The Jell-o Project: In Which I Make a Case for Vegetable Jell-o.

I get it! I finally understand why housewives of yore suspended vegetables in Jell-o!

Because it doesn't taste too bad and it gets kids to eat their vegetables. Of course those vegetables are surrounded by sugary, jiggly, gelatin which probably off-sets any health benefits one might get from eating said vegetables, but sometimes you just have to take what you can get.

This week's Jell-o salad was Carrot Gelatin Salad. I decided my first foray into the vegetable/Jell-o mix would be a relatively safe one. Carrots are, after all, a fairly sweet vegetable that I thought would lend itself to the sweet, cold, slipperiness of Jell-o. Plus, my kids enjoy a carrot from time to time. How could I go wrong?

Unfortunately, the kids are growing suspicious of the dome shaped things I plop in front of them every Tuesday night and are not as willing test subjects as they once were, back in the days of Lime Jell-o with Pears.

Isaac took a very small bite, it might have been a lick, and was not impressed. "Can't you make the Jell-o with cheese in it again?"

Ethan took one bite and even though he looked like he might throw up, I forced him to take a second. "I liked lime Jell-o with pears," he said.

Jonah took about three bites and was done. "It's OK." He said.

Unacceptable. There was nothing unpalatable about the carrot Jell-o salad. I thought it was delicious. I decided the results were skewed because my test subject's preconceived notions.

So last night, after a few days of palate cleansing with my regular dinner fare, I reintroduced the carrot Jell-o salad and told everyone I wanted a second opinion.

Just one piece of advice to the family: Think carrot, not fruit.

Robert: This is a good way to eat carrots.

Isaac: It is kind of tasty, but not that good.

Ethan: Too carroty

Jonah: Mmm, good. (he then ate the rest of the sample himself.)

I know this still seems like a failure, but I think carrot Jell-o Salad just might find itself on the Nelson dinner menu sometime in the future...

...after a few other Jell-o experiments, of course. I have yet to try Jell-o with meat!

Next week: Beets!