Food Talk And Fabulous Finds - Sugar-Free Jell-O Tricks

I hate the little pre-made cups of sugar-free jell-o ... not only is it outrageously expensive, it's rubbery and weird in texture and tastes terrible! So I've always made my own. I thought I'd write up some of my tricks for making it more interesting. If you have other tricks, post 'em!


Make Your Own Jell-O Cups - Pour prepared Jell-O into disposable 8- or 9-oz plastic drink cups.
Mix Flavors - Mix together two small packages of gelatine with different flavors. I like to mix lemon and lime.
Make Your Own Flavor - Use UNFLAVORED gelatin and your favorite sugar-free beverage, such as Crystal Light or sugar-free Kool-Aid. Raspberry Lemonade! Iced Tea! etc.
Make a Fruit Exchange - Use UNFLAVORED gelatin and fruit juice, either for all of the liquid or just the cold liquid. How much you use and how much you eat will determine how many fruit exchanges it will count as.
Make Jell-O Fluff - Mix a small package of gelatin as directed. When it cools off and starts to set but is still soupy, add a carton of non-fat sugar-free plain or flavored yogurt and beat with an electric mixer until well mixed and fluffy. Return to refrigerator to set. This will be pudding-like in texture; 1-1/2 cup of this will be 1/2 milk exchange. For a stiffer mixture, mix the gelatin with 1 cup boiling water but NO cold water. Proceed as above. This will be as stiff as Jell-O but creamy; 1 cup will be 1/2 milk exchange. Of course you can create all kinds of interesting flavor combinations by mixing certain gelatin flavors with certain yogurt flavors. I like orange Jell-O and vanilla yogurt, among others.
Get Jell-O in a Hurry - Prepare Jell-O as directed on the package for the quick-set method, replacing cold water with ice. To make it set even faster, pour into a wide, shallow dish -- the deeper the dish, the longer it will take to set.

* another way to set it in a hurry is to add frozen fruit - a cup of blueberries or raspberries, for example.
* I had some oranges I needed to use up today, so I juiced them to get four cups of juice, and chopped a couple up into chunks. I boiled up about 1.5 cups of the juice, added 3 packs of gelatin (no flavour or sugar), added 2 cups mixed frozen berries, and a little splenda, though it probably doesn't need that.
* I eat a lot of berries, and mixing them with jello/gelatin is a way to extend them further (I am a huge believer in adding water-volume to meals).

I am going to try the yogurt thing too. Sounds yummy.

cheerio,
Sue

A variation of the Jell-O Fluff that I really enjoy:

Mix Jell-o according to package directions. While still hot, add one 8 oz. package of low-fat cream cheese. Mix until completely disolved. Pour into individual containers and refrigerate 4 hours or until set. You can make 4 standard servings, or 8 mini servings. I usually make the 8 mini's because the cream cheese makes it taste sweeter.

I like to use a package of sf Black Cherry Jello and make as directed only substituting 1 cup Black Cherry Diet Rite cola for the cold water. Add some Cool Whip on top of your serving--good.

They make these neat little containers, I think they're put out by Gladware. They're little and round and hold 1/2 cup. I make the jello and fill four of these. I take them to work and reuse the containers. They're also good for the sugar free pudding.

Has anyone tried to freeze it???? Wonder how it would turn out in those popsicle making containers??? :?:

I just made some a couple of days ago using a box of SF/FF orange jello mixed with 1 cup LF plain yogurt and 1 c. LF ricotta. It really hit the spot!