When I was growing up, at every holiday gathering my grandma would always make a jello mold.
Jello molds come in all different shapes and sizes now, but the mold she used was round. Nothing fancy, just round.
She would make the same thing every time. Her jello had a couple different layers with fresh fruit trapped inside and a cute little ring of maraschino cherries on top.
I remember when I was little how amazed I was at the fruit that was trapped inside.
These paleo gummies are nothing like that jello mold.
The Making of These Gummies
I was playing around with my grassfed beef gelatin this summer and made some plum paleo gummies.
Problem is plums went out of season before I could make them a second time and shoot them for the blog.
So recently I picked up some organic strawberries that were on sale and decided to make more gummies.
A Nice Finger Snack – Great For Kids
They’re not something I regularly make but I was looking to prepare a different snack and thought gummies would be nice to have on hand.
In the past I’ve made kombucha gummies and since our SCOBY momma has been producing quite a lot of kombucha lately I thought it might be nice to make some of those. However with the caffeine from the tea, we wouldn’t be able to snack on them at night without disrupting our sleep.
While I was brainstorming what I wanted to add to the strawberries I was looking in my pantry and my eyes focussed on the balsamic vinegar, so I decided to give it a go and see how they would turn out.
A Crowd Pleaser
A gelatin dessert is a great dish to prepare for parties.
If you use one large glass storage container and cut them into pinchable sizes with a butter knife, they’re easily available for grab and go.
If you have different chocolate or fancy gummy molds, you can create fun little shapes. And cookie cutters work great when you have a blank canvas. I’ve also used my silicone ice trays for a simple cube shape.
If you look around your house, I’m sure you can find several different things you can use to mold your paleo gummies to make them look completely different every time.
Simple To Make
Making these paleo gummies is a pretty simple task. All you have to do is mix the ingredients together in a blender, pour them into a mold and let the time pass to allow the gelatin to set.
Since they’re durable by nature, they also travel well.
Where To Buy Gelatin
I would not go with the typical JELLO-O brand due to the added sugar, artificial sweetener, artificial flavors and food coloring.
There are a couple different Chicago companies who are making properly sourced, kosher and sustainable gelatin.
Vital Proteins offers pasture-raised beef collagen and gelatin.
Great Lakes Gelatin Company has both pasture-raised beef gelatin and collagen plus they also have porcine gelatin (gelatin made from humanely raised pork).
The Difference Between Gelatin & Collagen
I think the best way to answer this is to refer to Vital Proteins, since they’re the experts on the subject.
Our 100% pasture-raised Collagen Peptides and Collagen Protein Beef Gelatin have similar amino acid profiles and offer very similar nutritional benefits. Both are virtually odorless and tasteless, making them extremely versatile. However, they are quite different in application.
Collagen Peptides (blue lid): Our peptides are gelatin proteins broken down into their constituent peptide chains through an enzymatic process. This allows our collagen peptides to not “gel” in cold liquids. Heating them will not alter their nutritional value. The peptides have the advantage of mixing well into both cold and hot liquids without them “gelling.” However, you cannot use them in recipes that call for gelatin. You may add our peptides to cold and hot beverages alike, such as a smoothie, juice, water, tea or coffee, as well as a variety of foods like pancakes or oatmeal to boost the protein content.
Collagen Protein Beef Gelatin (green lid): Our gelatin will “gel” in cold liquids. As a result, gelatin is ideal for hot preparations, and is a staple in many recipes. Our gelatin may be added to soups, broths, sauces or gravy as a natural protein booster and thickener, or used when baking. They can also be used to create a delicious homemade mousse, ice cream, pudding and yogurt — even omelettes and meatloaf, or use them to make nutritious fruit gelatin and healthy gummy snacks. You may also enjoy them in hot beverages like herbal tea or frothy butter coffee. Health wise, the gelatin has the advantage of taking slightly longer to digest and coating the small intestine, which is beneficial in gut healing diets like GAPS, AIP or SCD. (Source)
