Day 12 Or...Do You Really Want To Know What Jell-O Gelatin is Made Of?

If you don't want to know what Jell-O is made of, stop reading now.

Seriously. If you even enjoy an occassional taste of gelatin, today is probably not the day to read my blog. There are some good recipes in the "What did I eat on Day 12" section, so skip ahead there if you want. You've been warned.

That being said, I have to say that I have always enjoyed Jell-O gelatin. When I started researching vegetarianism for this project, I found out that gelatin was listed again and again in the books I was reading as something I couldn't eat as a part of this experiment. Weird right? I wanted to know why.

I vaguely remember reading a David Crowder book that randomly mentioned that I didn't want to know what Jell-O was made of. But now, I know why Crowder chooses to avoid gelatin. And I can't say I blame him.

I know what you're thinking. "Jell-O isn't meat. Is it!?!"

Well, according to Snopes.com, it kind of is. Jell-O pudding is vegetarian friendly, but Jell-O gelatin has some secret ingredients that the folks at Kraft tend not to publicize.

Gelatin is made from animal bones and hides. The production of gelatin starts with the boiling of bones, skins, and hides of cows and pigs. This process causes the animal tissues to release a collagen full of protein. That collagen is filtered several times, dried, and ground into the powder that is inside the colorful, friendly-looking Jell-O box that you buy at Walmart. It acts as a nice thickening agent that helps the Jell-O Jigglers... jiggle.

This same collagen-producing process is used to make the gelatin that is in the marshmallows that you put in your hot chocolate.

That's food for thought.

- What did I eat on Day 12?

Breakfast. Somehow, for some unknown reason, friends of ours ended up with dozens of ripe bananas. Thankfully, they shared them with us. And what do you do when you end up with about 20 ripe bananas? You eat them before they go bad.

This resulted in new recipe #6: Feniger's Banana Bread. I don't know how Carolyn found this recipe, but I'm so glad she did. It's the perfect banana bread. Not too sweet. No nuts. Very flavorful. Completely scrumptious.

Lunch. I tried the leftover Morningstar Farms Asian Veggie patties again. They weren't any better a second time. I'm not buying those again.

Dinner. I had a variation of a peanut butter and banana sandwich. New recipe #7 is a slight variation of Elvis' Favorite Tea Sandwiches, which is actually a recipe from a Deen Brothers cookbook. Here's my adaptation of their recipe:

Ingredients for Elvis' Favorite Sandwich:

• • 8 slices white or wheat bread
  • 2 bananas, peeled and cut into small slices
  • 1/2 cup JIF "Peanut Butter & Honey"
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon melted butter melted

Directions:

• Using a round cookie cutter, punch circles out of each slice of bread, eliminating the crust. Spread half the circle slices with roughly 1 tablespoon of the "JIF peanut butter & honey" each. Place banana slices on top of each of the "JIF peanut butter & honey" covered circles and mash slightly with a fork. Drizzle each banana slice with a little extra honey. Top with the remaining bread circles.
• Preheat broiler. Transfer the sandwiches to a baking sheet. Brush the tops of the sandwiches with melted butter. Broil about 1 minute or until just golden... but keep an eye on them. They'll toast up really fast. But, if you do it right, they will be beyond delicious.
  

I also made a new recipe I got from my co-worker, friend, and faithful reader Marianne.
New recipe #8 is carrot salad/slaw. Here's her recipe.

Ingredients for Carrot slaw/salad:

• 1 pound medium carrots, peeled
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley (or tarragon or a combination)
• Salt
  
• Buttery crackers, small biscuits or hot, crusty baguettes, for serving.

Directions:

• Grate carrots into matchstick pieces using a food processor, a mandolin or a sharp knife. Transfer to a bowl. Whisk lemon juice and oil together, pour over carrots, and toss. Add parsley and toss. Add salt to taste. Serve with crackers, biscuits or bread.

I devoured this meal. The toasted peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwich is one of the best things I've ever ate. And as an added bonus, it got rid of a couple more bananas.

And while the carrot slaw didn't wow me with my very first bite, when I scooped lots of it up on a buttery cracker I really enjoyed it. Carolyn called the slaw "refreshing" and she was exactly right... as usual. I found myself eating all the slaw on my plate... twice. It actually got better with each bite. It was a very simple recipe that I'll be sure and make again. Thanks Marianne!

Classes start tomorrow at the University of the Cumberlands, so my blog entries may get a little shorter over the next few days as I get back into my normal routine of teaching. Still, I'll keep on writing if you'll keep reading.

As always, I welcome your comments.

12 days down. 28 to go.