Does your family consider jello a side dish?

[Bichon Barb]

All these Easter dinner threads inspired me. My in-laws consider jello a side dish. One of my SIL's makes her famous "Fresca Salad" for Easter and Christmas. It consists of green jello, Fresca diet soda, and whipped cream. The kids corrected if they eat appetizers before dinner, yet this green sugary stuff is put on their plates as a side dish at dinner time.

Okay, I'm not being nice . Thank heavens my SILs don't know about this website. At least I HOPE they don't. LOL.

I say yuck to jello as a side dish. It's something you eat when you are kid and are home sick with a stomach virus.

Your thoughts........

 

[Michelle]

Totally agree! I've never been a fan of jello salads and regular jello is just yuk.

 

[Gail T AGAIN]

YUCK, as a side dish. I don't eat jello probably once a yr. if I am lucky, I am not a big fan of the feeling of it in my mouth.

 

[Kermit]

We actually had this discussion at a supper club I belong to a few weeks ago. What we decided was that if it has fruit in it, you can serve it as a side dish. If it's just Jello and other sweet stuff, it's desert.

 

[Bichon Barb]

They also have this cranberry gel dish with nuts in it. You serve it with a glob of mayonnaise.

Okay, I'm going to get struck by lightning now.

 

[ILUVDXL]

Every Easter my Mom would make individual jello salad molds that were orange jello, walnuts, crushed pineapple and celery. They were served on lettuce with a dollop of mayonaise. None of us liked it but we all ate it to keep her happy. She thought it was the greatest.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

I make Jello in individual dishes. I use apple juice instead of cold water and keep them around for snacks for the kids and their friends. Never eat them as a side dish, though.

 

[FOJMO]

Originally posted by Bichon Barb
It's something you eat when you are kid and are home sick with a stomach virus.

Actually, you don't have to be a sick kid to have it! When I got out of the hospital with pancreatitis a little over a year ago, and was able to come home, I was not allowed to eat or drink ANYTHING (not even ice chips) for 4 MONTHS!!!

Imagine my delight when they finally allowed me to have clear liquids, which meant chicken broth, water and jello!

I'll tell you, after 4 months of not eating anything, Jello tasted pretty good.

BUT, I would never have it as a side dish -- only as a cheap dessert!

 

[believe]

I like jello, so either way is fine with me. My FIL eats his as a side dish, but my MIL eats her's as a dessert.

 

[Keli]

I like jello myself. I don't eat it very often but I don't mind eating it when it's served. I do eat it as a desert though.

 

[disykat]

Even though it's sweet, I've had it as a side dish. It's not something I would do often - I consider it a holiday thing. I have a cranberry jello "salad" I like to serve at Thanksgiving - it has apples and cranberries in it. A friend of mine also brings a cranberry "salad" and hers has cool whip in it and everything. We all put it on our plates right next to the turkey!

My kids like jello and if we have it at home it's considered dessert.

I've never really understood the term "jello salad".

 

[sha_lyn]

It depends what is in it
Cranberries,apples, nut and oranges ... side dish with ham or poultry

Carrots, pineapple nuts .. side dish

pineapple, cool whip etc dessert

 

[Dodie]

DH *loves* Jello, either as a side dish or as a desert, as long as it's "EMPTY" (nothing in it - just plain old Jello).

I can tolerate it better if there's something in it like fruit. Bananas in strawberry/banana Jello was a staple at my house growing up.

My MIL makes a really good cranberry Jello thing at Thanksgiving/Christmas, but it's FULL of stuff - cranberries, nuts, chopped apples, pineapple...

We joke about empty vs. full Jello every holiday.

 

[nativetxn]

We eat sugar free jello and certainly not for a side dish.

 

[bobcat]

Only if it has Vodka in it! I'm a cute little "dish" and I will certainly end up on my side after a few of those.