Canteloupe Rainbow

I am not sure why I didn't think of it, but Jello is a great choice for allergic kids!  I'm not talking about the pre-made ones that you buy in the little cups, but the boxes that you can buy in the grocery aisle, add water and you have an instant sugary treat!

This summer I made the Jellin Melon Snacks found on Kraft's recipe website.  They were a huge hit with the kids!  Some kids ate just the jello, others ate just the melon, but in the end, most ate it all! 

 

For St. Paddy's Day, I decided to make a Canteloupe Rainbow.  And it turned out beautifully.  Then, to top it off, I poured the extra Jello in a Pyrex casserole dish and ended up with Rainbow Jigglers for slicing with a knife or for cutting with St Patrick's Day cookie cutters.  It was fun, fun, fun!

Canteloupe Rainbows

1 large canteloupe
1 pkg red jello mix
1 pkg orange jello mix
1 pkg yellow jello mix
1 pkg green jello mix
1 pkg blue jello mix
1 pkg purple jello mix
9 C boiling water mix
6 C cold water mix

1. Wash the canteloupe then cut it in half and remove the seeds.
2. Scoop out some of the pulp from the center of the canteloupe leaving about one inch of pulp all the way around.
3. Sit each canteloupe half in a bowl.
4. In a Pyrex measuring bowl, place the contents of the red jello packet.
5. Add 1 1/2 C boiling water and stir until dissolved.
6. Add 1 C cold water to the boiling water mix and continue stirring until completely dissolved
7. Pour a thin layer of the jello mix in the bottom of each canteloupe leaving enough room to add the next 5 layers.  Use the remaining jello mix to make the Rainbow Jigglers recipe listed below.
8. Refrigerate the canteloupe halves for about 1 1/2 hours or until jello has solidified.
9. Once congealed, remove the jello from the refrigerator.
10. Repeat steps 4 - 9 for each color of the rainbow in the order that they are listed above.  Be careful when adding each of the next layers.  If the jello mix is too hot, the colors will blend instead of creating a layered effect.  Also, I found it was better to ladle the jello into the molds rather than to pour it.  This also helped prevent mixing of colors.
11. Once the layers are all in place, refrigerate for 6 hours to allow the mixtures to completely congeal.
12. To serve, slice the canteloupe half into wedges.  The rainbow wedge in each canteloupe slice will look different.  Kids can try to find the different colors and guess which color their wedge is missing.

 Rainbow Jigglers

1 pkg red jello mix
1 pkg orange jello mix
1 pkg yellow jello mix
1 pkg green jello mix
1 pkg blue jello mix
1 pkg purple jello mix
9 C boiling water mix
6 C cold water mix
1 large Pyrex casserole dish

1. In a Pyrex measuring bowl, place the contents of the red jello packet.
2. Add 1 1/2 C boiling water and stir until dissolved.
3. Add 1 C cold water to the boiling water mix and continue stirring until completely dissolved
4. Pour the jello mix into the Pyrex dish.
5. Refrigerate the jello for about 1 1/2 hours or until it has solidified.
6. Once congealed, remove the jello from the refrigerator.
7. Repeat steps 4 - 9 for each color of the rainbow in the order that they are listed above.  Be careful when adding each of the next layers.  If the jello mix is too hot, the colors will blend instead of creating a layered effect.  Also, I found it was better to ladle the jello into the molds rather than to pour it.  This also helped prevent mixing of colors.
8. Once the layers are all in place, refrigerate for 6 hours to allow the mixtures to completely congeal.
9. To serve, dip the entire dish into warm water and allow it to melt the layer of jello that is touching the dish. 
10. Once ready, place a cookie sheet on top of the dish and invert. 
11. Allow the dish to rest inverted until all of the jello has fallen out of the dish to create one large sheet of rainbow jigglers.
12. Use a knife to cut the jigglers into cubes or slices which contain all the layers like a rainbow and serve.
13. Or.....for a little fun, let the kids use cookie cutters to press shapes in the jello.  An adult should help to remove the shapes from the slab, though since it can be a little tricky.

NOTE:  The jigglers recipe works well alongside the canteloupe recipe.  After making a layer in the canteloupes, pour the remaining jello mix in a Pyrex casserole dish to make the Rainbow Jigglers.