I grew up on Jello. Jello weirds out some people, but for me, it was a huge part of my childhood. My mom is known for her Jello, and some of her recipes have been passed down from my grandmother and other family members. My cousins still talk about my mom’s strawberry Jello — the one she made every Christmas 🎄. They also still talk about her rainbow Jello squares — she’d make them in so many colors, and we’d run around the house grabbing squares🎨. I even made them again recently for my cousins. There’s something so nostalgic about it. There was a time when my mom basically made every Jello recipe possible just because she knew it would make us happy. There was mango with condensed milk 🥭, pineapple mousse 🍍, and even one with prickly pear (tuna in Spanish) when I had a prickly pear obsession—I still remember it.

Recently, my sister and I entered the healthy gelatin Instagram era 😅. So many cooking accounts are sharing the benefits of gelatin (not the boxed Jello kind). These recipes are super simple: just juice + honey + gelatin = homemade gummies.

Fun fact: 1 tablespoon of gelatin has about 6 grams of protein 💪 — and I’ve been using at least 4 tablespoons per batch. It’s a fun, protein-packed snack for us and the kids.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve made at least 12 of these healthier gelatin recipes — and I still have tons more I want to try. So far, I’ve found a few favorites I keep remaking:

• Soothing Chamomile Drops with Joanna Steblay from Milky Oat 🌼🍯

• Homemade Orange Gummy Bears from Beets and Bones 🧸🍊

• Antioxidant Rich Berry Gummies – Raising Generation Nourished 🍓🧸

• Carrot and Orange Gummies – @mama2blog 🥕

• Gelatina de Mango (Mango Gelatin with Colagin) fortificada con Colageno – @handsofchia 🥭

• Yogurt Breakfast Panna Cotta with Fresh Fruit – Home Grown Happiness 🍓

While I’m really enjoying all these healthy gelatin recipes, they’ve reminded me so much of the Jello recipes my mom made when I was a kid. I hope to tackle and learn all of those family favorites soon. Forever a Jello and gelatin fan 💛.

Wishing you and your family a joyful and delicious Easter weekend! 🐣🌷🍽️

Recipes Made So Far This Year:

Goal: To try seven new recipes each week 🗓️, aiming for 365 this year!

Number of Recipes Made This Week: Week 13: 21 ✅ & Week 14: 13 ✅ 

Number of New Recipes Tested as of 4/6: 193

Weeks Achieving Seven or More New Recipes: 14 out of 14

This Week’s Recipe Test Summary

Impress Someone🌟

Homemade Pasta – Gimme Some Oven 🍝
This is my second time making pasta at home, but my first successful one. This time around, it was a solo mission and a total win. I think the key was using 00 flour — and the recipe, of course. After boiling, the pasta turned out so light and soft.

Parmesan-Crusted Salmon Caesar Salad – NY Times Cooking by Jerrelle Guy 🥗The salmon is baked and coated in Caesar dressing, which was delicious. Both H and I loved it! The salad itself isn’t anything super special, but the salmon makes this recipe impressive. Also super filling — the salad portion is big!

Would Make Again 👍

Chicken Galbi Noodle Salad – NY Times Cooking by Kay Chun 🍜
This was my first time cooking with glass noodles (made from sweet potato starch). The recipe was super easy to whip up and had so much flavor.

Fettuccine with Spiced Cherry Tomato Sauce – Ottolenghi Simple: A Cookbook 🍅
This recipe requires a bit of patience because the tomatoes cook for a while — but that’s where the flavor comes from. Worth it.

Pressure Cooker Spicy Pork Shoulder – NY Times Cooking by Melissa Clark 🐖
I’m really excited about this one. I made it in the Instant Pot, and even though we’re not big leftover people, it was so good the next day. It’s great for meal prepping, gives you a lot of meat, and is simple and quick to make—but it looks like it took effort. I’m saving this one for a big get-together.

Spicy-Sweet Sambal Pork Noodles – bon appétit 🌶️
Had leftover ground pork, and this was the perfect quick lunch recipe. I whipped it up in minutes.

Mushrooms Oriental – Food.com 🍄
I'm always looking for simple side recipes to accompany the big dishes—this one’s easy and a great addition.

