Real Food, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, IBD-AID (Phase I), Paleo, AIP, Whole30
I think of jello as a happy food; a childhood treat. While I’ve always had love for jello, I don’t love the ingredients found in the mass produced boxes. But you don’t need a big brand or box to make jello at home. You can make a healthy sugar free jello alternative to box jello that’s still fun, jiggly, and sweet.
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THE BOX INGREDIENTS – BE INFORMED
Have you ever flipped over the Jell-O boxes in the store to read the ingredients? The first ingredient is always sugar followed by gelatin. One serving of name-brand Jell-O from the box contains 19g of sugar. The source and quality of gelatin are somewhat unclear. Gelatin is collagen, generally made from the skin, bones, or connective tissue of an animal. From what I’ve read, the gelatin in name-brand Jell-O likely comes from pig skin.
Aside from the very high sugar content and questionable gelatin source, name-brand Jell-O also contains petroleum based food coloring like Red40, Blue1, and Yellow6. Of the nine US “approved” food dyes in production, there is evidence that several are carcinogenic. Several more are proven to cause hyper-activity and/or genotoxicity. These food dyes are dangerous and should be avoided without fail.
Adipic Acid is used as a food stabilizer in Jell-O, but it is also used in the production of nylon, plasticizers, and adhesives. “Artificial flavors” are also included in the name-brand box. These are made to mimic the taste of natural foods, but are created in a lab using petroleum based chemicals and other “non-natural” components.
There is nothing in a box of brand-name Jell-O that I would WANT to put in my body.
ONLY TWO INGREDIENTS ARE NEEDED
You can make sugar free jello at home using only juice and grass-fed beef gelatin. The treat does not need petroleum based dyes or food stabilizers. You don’t even need to add sugar, though you can sweeten the treat with a bit of honey if it’s not quite to your liking.
JUICE
Sugar Free Jello is an easy treat to make at home. I usually start with one 32 ounce jar of unfiltered organic apple juice. You can choose any juice that you like, really. I’ve done this recipe with a carrot/pineapple juice mix. I’ve also made this with cherry juice, but that is quite tart. I generally add a few tablespoons of honey if using a tart juice.
GRASS-FED BEEF GELATIN
No matter the juice choice, I place about 1 1/2 cups into a sauce pan and heat the juice until it’s almost boiling, but not quite. While that is heating, I pour the rest of the juice into a large mixing bowl. I sprinkle 4 scoops of beef gelatin (like this one) over the cold juice and let it “bloom.” Once the juice in the sauce pan is hot, add it to the “bloomed” mixture and whisk it all together. The gelatin will dissolve completely. To refrigerate, I generally pour the mixture into a 9×13 pan lined with parchment paper. You can also pour the mixture into molds if you’d rather. That’s it. That’s all it takes. After about two hours, you’ll have a “better than” jello option that is tasty and healthy too.
Better Than a Box – Make Your Own Sugar Free Jello
Notes
I use this grass-fed beef gelatin for jello.
My family likes to use homemade sugar free jello as a snack. It also sits well on the stomach when someone is sick with a cold or flu.
As a final tip, if you use a clear juice (not red and without pulp), you can consume this jello in the 24 hours before a colonoscopy. (You need not starve. You’re welcome.)
Ingredients
- 9×13 pan lined with parchment paper
- 1 32 oz. jar of juice
- 4 scoops of grass-fed beef gelatin (see recipe notes)
Instructions
- Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper. I like to use chip clips to hold the parchment paper in place until the jello is poured into the pan.
- Pour about 1 1/2 c. of the juice into a sauce pan. Over a stove-top burner, begin to heat the juice. Do not boil it, but heat it to a simmer.
- While the juice is heating, pour the rest of the juice into a mixing bowl. Sprinkle 6 scoops of gelatin over the juice. Do not stir, but allow the gelatin to “bloom.” It will appear to create wrinkles on top of the juice.
- When the juice in the sauce pan is hot, add it to the “bloomed” mixture and whisk everything together. If you have a lot of excess foam, you can spoon that off and dump it into the sink.
- Pour the clear juice mixture into the lined pan. Remove the clips from the side once the jello mixture is in the pan. Refrigerate the pan for 2-3 hours, or until everything has set.
- Cut the jello into handheld pieces or cut it into small cubes to serve in a bowl.
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