I bought a 9 oz tub of light, whipped, organic Cream Cheese at Trader Joes today. I made rasberry jello using the packet and 2 cups boiling water. (large size box) Then I added the whipped cream cheese and whipped it in until it completly dissolved. Then I added one more cup cold water. I figured I would let it sit in the fridge for 1 or 2 hours until it starts to thicken and then I will whip it again and then let it sit in the fridge until it's done. I am hoping it will taste like a sort of a rasberry cheescake.
I was thinking the light cream cheese is OK because the book says "light cheeses".
What do you think? I am dying for something a little different.

Suzy, I'm not sure, but I often use light cream cheese instead of the ricotta in the dessert recipe from the book. (you did use sugar-free jello, yes?)
Ruth, do you know?

Yes. I forgot to say Sugar free jello.
I just looked at it to give it a second stirring and it didn't need it. I thought the cream cheese and jello might seperate, but it didn't.

Suzy, it sounds as if all the ingredients are okay, so it shouldn't be a problem. I wouldn't go overboard, but as a substitution for a ricotta desert it should be pretty good! I did the very same thing but used ricotta after I had put it through the food processor to improve the texture. Another thing I did was to put the ricotta in a food processor, add about 1/4 cup of fat free half & half, then added a small package of fat free/sugar free INSTANT pudding mix and gave that a good mix. Now THAT is some seriously good stuff..a lot like mousse. I thought the chocolate was my favorite until I tried the vanilla...now I can't decide.

Not 100% sure the pudding mix is okay for phase 1, but something to keep in mind for phase 2. Good luck!

It should be OK on Phase I - the light cream cheese, no pudding mix until Phase II.

HOWEVER, low fat cream cheese has 554cals, 42 grams of fat, 17 grams of carbs and 25 grams of protein. Ricotta (part skim milk) is 340/19/13/28 so it is by far the better choice - lower cals, lower fat, lower carbs and more protein. This is based on nutritional analysis of a cup of each in www.fitday.com.

Try the recipe with ricotta next time.

Hey Suzy W, let us know how that tastes because it sounds delicious!

It was yummy. It was fluffy, creamy and a little tangy from the rasberry jello flavor. I think it would taste a little like key lime pie with lime jello. Ruth that is a good point about the cal/fat/prot vs cal/fat/prot in ricotta vs light cream cheese. I don't want to slow down my weight loss. But I sure enjoy a little dessert variety. I will try and eat it moderately for dessert at night. Thanks for the help.

I made your jello/cream cheese concoction, but I used lime jello and I made the SBD pie crust for it to go in. And man it was fab. I brought it over to a friend's house for dessert. I had leftover crust mix and cream cheese/jello mix so I also baked the pie crust mix in little custard cups and put the rest of the cream cheese mixture in there and now I have little treats for like every other day or so. Tomorrow I am gonna make it with raspberry, but since this dessert will be just for me I am gonna make it with ricotta so its less fat/cals/carbs/sugar.Thanks Suzy.