Gel Food Recipe #2

Makes about 4 cups of gel food.

Ingredients:
5 packs unflavored gelatine
4 cups bottled water (not chlorinated water)
1 tsp paprika
1/2 medium red bell pepper (reserve water for making gel)
1/4 cup canned pumpkin with no sugar, or salt added
1 cup canned colliard greens
1 cup fresh kale blanched (reserve water for making gel)
1 cup fresh parsley blanched (reserve water for making gel)
1/4 a 3.75 oz tin of sardines packed in water
1 egg white (cooked in water from the kale/red pepper/parsley)
1 tsp flaxseed oil (for omega 3 fatty acids)
1 adult high potency multivitamin (I used OneSource, Multivitamin-Multimineral Adult High Potency Formula).
1 acidophilus tablet optional**

Place the Acidophilus tab and the multivitamin in 2 T water to soak.

Blanch kale, parsley and red pepper in 1.5 cups of water. reserve water for dissolving the gel.

Add 2.5 cups water to blender. Add Acidophilus tab and the multivitamin and blend well. Add paprika, colliard greens, sardines, flaxseed oil and blend well. Add blanched red bell pepper, kale and parsley.

For sinking food: Pour into bowl and stir in pumpkin. Bring water used to blanch veggies to a boil and dissolve gelatine. Add gelatine mixture to bowl and stir until well mixed. Pour into flat shallow container(s) to make a depth of 1/4". tap container gently to remove any trapped air bubbles.

For floating food: Add pumpkin to blender. Bring water used to blanch veggies to a boil and dissolve gelatine. Pour gelatine mixture into blender and blend until well mixed. Pour into flat shallow container(s) to make a depth of 1/4".

Refrigerate until set.

Cut into squares. I leave out a week's worth of gel in a plastic zipper bag and store in the refrigerator. The rest I freeze between layers of plastic wrap. When frozen, I store in the freezer in ziplock bags (each holding about a week of food).

Nutritional Breakout (per 10 grams food)
53% Protein (0.8 grams) [75.8% from Fish/meat, 24.2% from Veggies] -- 40.4% Protein (adjusted by % fish protein which is more digestable)
8% Fat (0.12 grams)
7% Ash (0.1 grams)
32% Carbohydrate (0.5 grams) [14% fiber, 6% Sugars, 13% Complex]

5.8 Calories per 10 g food

Minerals
14 mg Calcium, Ca
0.4 mg Iron, Fe
2.2 mg Magnesium, Mg
6.9 mg Phosphorus, P
31.4 mg Potassium, K
5.3 mg Sodium, Na
0.27 mg Zinc, Zn
0.07 mg Copper, Cu
0.08 mg Manganese, Mn
3.8 mcg Selenium, Se

Vitamins
7.2 mg Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid
0.08 mg Thiamin
0.1 mg Riboflavin
0.6 mg Niacin
0.18 mg Pantothenic acid
0.11 mg Vitamin B-6
10.2 mcg Folate, total
0.3 mcg Vitamin B-12
687.5 IU Vitamin A, IU
0.1 mg Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol)
7.4 IU Vitamin D
19.3 mcg Vitamin K (phylloquinone)

Fatty Acids (*=Essential)
0.02 g Saturated Fats
0.03 g Unsaturated fats
0.03 g Omega 3 linolenic acid *
0.03 g Omega 6 linoleic acid
0.5 mg Cholesterol

Amino Acids (*=Essential)
0.004 g Tryptophan *
0.01 g Threonine *
0.03 g Isoleucine *
0.03 g Leucine *
0.04 g Lysine *
0.03 g Methionine *
0.01 g Cystine
0.02 g Phenylalanine *
0.02 g Tyrosine
0.02 g Valine *
0.03 g Arginine *
0.05 g Histidine *
0.02 g Alanine
0.08 g Aspartic acid
0.07 g Glutamic acid
0.06 g Glycine
0.12 g Proline
0.08 g Serine

Other
163.2 mcg Beta Carotene
7.7 mcg Cryptoxanthin, beta
114 mcg Lutein + zeaxanthin

If you have recently treated your fish for a bacterial infection, and/or your fish has trouble with flipping, you can add 1 acidophilus tablet to the mix. I think most flipping is due to bacteria in the GI tract that produce gas. Gas is formed by bacteria in the colon from fermenting starch or sugars. Several of the foods that may contribute to gas are in fish foods (wheat and soy) which are rich in raffinose and stachyose. Raffinose and stachyose are three, and four sugar polymers, and are classified as oligosaccharides. The Oligosaccharides are also present in significant quantities in legume seeds. Digestion of Oligosaccharides by animals requires a highly specific enzyme produced by bacteria present in the GI tract. Bacteria in the GI tract digest raffinose and stachyose and produce hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide gases (1, 2, 3). Lactobacillus Acidophilus bacteria chow down on oligosacchrides (soluble fiber) in certain foods and produce lactase(the enzyme that breaks down milk sugar (lactose)), lactic acid, hydrogen peroxide, and other byproducts that inhibit growth of the bad bugs. L. acidophilus eat the same oligosacchrides that the gassy bugs like to eat and they also also inhibit growth of the gassy bugs.