Gluten-free, Sugar-free
Jello- a kid favorite. I always remember making Jello with my mom at home, mixing those packets up with hot and cold water and constantly checking in the fridge until it was set and ready to eat! We loved it. What a refreshing treat on a hot summer day! But as the time passed, I kinda forgot about our old friend Jello. It just wasn’t something I ate anymore. UNTIL I started to become interested in improving my health and healing my body and was reading up on the benefits of collagen. Did you know that gelatin- the main ingredient in Jello that makes it jiggly and set – can provide many health benefits to you??!! Yes indeed, so I decide to start making Jello again. But when I took one look at the ingredients on the store bought packages, with their nasty food colouring and so much added sugar, I knew this was a moment for me to make my own.
What is Gelatin?
Gelatin is a hydrolyzed collagen-a flavorless, colorless substance with a jelly-like texture. It is a fibrous protein that connects muscles, bones, and skin, that is usually produced by processing animal bones, cartilage, and skin. Gelatin for use in cooking and baking can come in the form of a powder, granules or sheets. In this recipe I use gelatin sheets that I buy online or at the health food store. I make sure to buy organic gelatin, since it is made from animals.
The benefits of including collagen in your diet
It is all the craze right now and there are great reasons why! I am a big fan of including collagen into my diet, and there are many amazing benefits that come from including gelatin in your diet. Gelatin rich foods, such as jello, soups and bone broths, provide gut healing abilities and help aid in digestion. It can make your hair, skin and nails stronger and healthier-gelatin provides glycine and proline and these two amino acids are used in the production of collagen. Also- and I am a big fan of this one- gelatin can help protect your joints and reduce inflammation.
When it comes to using gelatin, there are different varieties out there- you can buy gelatin powders, granules or sheets. I bought the sheets first because that is what I found first, so I have stuck with it every since. And it works really well!!! You can also order these online and the ones I use are pictured above. One packet has 6 sheets and that is enough to set about 2 cups of water. To use them, you simply take out the hard sheets and place them in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes. They will become really soft and jelly like, take them out of the cold water and add the jelly sheets to the hot water and stir to combine. Just make sure the water isn’t completely boiling as this can break down the gelatin and it won’t set as well.
What goes into Blue Ice Jello?
So what else goes into the jello? Well, only 4 simple ingredients- lemon, swerve icing sugar to keep it sugar free, blue spirulia, gelatin and water. Feel free to sub in any sweetener you like, as long as it is not liquid sweetener since this will affect how the gelatin sets. Have you ever heard of spirulina? Traditionally it is a blue-green algae that grows in water and it touted to be one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. I wouldn’t want to eat this stuff in large quantities- the most common powder you can find is green and can have taste of the sea if you use alot of it. In smaller amounts (up to a tbsp) it virtually has no flavour at all. But they have started to make Blue Spirulina, which manufacturers are able to remove the green from the blue-green algae, leaving only the blue algae- this is what gives this Blue Ice Jello its beatiful colour! It also is flavourless, which I prefer. If you don’t have access to blue spirulina, you can always use natural food colouring as well (be sure to keep in natural!!)
I add lemon to give the jello some tang, but feel free to use oranges for a sweeter flavour, and I choose to use swerve icing sugar to keep it sugar free. However you can sub in any sugar you like, but if you use granule sugar then be sure to mix it with the hot water first and stir well to melt the crystals.
I like to top the jello off with some coconut whip cream! It looks beautiful too.
I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.
Enjoy xoxox
Blue Ice Jello
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Loading...An icy blue jello that is an amazing sugar-free treat or snack!
Ingredients
- 1 packet Go Bio Organic Gelatin Sheets (6 sheets)
- 1 lemon OR 1 orange
- 1/2 cup swerve icing sugar (if you prefer sweeter jello, add in an additional 1/4 cup)
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1 tsp blue spirulina (or food colouring of choice)
Instructions
Place the 6 gelatin sheets in a bowl of cold water and let sit for 10 minutes until the sheets become soft and jelly like texture
Boil water, and remove 2 cups and let sit for 5 minutes to slightly cool
While allowing the water to cool, take 1 tsp of blue spirulina and 1 tbsp of the boiling water and mix together in a small cup
Squeeze the juice of one whole lemon or orange into a 9 x 9 square dish
Add your 2 cups of now hot water into the dish
Add in your swerve (or sweetener of choice) into dish, mixing well.
Add your lemon/orange juice along with the cup of blue spirulina into the dish
Add the soft jelly like gelatin sheets (but no the water it was sitting in) into the dish, mix everything really well
Place dish in the refrigerator overnight to set
Cut into sqaures, and serve with coconut whip cream!
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