What kid doesn’t love jello? It’s chilled, wiggly texture make it a fun treat for kids of all ages. But packaged jello contains a litany of artificial colors and ingredients, making it not only unhealthy, but a bit frightening as well.
This week we’ve taken jello out of the past and brought it front and center to 2012 – a time of Real Food for real families. This jello is made with all natural, fresh squeezed juice and then chilled in the fruits original skin, making it wholesome and fun!
Curious about the difference in the ingredient list between packaged jello and Out of the Box Food’s Fresh Squeezed Jello Wedges? To begin with, the boxed mix contains two suspected carcinogenic ingredients and another ingredient that is linked to hyperactivity and ADHD. The Fresh Squeezed Jello Wedges contain real fruit juice, gelatin and honey. Period. I invite you to click on the links below to learn more.
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THE COMPARISON: JELL-O brand Orange Jello vs. Out of the Box Food’s Fresh Squeezed Jello Wedges
(All ingredients followed by an * can be referenced at www.wikipedia.org by clicking on the ingredient)
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JELL-O Brand Orange Jello
Ingredients:
- sugar
- gelatin
- adipic acid* (for tartness)
Contains less than 2% of:
- natural & artificial flavor*
- disodium phosphate* and sodium citrate* (control acidity)
- fumaric acid* (for tartness)
- yellow 6*
- red 40*
- BHA (preservative)*
**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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Fresh Squeezed Jello Wedges
Ingredients:
- 4 medium/large oranges
- 1 C boiling water
- 2 packets (1/2 oz) gelatin
- 2 tsp honey
Directions:
- Cut oranges in half. Press orange halves onto a juicer to remove juice, leaving shells intact.
- Measure out 1 C orange juice and pour into medium bowl.
- Sprinkle gelatin over juice and set aside (1-2 minutes).
- Add honey to 1 C boiling water. Stir to disolve.
- Pour honey sweetened boiling water over juice and whisk to combine.
- Lay orange halves in a flat glass dish. If orange halves don’t lie flat, trim end being careful not to cut through the orange skin.
- Pour orange liquid into each orange half; nearly filling to top.
- Place dish in refrigerator and chill until set.
- To serve, cut each orange half in half to create wedges.
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Making all natural jello takes the same amount of time as tearing open a box and mixing with hot water. Short on time? Skip the “wedge” presentation and simply purchase fresh squeezed orange juice and make in a glass dish. It’s quick and easy with all the flavor, and none of the harmful chemicals. Until next week…
I did something similar to this about three years ago only they were red white and blue for 4th of July. I used white grape juice and then put strawberries and blue berries suspended in my jello. I was a teachers aide at the time and am very sad to say there were quite a few kids who didn’t know what the fresh fruits were. When I told one boy they were strawberries he picked up a packet of fruit snacks and said “no , this is a strawberry” so glad more people are fighting the battle to show our kids what real food looks like.
Oh my…a gummy “candy” considered a fruit? Yikes! I love your idea for the 4th of July jello! Fun! Will definitely have to try that!
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Really great alternative! Most packaged foods have nasty, artificial ingredients in them and I would even look for gelatin which doesn’t contain MSG. There are many hidden names for MSG so watch out!
I am a grandma, and try to make sure snacks for the grandkids do not have artificial colour added. I also am trying to use honey more than other sweeteners. I have felt sad that jello was not an option, it is such a fun snack 🙂 Never thought of doing something like this! Definitely trying out this recipe, thanks a lot!
Can I use the same proportions with other fruits? So excited to try this since I have a daughter who loves jello but is allergic to red dye.
Hi Lois- Definitely! You’ll need 2 cups of liquid for this recipe. Feel free to swap and experiment with other fresh juice choices! The possibilities are endless!
Hello,
What’s in gelatin? Is it a beef byproduct? How healthy is that?
Thanks ,
Terrie
Hi Terrie – thanks for bringing this up! This was something I addressed in a Jello post last year (http://outoftheboxfood.com/2010/11/14/j-e-l-l-oh-no/)but was negligent in addressing it in this post so thank you for the question. I do not consider Jello a health food. However, one of the goals of Out of the Box Food is to offer healthier alternatives to “kid food” and this recipe is a fresh fruit juice alternative to a jello product colored with something studies have linked to hyperactivity and cancer. There are alternative vegetarian and vegan gelatin products available should you want to make a vegetarian version. Thanks again for the reminder!
This is awesome! I definitely need to try this out!
Thanks, Nikki – I hope you’ll enjoy them!