Frozen Yogurt “Popsicles”

I give a hand to the geniuses who thought of yogurt in a tube. Seriously, the fun packaging sells it for my kids and they’ll gobble them up–much faster than a boring looking scoop of the same yogurt in their bowl. Plus, they are portable and don’t require dirting extra dishes–major bonuses for me.

In my pre-couponing life I RARELY bought yogurt in a tube because I couldn’t justify the price. But then I discovered coupons. And guess what? There are almost always coupons available for these kid-friendly snacks. Add the coupon to a sale, and possibly a marked-down “manager’s special,” and you’ve just found one happy mom who doesn’t mind saying “YES” to a normally expensive  treat. And, my kids suddenly think I’m a super-hero. (Not that this is the goal of parenting, but it is fun once in a while!)

Thanks to timing, coupons, sales and some luck, I regularly get super-cheap or even FREE brand-name yogurt at my high-end grocer. My personal “target price” is a dollar or less for a box of yogurt in a tube. When I find it for that cheap I like to STOCK UP! I pay attention to the sell-by date since it is dairy as I’ve found sometimes it’s marked down or on sale because the date is getting close. When that happens we eat what we can in a couple of days and then freeze the rest.

Sorry, I’m a bit coupon-obsessed. Here’s where the “sneaky snack” comes in. Frozen tubes of yogurt make AWESOME “popsicles.” Cut off the top with some kitchen scissors or a knife, peel down the paper and bit, and the kids are good to go.

I consider frozen yogurt “popsicles” a sneaky snack because to me they are healthier than the empty-calorie freezie pops. At least the main ingredient in frozen yogurt tubes is milk, while frozen juice sticks are basically water, high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavor and colors. And my kids think they are getting a delicious frozen treat when I let them eat a frozen yogurt with lunch or as a snack!