Homemade Italian Ice ~ Cool Treats for Hot Days

I don't know what the weather has been like in all of your backyards but let me tell you it's been hot & sticky here in my neck of the woods.
It's been so hot that I hate to even cook anything at all in my kitchen. I'm glad we got that new grill because without it we may not even eat.
Just kidding, we wouldn't go hungry but it is so nice to be able to throw something on without having to heat the house up anymore than it already is.  My AC already runs enough without the added heat of the stove.

I've been making some cool treats for the kids.

Flavored Italian Ice & Blackberry Frozen Yogurt

I love Italian Ice but it never lasts very long in our household. It gets all gobbled up in no time.
My favorite is WYLER'S . It comes in the form of a freeze pop and the flavors are to die for. The only problem is that I can only find them at our local Dollar Tree and they are a seasonal item so once they are gone they are gone till the next summer.

My MIL had a hand written recipe for Italian Ice in one of her recipe boxes so I thought I'd try it to see how they compared to the store bought.

Refreshing
Yummy
No artificial flavorings or dyes
More for your buck!

These are so easy to make... a must try!
Be creative with your flavor choices too!
I plan on trying grape, apple, Mt. Dew, orange, pineapple and so forth. You get the idea. A flavor a day!

Lemon Ice

4 cups water

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup lemon juice

1/8 tsp. salt

Boil water and sugar for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool.

Add lemon juice & salt and mix well.

Pour into small single serving bowls and freeze.

The other variation that I have tried was with Pepsi.

Pepsi Italian Ice

2 cups water

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups Pepsi

1/2 cup lemon juice

Boil water & sugar for 5 minutes.

Let cool.

Add Pepsi & lemon juice.

Mix well and freeze in single serve bowls.

I forget to get a picture of the Pepsi Ice before they gobbled them all up but I can tell you that they tasted like Pepsi with a hint of lemon in it. Next time I make them though, I think I will cut the lemon juice back to 1/4 cup.

If you have made these before then let me know what your favorite flavor is?

I think mine is the lemon.

Or is it the raspberry.

Maybe the orange cream.

Well let's just say I love them all.