Senior Care in Avon, IN

Your mother may have always told you not to play with your food, but it is hard to resist playing a little bit when your snack is as brightly colored and jiggly as a bowl or plate full of Jell-O. This July 12 give yourself, and your aging parents, permission to have a little bit of fun with your snack or dessert as you celebrate Eat your Jell-O Day. This silly holiday is a great opportunity for you to experiment with different flavors of Jell-O, try out some recipes, and add the hydrating, filling benefits of the treat into your senior care routine.

Jell-O is a fantastic item to have around your parents’ home because it is quick to prepare outside of the couple of hours it needs to set up, is versatile enough to use in a wide range of dessert and snack recipes, and gives your body a dose of hydration. If you use the sugar-free options you even get a filling, satisfying sweet snack for very few calories and no fat, making it the perfect option for curbing your parents’ appetite and helping them stick to a healthy diet.

This Eat Your Jell-O Day, get together with your parents and their senior health care services provider to try some of these cool and delicious ideas incorporating everyone’s favorite wiggly treat:

• Jell-O Fish Bowls. Choose a clear glass bowl or Mason jar for each person and put a layer of jelly beans on the bottom. Look for speckled beans or brown and green beans for the most realistic “rock” look. Prepare blue Jell-O according to the package instructions and pour a serving over the beans in each container. Put the containers in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up slightly. Use your fingers or bamboo skewers to push fish-shaped gummy candies such as Swedish Fish down into the Jell-O so they sit at different levels like they are swimming. Return the containers to the refrigerator to set up completely before serving.

• Vegan Jell-O. Actual Jell-O is not strictly vegetarian because of the animal-based gelatin used as the gelling agent. If you want to steer clear of animal products in your desserts, whip up your own vegan version by dissolving 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch in 1 teaspoon water and 1 teaspoon of agar-agar powder in 1 1/2 cups of chilled cherry juice. Heat the juice on medium-high to a simmer, simmer for 1 minute, and then remove from the heat. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and 1/2 cup more juice then refrigerate for 4 hours.

• Patriotic Jell-O Stars. Keep channeling all of that patriotic spirit from the Fourth of July with these adorable jiggly stars. Prepare blue Jell-O according to package directions and pour into a glass baking dish. Chill for 30 minutes. Combine 2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin with 3/4 cup hot water and 1/4 cup water, then add 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk and 1 cup hot water. Carefully pour this mixture over the blue Jell-O layer. Chill for 30 minutes. Prepare red Jell-O according to package directions and carefully pour over the white layer. Chill until set and then cut out all three layers with star-shaped cookie cutters.