Moriah@pleasepassthesalt is one of my oldest and dearest blog friends. When she emailed me earlier this week to tell me about her Fun Mom Friday carnival I jumped in with both feet because I had something fun I wanted to do with the kids. Sadly, my super fun activity was derailed because of evening thunderstorms this week so I'm going with Fun Mom Plan B:
Sno Cones.
Yum! My kids L-O-V-E sno cones and I love to be a fun mom and say yes when they ask me to make them.
Years ago when I was pregnant with Abbey (and sick round the clock) my sweet neighbor, Kathy, gave me this ice shaver. It was a super thoughtful gift at the time because I constantly craved ice, and it's been a gift that has kept on giving us lots of summer sno cone fun!
I usually try to stock up on sno-cone syrup at the beginning of the summer to pour over our shaved ice but since I kept forgetting to replenish my supply I finally decided to make my own. It is SOOOOOOOOOO easy, so good, and so cheap! It tastes much better than the flavors you buy in the store. Does anyone else think the store bought syrup tastes like soap? Blech.
Here's the recipe:
Sno-Cone Syrup
2 cups white sugar
1 cup water
1 or 2 pkgs unsweetened Kool-Aid (flavor of your choice)
Mix sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for about a minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in contents of Kool-Aid packet(s). Let cool. Pour over shaved ice.
I put ours in one of my old sno-cone syrup bottles, but if you had one of those sports-type water bottles with the pull up spout, that would work GREAT.
Store in the refrigerator. Makes about 16 oz.
I don't think you necessarily have to have an ice shaver to make snow cones. When my kids are sick I chop ice into small chips with my Pampered Chef food chopper (You know the one that hurts to use because you hit it repeatedly with the palm of your hand? Yeah. That one). You could try it that way. Or pulse your ice in the blender and then pour the syrup over it.
We don't just enjoy sno cones in the summer though. We scoop cupfuls of snow in the winter and drench 'em with syrup for a tasty (albeit freezing cold) treat.
Fun trivia: I worked at a Tropical Sno stand one summer. Some friends' of my parents owned it and I got to make a little money and eat all the sno cones I desired. And I ate a lot of sno cones that summer. A whole lot.
For those of you who know that I care quite a bit about nutrition and are wondering why I'd give my kids pure sugar mixed with Kool-Aid, I'll just go ahead and tell you that I've been lazy about what my kids are eating these days. Need proof? Okay.
So...how were YOU a fun mom this week? Check out Moriah's blog for other fun ideas or post your own and link up!
19 comments:
Totally going to make this syrup. We just got an ice shaver this summer and have been using it like crazy until we ran out of syrup. Thank you!! :) (And, I've just hit that point in the pregnancy where I'm starting to eat ice, too. Never even thought of getting out the ice shaver! Brilliant!)
I don't even know where to start - that chip picture makes me howl. I actually WAS wondering about you giving them kool-aid powder because I KNOW what kind of sugar nazi you (we both) can be! ha! It's SUMMER.
And good for you for making your own. I asked my mom for high-quality popsicle molds but I think she forgot. Usually the ones we make are better (and cheaper).
I'm imagining you working at a sno cone place - ha!
Mer, so proud of you for embracing the sugar. And now I know what I'm going to do with the sixteen bajillion packets of koolaide mix I have in my cupboard.
I so just made the syrup-raspberry flavored-and am treating 4 kiddos to homemade sno cones now. Yummy!!
What a fun mom you are! I'll have to try the blender version since we don't have a ice shaver. I would have LOVED that when I was pregnant.....I too craved ice!
I was a fun mom one day this week when my 11 year old Luke asked if we could make something from our kid's cookbook. I usually cringe when they ask that but he wanted to make applesauce. We doubled the recipe and it was good. And he talked to me the whole time. I loved that. Later in the day we made chocolate chip cookies. Except I forgot to let him crack the eggs, which is his favorite part.
So fun!!! And now I want a snow cone, haha!! :)
These look fun and yummy!! We had an ice crusher when I was a kid but seldom used it. I loved making our own snowcones!
Since I have a fun mom post up today already I'm off to link up. :)
TOTALLY forgot that we own a sno-cone maker! Thanks for the reminder! I'm sure it's buried in my less used kitchen appliance box in the garage. Too fun.
Thanks for posting the syrup recipe...that stuff can get expensive...and think, it's just water, sugar and flavor! :)
LOVE this post! My kids love sno-cones but using juice never makes them sweet enough. THey will love to make this recipe!
(Cannot wait to make it with snow...or actually, I can, but I will be glad to have something fun to do when it does snow!)
And your little Pringles duck is adorable!
LOVE this post! My kids love sno-cones but using juice never makes them sweet enough. THey will love to make this recipe!
(Cannot wait to make it with snow...or actually, I can, but I will be glad to have something fun to do when it does snow!)
And your little Pringles duck is adorable!
Two sno cone posts! I think I need to get one! Looks like a lot of fun. I esp like that you can make your own syrup!
Looks so fun! I love sno cones too!
Now I really want to be your neighbor...I love SNO-CONES too! However when I was pregnant with my son, I went to one of those sno-cone places and later that night I had a horrible breathing reaction (to either something in the dye or gloves they were wearing when they made the cone) So I really haven't had one since... :(
Will for sure be making this syrup!
Fun mom?? I'm exhausted being fun mom! I mean really exhausted! There is no laundry, cleaning or grocery shopping here. I don't know what we live on since I am one to cook every meal. We go swimming every day, been to movies, zoos, beaches, sleepovers, playdates--the list goes on and on! I am secretly hoping for a rainy day so I can lay low and recover from summer!
Such fun! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. Where I live they don't sell sno cones, just ice cream and icees, not the same. Where I use to live we would get sno cones with marshmallow on top, so yummy! I miss those! I enjoy doing lots of different crafts, recipes etc. with my girls. I'm new to blogging but if you get a chance to visit, stop by and leave me a note that you were there. :-)
Hope you have a great weekend.
Blessings,
Jill
Pringles?! I'm shocked! I've been super lazy about food lately too. I can't be too hard on them b/c I want things like toaster strudels and ice cream all the time.
We've never made sno-cones, but it looks so fun. It's $6 for us to buy 4 of them at the stand, so I need to find a way to get an ice shaver. I don't like the chunks.
As the mama of a little one with severe and multiple food allergies, I've found that many of the cold treats we're all so used to having in the summer are not safe for my son. Sno-Cones, however, would be great for him! I'm going to head over to Sonic and buy a bag of their ice. I think their little balls of ice would be perfect for this!
I was JUST thinking that I need to google how to make my own sno-cone syrup. See why I don't mark ALL READ? :)
I wonder how you can make all the fun flavors that they have at the sno-cone stands. I had one called circus peanuts when I was in Louisiana that tasted just like, well, duh...circus peanut candy.
I bought an ice shaver just like that one when youngest B had his tonsils out. I need to use it more than I do.
By the way, if you're ever on Oahu, you really need to have a shave ice from Matsumoto's on the North Shore. In fact, take me with you and you won't even need a nap.
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