Summer break is here!! School is out, the weather is nice, fruits and veggies are ripe and fresh, and you have plenty of time on your hands! If you’re looking for fun summer activities, try making some of these simple and healthy (and colorful!) summer recipes. They taste great and look cool too! And they’re all perfect for hot summer days.
Frozen Banana Pops
A healthier and more fun alternative to eating ice cream in the summer is making and eating frozen banana pops! Bananas have good nutritional value (they contain potassium, magnesium, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, and more), and they taste great too! Plus you can add a variety of healthy toppings.

Ingredients:
-Bananas (each banana will make 2-3 pops, depending on size)
-Spread (yogurt, cream cheese, dark chocolate, Nutella, peanut butter, etc.)
-Toppings (chocolate chips, oats, shredded coconut, chopped nuts, sprinkles, crushed graham crackers, cookie crumbs, chopped dried fruit, etc.)
-Popsicle sticks, cookie sheet, parchment paper
Directions:
1. Cover a cookie sheet with a layer of parchment paper
2. Peel bananas and cut them into halves or thirds (depending on size of banana and how big you want popsicle)
3. Carefully put one popsicle stick in each piece of banana
4. Dip bananas in desired spread (or use a knife to spread if spread is thick)
*Cream cheese must be extra soft to spread, so make sure it’s warm or room temperature. Add honey or cinnamon if you want more flavor.
*For good dipping chocolate, add one tablespoon coconut oil for every 3 ounces of chocolate and heat until melted.
5. Roll each banana in desired toppings (or use hands to put on more toppings)
6. Place on parchment paper and freeze for 2-4 hours
7. Serve or put in freezer bag for up to a week
Berry Lemonade Popsicles
I am a huge fan of anything frozen and fruity. These popsicles taste great and look cool too! Bonus: they’re super simple and easy to make!

Ingredients:
-Lemonade (can be from a mix, from a can, in a bottle, etc., and can be any flavor you want)
-Fresh or frozen berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, etc.)
-Popsicle mold
Directions:
1. Put sliced fruit in popsicle mold
2. Pour lemonade into mold until almost full
3. Place top on popsicle mold and insert popsicle sticks
4. Freeze overnight, then enjoy!
For other variations, try coconut water, iced tea or different juices. Or try cutting up other varieties of fruit!
Fresh Herb Flower Cucumber Bites
This is the perfect snack that can use veggies and herbs straight from the garden! The flower cucumber bites are perfect for tea parties, potlucks, or just mid-day snacks.

Ingredients:
-1 tsp lemon juice
-1/2 tsp lemon zest
-2 tbsp chopped pecans (optional)
-2 tbsp mint, thinly sliced
-2 tsp chopped chives
-4 ounces softened cream cheese
-1/8 tsp salt
-1 seedless cucumber, medium sliced into 32 rounds
-3-4 medium radishes, sliced thinly into 32 rounds
Directions:
1. Mix the first 7 ingredients together in a large bowl
2. Use a flower shaped cookie cutter to cut the cucumber slices into shapes (or try other designs!)
3. Assemble: place a radish slice on each cucumber slice and top with about ½ tsp of cheese mixture
4. Enjoy!
Rainbow Lemon Sparkling Water
Perhaps you’ve seen the awesome idea of putting food coloring in ice cubes. This is a variation that uses lemonade and sparkling water, making it taste even better and look even cooler!

Ingredients:
-Lemonade (can be from a mix, from a can, in a bottle, etc., and can be any flavor you want)
-Food coloring
-Sparkling water
-Ice cube trays
Directions:
1. Put lemonade in ice cube trays
2. Add food coloring to each soon-to-be-ice cube
4. Freeze lemonade ice cubes
5. Put lemonade ice cubes in clear glass and add sparkling water
6. Enjoy!
Rainbow Fruit Kabobs
If you like rainbow, fruit, and SIMPLE, you will love these! They’re as easy to make as they look, and fruit is always a healthy choice!

Ingredients:
-Strawberries, raspberries, or another red fruits
-Mandarin oranges, tangerines, or other orange fruits
-Pineapple or other yellow fruits
-Kiwis, green apples, green grapes, or other green fruits
-Blueberries or other blue fruits
-Purple grapes, blackberries, or other purple fruits
-Kabob skewers
Directions:
1. Cut up fruits
2. Put fruits in rainbow order on kabobs
3. Enjoy!
For fun, try other color patterns. Or try sticking a bunch of kabobs in a whole watermelon—it will look great!
Avocado Corn Salsa
I am a huge fan of salsa, so I’m always looking for new recipes! This is a great one, especially for summer when veggies are fresh. Plus it’s super healthy—we all know veggies are good for you, beans are a great source of protein, and avocados provide almost 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins, and folic acid.

Ingredients:
-1 cup corn (fresh or cooked)
-2 avocados
-1 small onion
-2 limes
-2 medium tomatoes
-1 1/2 cup black beans
-Garlic Salt
Directions:
1. Cut/chop onion, tomatoes, and avocados (and remove fresh corn from cob if necessary)
2. Put into bowl and add other ingredients
3. Toss together
4. Refrigerate for a while (also gives time for flavors to mix together more)
5. Enjoy with any kind of chips!
Enjoy! Let me know which recipes are your favorite.
~Natalie