Have you ever used gelatin? If not, what are you waiting for ...
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Gelatin used to be a big part of healthy traditional diets, but most of us today don't know what the hell to do with it, or why we should be eating this nutritional powerhouse.
There has been a rapid return of late in the culinary wholefood world of this humble ingredient. Leading nutritionists and health advocates recommend we take between 1 to 2 tablespoons of gelatin a day to enjoy some fantastic health benefits, such as preventing arthritis, cellulite, stretch marks and wrinkles, improving metabolism and aiding weight loss, assisting with liver detox, digestion and digestive conditions such as leaky gut, maintaining strong bones and balancing hormones, and reducing inflammation. There are claims it can improve our adrenal functioning to assist our body's capacity to deal with modern day stressors.
Pretty amazing stuff right?
So what is it? Gelatin is a colourless, flavourless, solid substance derived from collagen in animal bones. Gelatin is obviously not for vegetarians or vegans, but for those readers don't be concerned, the recipe I have included can be adapted to use kuzu or agar agar instead. Gelatin comes in different forms - the most typical being powdered or sheet gelatin. It requires a little soaking time and heating to activate and dissolve the gelatin prior to mixing with your liquid of choice.
It is really important to get gelatin that has been obtained from the best grass-fed/pastured animals to avoid hormones, pesticide or heavy metal contamination. I tend to use Great Lakes Gelatin for my recipes (purchase online), but there are a load of different options. Don't settle for low-grade gelatin as you won't get the same health benefits.
So now we know what it can do for us, where it comes from and where we can get it - now we just need to work out what to do with it. Gelatin is so versatile. You can use it to make sweet desserts such as jelly and pana cotta, or make home-made gummy bears or marshmallows, or thicken smoothies, casseroles or soups. Because it is flavour and colourless it won't affect the taste of your cooking, just the consistency and texture.
One of the simplest ways to get kids to eat more gelatin is to make old school homemade jelly with 100 per cent fruit juice, fresh fruit pieces and gelatin.
My kids love helping me put their jelly cups together, mixing in whatever fruit or seeds they want, loading them in the fridge and then watching their transformation into a wobbling tower of deliciousness.
They haven't yet tired of it, as we make them slightly different each time.
We use 100 per cent fruit juice in our jellies to avoid additional sugars and artificial ingredients that can be found in commercial fruit juices. Think 100 per cent pomegranate juice to make "red jellies", cloudy apple juice for "yellow jellies" and coconut water for "clear jellies".
We have also used blueberry juice to make "purple monster jellies" and a mix of pomegranate and orange juices to make "sunrise jellies".
I love that my kids take such great pleasure in eating such a simple wholesome dessert of fruit, gelatin and seeds, free from artificial colours, refined sugars and GMOs. It makes me so happy knowing that they are fuelling their systems with such nutrient dense foods.
And even happier knowing that it takes me all of two minutes to whip them up.