Sugar-free jello
The first time I made this sugar free Jello, it was a huge hit. It came out just right with that perfect jiggle that makes Jello, well, Jello. The first time I made it was with some pineapple juice. I used organic, not from concentrate juice that I found in the health food section at the superstore near me. It was expensive but compared to that Jello that you get from the little boxes, it is far healthier.
Those little boxes of Jello might be easy and cheap, but they’re that way for a reason. Just check out the ingredients in the strawberry flavoured Jello:
SUGAR, GELATIN, ADIPIC ACID (FOR TARTNESS), CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE AND SODIUM CITRATE (CONTROLS ACIDITY), FUMARIC ACID (FOR TARTNESS), RED 40
Breakdown of these ingredients:
Sugar - super refined, GMO, going to spike your blood sugar
Gelatin - likely from factory farm raised animals being fed a diet of highly sprayed, GMO grains that contain antibiotics.
Adiphic Acid - A food additive either synthetic or derived from beets added to enhance flavor (tartness) and as a gelling agent. It is highly refined and though can be labeled an organic compound, it is far from the food it came from.
Artificial flavour - flavours made in a lab and though chemically the same as natural flavours found in food, they are copies of the real thing; not the real thing. And certainly not what God created.
Disodium phosphate - additive meant for stabilization and as a preservative. Small amounts is safe. Too much can equal too much phosphorus in the body. It’s found in many processed foods.
Sodium citrate - added to enhance flavour and as a preservative
Fumaric acid - added as a preservative and an acidity regulator. Can irritate the eyes, nose, and throat if inhaled (ever see that puff of jello powder fill the air around the bowl after pouring it in?!). Look up the MSDS sheet on this (or any of these additives, really!).
Red 40 - found to contain benzidine and other carcinogens, can cause hyperactivity, including ADHD, behavioral changes like irritability and depression, allergic reactions, and asthma (1).
When I think about this food with all the colours and the textures and the sweetness, all those packaged cookies and baked goods that I loved as a child a certain bible verse comes to mind:
Grocery stores are filled with deceptive food with fancy marketing slogans and faulty nutritional information. We are told it’s good for us when it’s not. Many people are waking up to this reality.
Our ability to feed ourselves, grow our own food, and raise our own livestock has slowly, more and more and little by little been taken away from us and handed over to mega corporations who do not have your health in mind. So now we have grocery stores filled with foods that cause us more harm than good.
This is exactly why I aim to make as much as I can myself using ingredients that I know.
In this recipe, I use two ingredients:
Organic juice, not from concentrate
Gelatin (from grass fed/ finished cattle)
(I love this one here!)
I’ve made this a few times now and it has turned out perfectly each time. The kids loved it and with the gelatin added, it helps slow the absorption of the natural sugars in the fruit juice. Ideally, some fruit fibre would be added back in but for time sake, I did not do this.
This sugar free jello would be delicious with some homemade whipped cream. I’ll have to make some next time!
Check out the recipe below.
Sugar Free Jello
4 cups juice (preferably not from concentrate)
2 tbsp. Gelatin (I use Great Lakes brand unflavoured beef gelatin)
Directions
Take ½ cup of the juice and sprinkle the gelatin over top, mix, then allow to sit as it swells.
Warm remaining juice in a saucepan over med-low heat. Allow to heat up for 5 minutes. I do not let it come to a boil but take it off as it starts to steam.
Pour hot juice in a mixing bowl. Add gelatin and use a whisk to combine it, making sure there are no chunks of the gelatin intact.
Pour in individual glasses, mason jars, or a small ceramic dish. Allow to cool in the fridge for at least 2 hours or until set (single serve jars set quicker than adding it all to one dish).