The Best Jell-O Salad With Blueberries
Groovy Blueberry Jell-O Salad -- It's Like Totally Out of Sight!
Nutritionists hail blueberries as a “superfood” because they're low in calories and high in nutrients. This recipe from the 1970s, Groovy Blueberry Jell-O Salad, is a totally awesome throwback to the days when girls wore mini-skirts and boys wore bell bottom jeans. But it remains like totally hip and relevant today, man, because blueberries are its star. Right on! Right on!
1) Gather the ingredients.
2) Dissolve Jell-O in 2 cups boiling water. Add the drained juices from the canned pineapple tidbits and blueberries.
3) Add 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice.
4) Add pineapple tidbits and blueberries. Take out 1/2 cup syrupy mixture.
5) Pour into pan. Place pan in refrigerator until firm.
6) Add 1/2 cup syrupy mixture to an 8 ounce tub of Cool Whip. Mix.
7) Spread Cool Whip on the firm salad. Enjoy!
The Ingredients for Groovy Blueberry Jell-O Salad
- 1 package 6 ounces Jell-O, Berry Blue
- 1 can 15 ounces blueberries, in light syrup
- 1 can 20 ounces pineapple, tidbits
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 8 ounce tub Cool Whip
Seven Simple Steps
- Gather the ingredients.
- Dissolve the Jell-O in 2 cups boiling water.Add the juices from the canned blueberries and pineapple.
- Add 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Add the blueberries and pineapple tidbits. Take out 1/2 cup of the syrupy mixture.
- Pour in 9X12 pan. Place in refrigerator to firm.
- Add 1/2 cup syrupy mixture to an 8 ounce tub of Cool Whip. Mix.
- Spread Cool Whip on the firm salad. Enjoy!
Nutrition Information for Groovy Blueberry Jell-O Salad
Nutrition Facts | |
---|---|
Serving size: 8 | |
Calories | 1879 |
Calories from Fat | 342 |
% Daily Value * | |
Fat 38 g | 58% |
Carbohydrates 347 g | 116% |
Sugar 269 g | |
Protein 19 g | 38% |
Sodium 695 mg | 29% |
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. |
What Do You Think of Groovy Blueberry Jell-O Salad? Do You Dig It?
Blueberries and Summer Are Like Totally Synonymous, Dude!
Sitting at the kitchen table strategically mapping out plans to keep my kids busy this summer – archery lessons, swim club, soccer camp, computer classes – I couldn't help but recall the carefree, unscheduled days of my childhood when having no plan was the best plan of all. On those long, hot summer days, my siblings and I would strike out early in the morning to explore the unexplored wilderness that surrounded our newly constructed neighborhood, with no intention of returning until dark. Like a scene from Lord of the Flies, we'd ward off hunger by foraging ravenously for wild blueberries (when you're kids, you never think to pack sandwiches). Even today I associate summer with blueberries and when the weather heats up, I pull out my blueberry recipes including my favorite, Groovy Blueberry Jell-O Salad from the 1970s.
Except for two weeks in August set aside for a family road trip to visit our grandparents in Iowa, summer was our time to do with as we pleased with no adult blueprint. It was our time to totally chill and mellow out. It was the early 1970s when parents didn't bum us out with lectures about stranger danger, didn't tell us to check in on our cell phones, and didn't remind us to return home at 2:00 for Spanish tutoring. Looking back now as a middle-aged mother with two sons who are constantly plugged into their computers, iPads, and iPods, I realize how lucky we were – so free, funky, and unencumbered – as we popped blueberry after blueberry into our mouths and reveled in their total awesomeness.
Revisiting the Psychedelic '70s With Groovy Blueberry Jell-O Salad
Many of the foods I dug in the '70s – granola, trail mix, muffins – are no longer considered healthy because they contain too much fat, sugar, and calories. What a drag! But blueberries have emerged over the past decade as a “superfood,” heralded by nutritionists because they're low in calories and high in nutrients.
