Homemade Goodness for my Princess

Being healthy is about so much more than nutrition. Yet so many of us tend to ignore the truth that is right in front of us.  We rely on packaged foods that tell us they are "low fat", "low carb", or "made from whole grains". We rely on them because they are quick, easy, and don't require us to think very much. I don't claim to be perfect by any means. I can be caught purchasing packaged foods more often than I would like to admit.

But I think it's important to try to remove it from our lives as much a possible.  Not all of us are able to grow a full garden in our back yards to feed our family and lets face it, organic food is very expensive. 

Like I said, I am definitely not able to say that I eat 100% clean. But I try each day to eat a little cleaner than I did the day before!  And I hope to start a very small garden this year (in my 20' x 40' back yard). It's a lifestyle change and it requires time to master.

My daughter LOVES fruit snacks with a passion.... and I HATE feeding her a bag of chemicals and artificial sugar!  So when I saw a recipe on Pinterest for homemade fruit snacks, I just had to try it.  They were surprisingly easy! And they turned out wonderful!!! 

I found the recipe HERE, so I definitely can't take any credit for the recipe!

Here are the steps to make it:

First, I diced up 6 strawberries (about 2/3 cup). You can use any type of fruit. I just used what I had on hand for my first batch. But I plan on making them again with a variety of fruits.

My sweet girl was very excited to help make her fruit snacks, so she juiced the lemons herself!  (You can also use fresh orange juice, but Miah loves sour things, so we decided to use lemons).

I love when she gets to be a part of making her own food!  (I'm trying to teach her the value of cooking your own meals instead of going the cheap, easy route.)

Next, I mixed the strawberries and lemon juice and boiled them on the stove (stirring often) until the strawberries were tender.

Then I added 2 Tbsp of Agave to the mixture and continued to mix together until most of the fruit had dissolved.

Next, I pureed them in my blender until it was well mixed.

Then let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes to cool down.

I added the gelatin next.  Make sure to add it very slowly and whisk it to make sure there are no clumps.  I used all 4 envelopes from the package.

In the original recipe, she mentions using gelatin from grass-fed cows. I just used what I had on hand this time, but I definitely plan on looking into it for next time!

I poured it into a pan (This one is a 7" x 11" baking dish") and put it in the fridge for about 45 minutes.
** This picture turned out orange for some reason, but it was actually more red!

Once it was cooled completely, I cut it into tiny pieces.
(I forgot and started to take some out before I remembered to take the picture. Sorry!)

You can store them however you would like, but I used these condiment cups so Miah would have an idea of portion control!  Lets face it, we could all use some help with portion control!

I can't wait to try them with all different flavors! Hopefully you have as much success with them at your house!