Earl Grey Granola with Roasted Pears – Justine Cooks: A Cookbook: Recipes (Mostly Plants) for Finding Your Way in the Kitchen 🍐
This felt fancy with the baked pear. I was surprised how much I loved the combo of Greek yogurt, baked pear, and Earl Grey granola—it was just delicious. 

Key Lime Pie Popsicles – Tutti Dolci Baking Recipe 🍈
After last week’s three failed popsicle recipes, I was so glad I found this one. These taste just like key lime pie — super yummy.

These two weeks, I had two loved ones recovering from surgery, so I found these great recipes to make them below ⬇️

How to Make Almond Milk – Minimalist Baker 🥛
I usually buy the “clean” almond milk (no weird stuff added), but it goes bad in like three days. This week I realized how cheap and easy it is to make it at home — and I can just make the amount I need. It lasts 3–4 days too, so it’s perfect. Yummy and budget-friendly.

Homemade Almond Butter – Cookie and Kate 🥄
I’ve made almond butter before and it always turned out pretty rock solid. This one? Best batch I’ve made — smooth and spreadable. I’ll be making this all the time to add to oatmeal or chia pudding in the mornings.

Apple Pie Overnight Oats – Feel Good Foodie 🥧
Used my homemade almond milk for this. It felt like eating a healthy version of the Quaker apple cinnamon microwave oats — my childhood fave!

Carrot and Orange Gummies – @mama2blog 🥕
The kids have been loving all the gummies I’ve been making. I’ve only used fruit so far, but this time I added carrots and it worked! Still super tasty and full of gelatin goodness.

Gelatina de Mango (Mango Jello) fortificada con Colageno – @handsofchia 🥭
I swapped the sugar for honey and it turned out delicious — light, fruity, and packed with collagen.

Yogurt Breakfast Panna Cotta with Fresh Fruit – Home Grown Happiness 🍓
Perfect breakfast panna cotta!

Would Not Make Again 👎

These recipes didn’t live up to expectations or weren’t to my taste

One soup was way too garlicky, and the other just turned out watery. Not what I was hoping for.

• CREMA DE ALCACHOFAS SUAVE Y DELICIOSA – @paufeel 🌿

• Creamy Roasted Cauliflower Soup – Cookie and Kate 🧄

These were all quick recipes I made for a get-together, and they were just okay. Nothing bad — just not worth repeating. 

• 20 Minute Scallion Noodle Soup 葱油拌面 – Salt N Pepper Here 🧅

• Serious Eats' Halal Cart-Style Chicken and Rice With White Sauce – Serious Eats 🍗

• Chapati Bread – Unknown 🍞

• Yakitori Recipe with Homemade Sauce – Just One Cookbook 🍢

• Miso-Glazed Fish – NY Times Cooking by Martha Rose Shulman 🐟

• Fresh Lemon and Chile Pasta – NY Times Cooking by Andy Baraghani

• Oatmeal Cookie Hugs – Grossy Pelosi 🍪

These smoothie and breakfast recipes sounded good but didn’t quite deliver — fun to try once, but I won’t be revisiting.

• Mango + Honey Chia Pudding – @tworawsisters 🥭

• Kiss Me I'm Hydrated Shake – Tasty 🥤

• Coconut Key Lime Pie Smoothie – Ambitious Kitchen 🥥

• Tropical Smoothie Bowl – The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl and Spoon: Simple and Inspired Whole Foods Recipes to Savor and Share [A Cookbook] 🥣

  

These were part of my gelatin adventures. While most turned out great, these weren’t for me. I’ve realized I’m not into adding olive oil to gummies — and I really think they need at least a touch of sweetness, even just a little honey.

• IMMUNE BOOSTING LEMON, GINGER AND HONEY GUMMIES (AIP/PALEO) – Joanna Frankham 🍋

• 3-Ingredient Strawberry Marshmallows – @lilsipper 🍓

• Apple Cider Vinegar Gummies – Wellness Mama 🍎

• Orange Honey Skin Gummies 🍊🍯🧖🏽‍♀️ – @glowwithella

• 3-Ingredient Easy Matcha Gummies – @katlieu 🍵

• Matcha Latte Gummies – @animamundinherbals 🍵

I’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, or any recipe requests you might have. Just respond directly to this email.

See you next week. Keep cooking! 👋 

Vale from ValeCooks