With all the acclaim they're receiving, I decided to take a trip down memory lane to those psychedelic days when my siblings and I waited all week long to watch our favorite shows on Friday nights, The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family. It was like a totally awesome time when my sister and I would alternate between mini-skirts and maxi dresses while my brothers wore bell bottom jeans for play and leisure suits to Mass. Things we liked were cool, groovy, and far out and things we disliked were a drag. I hunted through my file with one recipe card from the '70s in mind, altogether intent on making Groovy Blueberry Jell-O Salad.
7 Big Benefits of Eating Blueberries
1) They're loaded with disease-fighting antioxidants (vitamins and minerals found in food) to protect your heart and prevent cancer.
2) They're good for pumping up your immune system – preventing infections, colds, and fevers.
3) They're considered a “brain food,” meaning they help with cognitive functions such as memory and improved learning capacity.
4) They're a terrific source of vitamin A, which helps prevent vision loss due to aging.
5) They're a natural anti-depressant that can boost your mood.
6) They're full of fiber, which helps digestive function and prevents constipation.
7) They're proven to prevent and even cure urinary tract infections.
Celebrating the Funkadelic '70s
It's not easy for me, a 50-year-old mom, to impress my teenage kids. Believe me, it's a total bummer, man. Because of my totally lame technological skills and utter cluelessness about popular culture, I'm simply no longer the cool cat I once was. However, I can still score some points on the hip meter with my first-hand knowledge of the 1970s – hippies, the drug culture, Vietnam, Kent State, Watergate, feminism, disco, Studio 54, and Star Wars. My sons like other young people today have a real fascination with the '70 just as I once loved everything connected with the '50s: James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, poodle skirts, and drive-ins. Celebrating the '70 with my two dudes has been a totally cool way for us to connect and share the vibe. Catch my drift?
Get Your Groove On With a Disco Night!
Watch Saturday Night Fever while eating some far out funkadelic party foods from the '70s: fondue, quiche, Hamburger Helper (we had that ALL the time), Shake n' Bake chicken, cocktail weenies served with tooth picks and dipping sauce (we thought that was SO classy), Pringles chips (my brother gobbled those up like a total spaz), and to drink, Kool Aid or Tang. After the movie, turn on some '70s music and get your boogie on. Get down and get funky by teaching your kids some disco dances: The Hustle, The Bump, and The YMCA. If you don't know how, check out YouTube!
Make Your Own Totally Keen Pet Rocks -- Neato!
Take your kids for a totally mellow walk around the neighborhood or a totally far out hike in the woods. Just chill. Collect some cool stones that are smooth. Using acrylic paints, cover the stones with a light-colored base coat. When they're dry, use various colors to create whatever you want – turning your stone into a cat, a dog, a flower, a hamburger, a ladybug, or a monster. Can you dig it? For an easier project, paint your stones with hearts, polka-dots, stars, stripes, or balloons. To protect your pet rocks, seal them with a few coats of Mod Podge. BAM!
Mellow Out by Watching Those Cool, Classic Family Sitcoms of the '70s, The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family.
I insisted my sons take a break from their regular lame viewing habits (Drake and Josh, iCarly) to watch my favorite shows of the '70s: The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family. While a little bummed at first, they soon got into it as we watched show after show in marathon sessions. It was far out sharing trivia with them about each episode: Robert Reed, who played the patriarch on The Brady Bunch, was gay. That little girl appearing on The Partridge Family is Oscar winner, Jody Foster. When it comes to '70s trivia, I'm totally like awesome, man!
Read Aloud Some Bangin Children's Books Written in the '70s
Judy Blume's Freckle Juice, Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Betsy Byers's The Summer of the Swans, Robert C. O'Brien's Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, and Dr. Seuss's Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!
Feel the Funk and Go Roller-Skating!
I was like a roller-skating freak in the '70s, dudes, and could really get down -- whether at the playground or the rink. It's totally cool to roller-skate with my sons because I'm like so much better than they are. They cling to the wall and hold onto the rail -- totally lame -- while I'm out there getting my groove on. In your face! I really cut loose to the max, especially if they're playing some totally groovy disco tunes !
© 2015 McKenna Meyers