Jackson Jambalaya

 Back in the day, I just about lived on this stuff from the Student Union Grill at MSU. Looks both Green and Fluffy, doesn't it?

Ah how great the good old days at Mississippi State were for a young Microbiologist! I don't know about you Harvard and MIT guys, but I enjoyed pretty much every minute of my time at State (at Len-Lew's, too), and eventually, I even paid off my student loans, plus a lot of interest. 

Money was always short during my MSU days, even with two jobs and working as a construction laborer and then carpenter on various jobs during every Christmas break. The university probably knew the student body contained many folks who had very little extra money, so they sold food in the grill at the Student Union and in the cafeteria for the lowest prices possible. In those days, the MSU Cafeteria was the largest university Cafeteria in the world. It had a distinct food smell I can still close my eyes and bring up pleasant memories of dining days past. 

My favorites at the grill were the Ham and Cheese sandwich, with a slice of MSU cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo and ham on toasted bread, or half a fried chicken and fries. Regardless of what I chose, it was always accompanied by a six-by-six inch square of MSU's famous green fluffy stuff. Fluffy Stuff was the name I gave to their green lime Jello, with cottage cheese and pineapple. I can't remember what they called it (Probably Lime Jello Salad). It was the closest thing to a salad I ever had as an undergraduate student and graduate student at MSU.  I probably consumed a thousand pounds of the dessert during the 9,478 years I was at State. Over the years, I have consumed an equal amount of this green lime Jello concoction, including two batches made during the past month. If you are concerned with such stuff, it is both keto and diabetic friendly. As I write this, there is one third of a recipe in the refrigerator, leftover from the batch I made three days ago. It will be gone by lunch tomorrow.

All things change and my recipe for the great dish I enjoyed at MSU has changed a little over the 100 years since I matriculated. We now make it almost sugar free and lower in carbs, substituting sugar free Jello, natural juice crushed pineapple instead of heavy syrup fruit, and low-fat cottage cheese for the full fat stuff the cows at MSU produced when I was there. We have also added sugar free cool whip, which to the best of my memory was not a part of the MSU Union Grill dessert. 

I guess I need to mention, the Union Grill is no longer in the Student Union Building. It was replaced by a food court. The cafeteria, which served the world's best cubed liver, potato, and brown onion gravy hash almost every Thursday, after serving slices of liver with brown onion gravy on Wednesdays is also gone, replaced by a large food court.  Oh well, Clarks Minute Mart, the Plaza, Len-Lew's, Crossroads, The Triangle club, Ben's Katz's Pool Hall, both downtown theatres, the sporting goods store, Katz Dept Store, and Judge Mac's convenience store are all gone too.

Enough Drivel. Here is how I make the really nice very low sugar and carb Jello treat I call Green Fluffy Stuff.\

By the way, as I said once already, this recipe is Keto and Diabetic Friendly. 

Notice:  I am not a physician, or a nutritionist. My education and background do not qualify me to offer dietary advice to anyone suffering from a medical condition that adversely influences their health. All readers should consult their physician and follow the advice of a medical professional for all dietary concerns.

Green Fluffy Stuff

Ingredients:

2 Large packages Sugar Free Lime Jello
3.5 cups of boiling water (1/2 cup less than the 2 Jello box labels call for)
3.5 cups cold water (1/2 cup less than the 2 Jello boxes call for)
12 ounces 2% (low fat) small curd cottage cheese
1 can crushed pineapple - use packed in juice pineapple, not the heavy syrup can
1 package Sugar Free Cool Whip

Dissolve the 2 large Jello packs in 3 1/2 cups of boiling water. Stir until completely dissolved.

I transfer this Jello concentrate into the container I will use for the completed dessert, then mix in the cold water. The water in the cold water photo is light green because It is hard to empty it completely and the cold water just rinses out the residue.

When thick, add the cottage cheese and pineapple, then stir in. Pineapple tends to make the gelatin less likely to set up, which is why I make it with a little less water than the box calls for.

Since the Jello isn't fully jelled, the cottage cheese and pineapple will settle to the bottom. Every so often for the next hour or two, I will stir the contents to keep all the good stuff from going to the bottom like this.

In my refrigerator, the temperature of the mixture needs to get down to about 59 degrees before I add the cool whip. By the way, Cool Whip comes frozen from the grocer and must be thawed for two or three hours on the countertop before adding it to the Jello.

 

When the time is right, the Jello is almost set and the Cool whip is thawed, it is time to add and mix it in.

Back into the refrigerator, preferably until the next day

Trust me, This stuff is good. It is green and fluffy, how could it not be good?

Thanks for looking at my post.