future posts with my creations!

Uber cool pop makers by Zoku

These are the cutest pops I have ever seen! Not sure if I am now noticing popsicle makers because I have a 5-year old who loves Popsicles or if they've always been out in droves this time of year but lately I have been seeing so many make your own popsicle products out there on shelves. Most are your typical pour some liquid in, place the stick portion in, and freeze but this one looks so cool. A company based in Hoboken NJ, Zoku, came up with these super fun popsicle makers, the Zoku Quick Pop Maker. The product itself has superior design over any popsicle makers I have ever seen and according to the site the pop freezes in seven minutes oh and without electricity. Wow!


Apparently just like an ice cream maker it has a canister that you must freeze and once frozen you take it out and pour your liquids directly in the molds and voila...popsicles in 7 minutes right before your eyes. And because it freezes instantly you can be super creative with layering colors and flavors and even freeze a shell to pour another flavor into. Can you say creamsicles...yum! Not sure I'd spring $49.95 for a popsicle maker when I can use the $1 version I just got at Target but this unit is super cool and could be lots of fun. It's the instant factor that is so intriguing. Check out the magic in the Williams-Sonoma how-to video on their site. Pretty cool both literally and figuratively!