By: Dr. Melanie DeCunha, ND

Have you heard of gelatin as a health food? A derivative of collagen, many people use it to help ease joint pain, improve skin & hair and regulate glucose levels. However, did you know that it can also help to manage anxiety and improve sleep? Gelatin is a high source of glycine, which is an amino acid (building block of protein) that is important for our central nervous system. Now the question is, how do you incorporate more gelatin in your (or your kids) diet without scarfing down oodles of artificial colour & high fructose corn syrup containing candy? Easy! You use unflavoured pasture raised gelatin (I used Great Lakes Gelatin) to make the treats of your choice! Of course, you can simply add the gelatin powder to any liquid and just drink it, but where’s the fun in that?! So below I have listed 2 recipes that I tried out this weekend that proved to be a big hit around the office (I had to smuggle them out of the house after my husband left for work). Check em’ out below and enjoy!

Watermelon starbursts

Ingredients:

• ½ C Unflavoured gelatin
• ½ Large Watermelon
• ½ C Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
• ¼ C Organic honey (optional for added sweetness depending on how sweet your watermelon is)

Instructions:

• Cut watermelon into chunks and juice (if you don’t have a juicer, you can blend chunks then strain). Should yield approximately 4 cups of juice.
• Pour half of the juice into a bowl, cover with gelatin and let sit a few minutes (it will solidify – I stirred it after a minute or so to get the juice at the bottom into the mixture).
• Pour the other half of the juice into a saucepan and heat on low (do not allow to boil).
• Add the semi-solid gelatin/watermelon juice from the bowl into the saucepan and whisk until all liquified.
• Add lemon juice and honey and continue to whisk.
• Once combined, pour gelatin into molds (you can buy a variety of adorable silicone molds on Amazon) or a shallow dish/pan.
• Freeze for 10 minutes.
• Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

FYI this was a huge batch I kept having to grab more pans to fill after I used up all my molds. With that said, after giving them to some friends/family to try, they were gone in 3 days!

Check out the recipe for Lemon Gummy Bears here