J.E.L.L.O.

Here's another of my favorite no-sugar recipes: juice jello! It's cheap, easy, and has endless possibilities for entertaining young children!

First, make two cups of juice. I guess you can buy it already in juice form :), but I usually don't, so this step is #1 on my recipe. I always have apple and grape concentrate in my fridge, so that's my standard. Since apple is so neutral-tasting and cheap, I mix up a couple of cups--you know, the 1 parts juice concentrate, 3 parts water routine (I hardly ever use the whole can at once). Then I like to add a heaping spoonful of grape juice concentrate to the juice to make it a bright pretty red. This also gives it a great flavor that's not too grapey, and the apple/grape jello doesn't stain! For company or special occasions, those juicy-juice flavors are awesome. Imagine peach, kiwi-strawberry, or white grape juice--divine!

Mix 1 cup of the juice with 1 tablespoon of dry gelatin. Mix it well right away, unless you like little fruit-snack-like chunks in your jello...which your kids will probably love, but it might gross you out. You can buy Knox Gelatine, but a super cheap way to go is to buy a big bottle of it from the health food store--I've usually seen it in the vitamins/food supplements section. I order mine online. A bottle is usually around $10 and will last you for years--and it doesn't go bad, so it's ok if it lasts you for years!

Heat the additional cup of juice to the boiling point. Add it to the other cup of juice/gelatin and stir until the gelatin powder is dissolved (about 10 seconds). Pour into a mold, individual cups, or a casserole dish and stick it in the fridge. If you add fruit, do it when the jello is the consistency of egg whites. To double, triple, or quadruple the recipe, heat all the juice except the one cup.

To make jigglers, double the amount of gelatin. We love to make these around holidays (so we can use our cute cookie cutters!) or if we need a snack for a ton of kids. Everyone loves it--and you can let your kids eat as much as they want and you know they've only had like a third a cup of juice!