It’s the third week of first grade at our house, and already my children are coming home with processed food requests from their friends lunch boxes.  Yesterday it was for “those cups of white and brown pudding that everyone has”.  Okay, guess we’re going to push pudding cups up on the list of Out of the Box Food explorations.

Today, the boys helped me work on a fresh recipe that turned out delicious and I was able to layer the two puddings in recyclable containers which they can take to school.  Tomorrow they will sit at the school snack tables, open up their lunch boxes and talk up their pudding cups with their friends.  Though, with any luck, they’ll also talk about how they made them themselves.  They whisked the milk, melted the dark chocolate, and yes…got to lick the spoon.

THE COMPARISON:  JELLO Pudding Cups vs. Out of the Box Pudding Cups

FAT FREE JELLO PUDDING CUPS – CHOCOLATE VANILLA SWIRL

(All ingredients followed by an * can be referenced at: www.wikipedia.org)

INGREDIENTS:

• Skim milk
• Water
• Sugar
• Modified food starch
• Cocoa pressed with alkali

Contains less than 1 %

• Cornstarch
• Salt
• Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate* (for smooth texture)
• Sodium Alginate*
• Calcium Phosphate
• Natural and artificial flavor
• Artificial color
• Yellow #5*
• Yellow #6* also see article: Do Food Dyes affect kids’ Behavior and other related articles under RELEVANT READS!!
• Vitamin A Palmitate
• Vitamin D

**All listed product ingredients are taken from product’s package label.  Though Out of the Box Food makes every effort to provide complete ingredient information, please check the package for the most current information.

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Out of the Box Food^SMChocolate & Vanilla Pudding Cups

SERVES: Makes approximately 8 pudding cups

TIME: 18 minutes

SUPPLIES:  large sauce pan, heat resistant bowl, whisk, ramekins or small recyclable containers

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 Cups lowfat or whole milk
• 6 egg yolks
• 6 tbsp corn starch
• 1/2 3.5 oz dark chocolate bar (preferable 70% cacao)
• 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tea vanilla extract)
• 1/2 C sugar
• pinch salt

DIRECTIONS: This recipe makes two batches of pudding, one vanilla and one chocolate.  Each “batch” will be made separately using 1/2 measurement of each of the ingredients.

STEP 1: (8 minutes)

• Fill large sauce pan with 2 inches water and put on to simmer
• In heat resistant bowl, whisk together 2 1/2 cups of the milk, 3 egg yolks, 3 tbsp cornstarch, 1/4 cup sugar, pinch salt.
• If using vanilla bean: split vanilla bean vertically and scoop seeds into milk mixture.  Add vanilla bean pod. OR if using vanilla extract, add to milk mixture.
• Put bowl over simmering water and whisk constantly until thick (6-8 minutes)
• Remove bowl from heat. Remove vanilla bean pod if using and divide pudding into containers/ramekins

Step 2: 10 minutes

• Place filled ramekins/containers in freezer for 10 minutes to cool.

STEP 2: (8 minutes)  Meanwhile

• Leave large pot with 2 inches water on to simmer

• In heat resistant bowl, whisk together 2 1/2 cups of the milk, 3 egg yolks, 3 tbsp cornstarch, 1/4 cup sugar, pinch salt and chocolate (broken into small pieces).
• Put bowl over simmering water and whisk constantly until thick (6-8 minutes)
• Remove puddings from freezer.  They should still be warm, but not hot.
• Remove bowl from heat and divide pudding into containers/ramekins.  Pour over vanilla pudding to layer.

STEP 3: (2 minutes)

• Cover each container/ramekin with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool.

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I hope you’ll take the time to reference the artificial colors in the Jello Pudding Cup recipe.  I am learning something every week, as I hope you are too.  As I delve deeper into the ingredients in some of our favorite processed foods each week I am amazed to discover the many “ingredients” both artificial and otherwise contained in our food.  It simply makes me shake my head.  Until next week…