Sometimes reading a friend’s Facebook page can provide inspiration for a great idea, or in this case, a great, easy, and edible idea.

I had about a pound of strawberries turning soft on me fast, which wasn’t too surprising considering this year might have been the longest strawberry season in recent memory. In any case, I was able to salvage about 2/3 lb. of the berries… but now what do I with them? I wasn’t prepared to sit and eat a ginormous bowl of berries on the spot, and they were too ripe to freeze.

Then I remembered a quick recipe for so-called “breakfast popsicles” that someone had whipped together with a similar batch of berries herself. She basically pureed the berries and added a few other components to the mix to qualify the batch as something more than a sweet snack, all just from items she had on hand in the pantry and refrigerator. The important components to these being breakfast popsicles are the dairy and protein from the Greek yogurt and the simple carbohydrates from the fresh fruit and the teensy amount of added sugar. But if you think they still just are not nutritious enough, you could always try adding some of those powdered protein boosters into the mix so long as it didn’t affect the flavor too much. I suggest a lot of taste testing to get it just right though, just in case.

Here’s what I did with my berries to come up with my own new and cool breakfast idea… all measurements below are approximations really since it was just literally whatever I had on hand at the time.

Strawberry Yogurt Breakfast Popsicles

Strawberry Yogurt Breakfast Popsicles

Ingredients:
2/3 lb. strawberries, quartered and hulled
1-2 tbsp. strawberry lemonade
Dash or two vanilla-lavender sugar (I had some gourmet sugar on hand; plain sugar OK)
1/2 cup Greek yogurt

Directions:
1. Puree strawberries in food processor with enough strawberry lemonade to keep puree loose but not watery (add little amounts at a time as you blend).

2. Dash in the sugar and spoon in around 1/2  c. of yogurt (more or less depending on consistency, which again should not be too watery but not too thick either); continue blending until all combined.

3. Divide into molds, secure sticks, and freeze 4-6 hours or until firm; if using an ice pop machine, follow directions for preparation.

Yield: around six 3-4 oz. popsicles.

Really, the possibilities are endless. You can use honey instead of sugar, other berries or a mix of berries, vanilla yogurt instead of flavored sugar and/or plain yogurt, lemon juice instead of strawberry lemonade for less sugar, and/or add mint to kick up the fruit flavors.

Enjoy your new role as the “cool” mom, RMTers!