Fruity Jell-O Whip Cream Cups; Strawberry

It’s February.  You know what that means, right?

It’s time to get cheesy.  It’s time to get mushy. It’s time to celebrate…

That’s right!  We love our family…  We love our friends… We love our hobbies…  And most importantly, we love ourselves.  This is the month to embrace all of it, and I "Whipped Up" the perfect DIY dessert to kick it off. 

My mother-in-law’s always spoiling my children, as grandparents should.  She’s constantly giving them cookies, candy, juices, ice cream, banana bread, and more.  They love it all, but there’s one thing they can’t get enough of.

She has one staple dish that my kids have aptly named, “Grandma’s Famous Jell-O.”  There’s nothing to it, just Jell-O mixed with whipped cream in a big bowl.  Throw some marshmallows on top, and voilà, “Grandma’s Famous Jell-O.”

For my son’s 10^th birthday, I wanted to give him something different, but something I knew he would love, so I found a dessert that puts a fun and exciting twist to Grandma’s Jell-O.   (Jell-O Parfait) 

This is so easy, and it only has 3 ingredients.  To make it kid friendly, I used sugar free Jell-O, and so “Mom” could indulge, guilt free, I used Lite Cool Whip.

Being that it is Jell-O though, there was one downfall.   It took hours to complete because the Jell-O had to harden.  I’m not a very patient person, but it was worth it in the end.  

How I made it... 

(I ended up deviating from the original recipe to add more filling and not so much fruit.)  

What you need:

1 pkg strawberry Jell-O gelatin, sugar free
¾ cup diced fresh strawberries
1 ½ cup Lite Cool Whip

(I made strawberry, but I can also see this being done with other flavors as well.)

First, Mix Jell-O in a bowl, as directed on package.

 

**Tip: Use ice water to help harden the Jell-O faster, when it says to add cool water.**

Stick it in the fridge and let it cool until it starts to thicken up.  (I had to wait a little over an hour.) 

Take it out of the fridge and separate ½ cup of the Jell-O into a separate container.  Set aside.

Add the fresh fruit to the original mixture. 

Spoon it into your serving cups, and place them so they are sitting at a slant.

  

**The tutorial showed her using a bread pan.  When I tried this, I found that it really did work well. I have also seen this with muffin tins.  It all depends on the shape of your glass.** 

Place it the fridge to cool and harden.  (Mine took a little over 3 hours.)

Once it’s in the fridge, bring over your ½ cup Jell-O mix.  In a bowl, mix the Jell-O with the 1 ½ cup Cool Whip. 

Place the bowl in the fridge to keep cool.  Be sure to stir every so often, so the gelatin doesn’t harden. 

When the Jell-O in the serving glasses is hardened to the point where it stays diagonal when you set the glass upright, it’s time to spoon in the Cool Whip mixture. 

Once you have the desired amount in each glass, place them back in the refrigerator to stay chilled.

 

When you are ready to eat, put some Whipped Cream on the top and garnish with fresh strawberries. 

Now it’s time to sit back and enjoy!

My son LOVED this for his birthday, and after giving me multiple hugs, he asked me to make it again as soon as possible.  Yes!! Score 1 for Mom!!

Whether its birthdays, holidays, or “Just Because…”  This is a perfect dessert for any day, and it’s a great way to show the people you made it for, how much you care.

If you enjoyed this post, please Share it and let me know.  I always love hearing from people.

What other flavors do you think would taste good?  Who can get the most creative?

Stay tuned for more posts celebrating L.O.V.E. this February!

Until then…

Happy DIY-ing!!!

Amazing Cornbread and Yellow Cake Mix

Ok, Holidays are over, what does that mean?   Yes!  It’s time to do something with that left over ham.  What else is there to make, other than Ham and Beans and Cornbread?

This was something that my grandma would make every year, and it was always a favorite of mine.  With her being gone I got nostalgic, and tried to recreate the meal.  However, Grandma had lots of practice with this… I had not.  Let’s just say that the beans came out less than appealing.  I’m not even going to show you a picture, they were so bad.  Just know that beans can overcook and become more mush than soup.  Just saying…

However, the star of this meal had to be the cornbread.

This was great because no one wanted cornbread.  My kids could only think of it as bread that tasted like corn, and my husband’s not a fan.  He was the one that told me he had heard about mixing it with cake mix.  Therefore, I did a little investigating.

Not much was out there on Pinterest, but I did find this. 

The Sister Dish: Boston Mkt Crnbd

It was very simple to make, and the kids were excited because they thought of it as getting cake for dinner. 

One thing I was concerned about was the ratio of cornbread to cake mix.  What I found said that if you’re using one box of Jiffy cornbread mix, use one box of Jiffy YELLOW cake mix.  If you are using two boxes, use a normal sized YELLOW cake mix box.

**It was a tad sweeter than I wanted. Next time, I'll take out a smidge of cake mix. However, this was not a problem for the kiddos.  Its all about preference.**

Next, make the mix how it says on the boxes.  Confusing, right?  I thought so too.  This was where I trusted my gut.  I dumped in all the ingredients for two boxes of cornbread mix, then all the ingredients for the cake mix into one big bowl.  Yes, there were some double ingredients used.  The picture below shows what I used for the mixes I bought.

I used mixes, 5 eggs, 2/3 cup milk, 1 cup water, & 1/2 cup oil

Beat all ingredients together on medium speed, till well mixed.  Mix will be slightly lumpy. 

Poor into cake pan. 

Now, for the baking.  One box said to preheat the oven to 350 and the other said to 400.  What do you do here? 

The instructions I followed said to bake a 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 30 mins.  That’s what I did, but since my pan happened to be 12 x 12, the middle wasn’t quite done after thirty minutes, so I cranked the oven temperature up to 400 degrees and baked it for another 10 minutes.  What came out was perfect.  Sometimes you just have to think on your feet.

The cornbread was moist and tender.  My whole family loved it, and that’s saying a lot for my picky husband and even pickier kids.  It has the sweetness of cake, but doesn’t lose that wonderful taste of cornbread that hits right on those pastime memories. Add a little butter in the middle of a slice to make it even better. 

If you try this out, comment below and tell me how it turned out! 

Have you ever made it before?

Or better yet, should original cornbread even be tampered with?

Let me know what you think.

Happy DIY-ing!