[MindiV]

I turned on the TV during my lunch break yesterday and was flipping through the channels. I settled on the Food Network, in spite of the fact that "Paula's Home Cooking" was on.

She's not my favorite, simply because the way she cooks is a way I can't and won't eat anymore. Nothing else was on, so I left it there.

Imagine my surprise when I saw she was doing a show on LIGHT RECIPES!

The only one I did sit through was a dessert recipe she called Carolyn's Gelatin Cheesecake. Gonna have to make this one...

* 1 (12-ounce) container low-fat (1 percent) cottage cheese
* 2 (0.3-ounce) boxes sugar free strawberry gelatin, plus 1 box
* 2 ready-made light graham cracker crusts
* 1 pint fresh strawberries, plus extra for garnish
* 1 (8-ounce) container frozen light whipped topping, thawed

Put cottage cheese in a blender. Make 2 boxes of the gelatin, using 1 cup of hot and 1 cup of cold water. At once, before it jells, add to cottage cheese. Blend until smooth. Pour evenly into crusts and refrigerate until set. Cut up fruit and place on top of pies. Make remaining package of gelatin as per instructions on box. Pour it on top of fruit and put it in refrigerator until set. Put whipped topping on top. Garnish with more fruit.

This can totally be done in one pie, rather than two, or even in individual little tins. Or for that matter, without the crust, or without strawberries on top (I'm a fan of the taste personally - not the actual fruit). I haven't worked out the calorie count yet, but it can't be THAT bad, can it?

[stellarosa27]

That sounds awesome

I watch Paula, but mostly for the food porn aspect. Plus I just want to give her a big hug. She looks like she'd give good hugs.

[MindiV]

She DOES look grandmotherly....I think I don't like her show because it makes me hungry. Like Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives....it's like a train wreck, but I can't look away...

[tkm256]

Paula was my idol in high school, just because I was so afraid of everything I put in my mouth while she was perfectly happy and confident eating big scoops of fried mac&cheese on camera. If she's going to make a trend of light recipes now, I'd be stoked. Unfortunately, they're probably just capitalizing on the temporary January Resolution wave.

[MindiV]

Oh I'm sure it's only temporary. I mean...Paula Deen = butter. She can't work without butter...

[duckyyellowfeet]

Paula Dean makes me sad because she reminds me so much of my grandmother.

Other than that, her food makes me a little queasy. SO much butter...but she does make some amazing food porn

[Lackie]

All week and last week they have been doing light recipes. I have tried a lot of them and they are delicious, but I make sure to only have a little because there light recipes are my heavy days.

[ThicknPretty]

I love Paula. She is literally EVERY woman in my family! That's how we cook down here, lol.

And that cheesecake thing sounds really yummy. You have to let us know if it turns out well!

[MindiV]

So I made the basic filling part last night, and put it into four equal containers to eat as a sort of "pudding." I thought about going all-out with the pie, but the ready-to-use crusts are 800+ calories each, and I didn't want to waste those.

I figured the filling (using a 16 oz container of 1% cottage cheese and the 2 packets of sugar free strawberry Jello) at 110 calories per equal servings, if you make four.

I probably didn't get the cottage cheese blended in as well as I should, so the texture is a little off. But the taste is good. Bet you could do it with SF lime, lemon or whatever Jello and it'd be good. It's a little thick, but it's an ok way for me to get some protein (13 grams per serving) in at a meal since I can't stand the texture of plain cottage cheese...it's tasty.

[mandymic]

I love Paula too and accept her show b/c she's real. She makes high fat, high calorie dishes and doesn't apologize for it. Plus she is what she eats, she's not a 110lbs stick cooking and eating those foods.
My issue is with show like Giada who make high fat, high calorie dishes but are way to thin to be eating her own recipes!

[souvenirdarling]

I see this as being great for breakfast!!! Or a dessert! I'll give lemon or lime a try.

I'm going to try this in disposable cups, for portion control. Hmm... Or maybe its possible to make them upside down in cups so you can run a knife around the edge, turn over, and have a nice looking dessert??

For a base, I'm going to mix graham cracker and chopped peanuts and just press it in. I don't think I'll bother with the whipped topping... yet...

110 cals for a delcious 13g of protein is waaaay to good to give up.

[souvenirdarling]

Solidified like a charm! I made it in leftover plastic containers the side of a cottage cheese container. That's 4 large portions. I mixed lemon and lime jello, which I wouldn't recommend because it feels neither limey or lemony enough AND, I made in in 15 minutes, and it solidified well within an hour. Yay!!!

I used a hand blender, which is easier with the cottage cheese but very messy when adding gelatin mix I should have known better.

Thanks Mindi! I'm definitely going to make this more often!!

[MindiV]

I ate some for breakfast yesterday too! The portions in fourths are actually pretty huge...My husband tried it and didn't like it because it was too "Jello-y" and he can't stand the texture. I like it though...I'll probably keep it around!