Easter "jello" Eggs

Continuing the Easter Theme...I have one of the jello Easter egg molds.  You know the one that looks like a half-dozen eggs but has the open holes in the top.  Years ago when I bought it, I would make the Jello recipe that came with it for the "jiggler" consistency, pour it into the top of the mold and the next day we had beautiful Jello Easter Eggs.

Well, now that I know what I know, we have not bought Jello for a long time.  I do still have some in the house, but I am not sure what I am going to do with it.  I was thinking I would donate it the next time our postal carrier asks for fool collection...hmmmmm....or I might pitch it, since the trash can is actually where it deserves to go.

Anyway, just as an FYI, is that Whole Foods sells their version of a rockin' jello.  The brand is Natural Desserts.  It is all natural, gluten free, vegan and contains no artificial colors or flavors.  They carry three flavors...Raspberry, Strawberry and I think Orange (we ate that a while ago and I can't remember if it was orange or peach).  I thought it was DE-LISH'....my hubby did not.  But if he was looking for that way over the top sweet taste that you get when you first take a bite of the name brand jello dessert, you will not find that sweet make-my-teeth-hurt flavor with the All Natural brand.  :-)

"Jello Jiggle Easter Egg Molds" is what I googled and I found some on eBay.  I would be surprised if they were not for sale at our regular stores too.

So, as you know....artificial coloring is BAD BAD BAD!!!!  So, we are going to make our own "jello" eggs as natural as we can.  So, I headed to the box of Knox gelatine I have in my pantry, that never gets used.  And did some research.  Knox gelatine has 1 ingredient....gelatine.  Hmmmm, I thought, OK, how do you get gelatine....well if you are vegetarian or vegan...stop right here.  Because gelatine is made from animals.  I am a meat eater, so I am OK with this.  If you want more details go to http://www.knoxgel.com/  I found some awesome recipes here.

OK, so for our natural "jello" Easter eggs.....
My mold only makes 6 eggs at a time, so I am using a small batch.
Spray inside of egg molds with cooking spray or wipe them with organic canola oil.
Close and snap mold tightly.
(Since I have never made this, I am guessing that the recipe I am starting with will make more than the 6 eggs that my mold makes, so my idea is to fill the molds and then with what is left to pour into a glass dish and just make squares or cut with cookie cutters.)

This is a Regular Fruit Juice Knox Blox Recipe
4 envelopes Knox unflavored gelatine
1 cup cold organic fruit juice
3 cups organic fruit juice, heated to boiling
2 tbsp organic sugar, agave or organic honey, optional (I used organic fruit punch...no sugar needed)

1.  Sprinkle gelatin over cold juice in large bowl; let stand 1 minute (I actually let it sit for about 4 minutes, I stirred it after 2 minutes with a wood spoon and waited till I could no longer see any white powder).  Add hot juice and stir until gelatin completely dissolves, about 5 minutes.  Stir in sugar or honey, if desired (I am thinking Agave would work here too).  Normal recipe calls for you to pour this into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan, but I am pouring mine into my egg mold.

2.  Refrigerate until firm, (about 3 hours for regular Knox Blox recipe) but I am going to leave my eggs sit overnight in the mold in the refrigerator.

After making these, if you only have 1 mold, I would suggest halving the recipe above.  I made the above recipe and was able to fill 6 eggs (1 mold) and 1 5x7 glass pyrex dish almost filled to the top.

Another Version with Yogurt----yum!
Creamy Easter Eggs
2 envelopes Knox unflavoured gelatine
1/4 cup granulated sugar (cane sugar is the best...Meijer sells it in 4 lb bags)
1/2 cup cold filtered water
1/4 cup organic frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
2 ice cubes
1/2 cup organic plain yogurt (Stonyfield Greeks is what I am going to use)

1.  Combine gelatine and sugar in a small saucepan.  Stir in cold water; let stand 1 minute.  Stir over low heat until gelatine is completely dissolved, about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.

2.  Stir in orange juice concentrate and ice cubes until ice is dissolved; whisk in yogurt.  Pour into your prepared egg molds or an 8 inch square pan.  Chill in freezer until set, about 30 minutes. 

3.  If using 8 inch pan, unmold and cut into tiny shapes or squares.  Cover and refrigerate leftovers.

Tip: To unmold, turn pan over onto cutting board; cut out shapes.

Coloring Easter Eggs

Well, Easter is almost here, so I started to do some research to see what I could find about coloring eggs......you guessed it.....THE NATURAL Way!   :-)

Guess what...I found some pretty cool ideas.  I have not tried this, so if you try this before I do let me know what you think.

As I have blogged about in the past...artificial coloring is BAD BAD BAD!!!!!!  There are studies that actually show that artificial food coloring is carcinogenic....get that???...it can cause CANCER.  You have probably read about Red Dye, it is the worst, but try to avoid all food coloring if possible (but especially any food or drink with red food coloring in it!!). 

Our "perfect" world would consist of clear and all NATURAL coloring used to color our foods and drinks.

So, here is what I found....when coloring eggs, instead of buying those tiny tablets we are all so familiar with to color our eggs try this instead.....

1.  Robin egg blue color---Buy red cabbage leaves
2.  Tender yellow---Orange peels
3.  Smoky yellow green---Carrot tops
4.  Pale lavender flecked with soft rust---Yellow Delicious apple peelings
5.  Orange---Brown onion peels (not white)
6.  Pinkish color with gray-green buffs---Fresh spinach

How to make...
To dye eggs, place eggs in a pan and cover with water.  Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar and dye material.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

The color will deepen or change if the eggs are left in the dye solution overnight.  But place in refrigerator if wanting the deeper color overnight!

If you leave the eggs sit out on the counter over night, please do not eat.

I also bought India Foods food coloring at Whole Foods (all natural from highly concentrated vegetable colorants).  It come in a package of 3 colors, red, blue and yellow.  I might try this to dye my eggs too.