SANDRA’S TROPICAL LIME JELLO SURPRISE

I grew up partaking in this delightful dessert following
my Mom's delicious dinners; 
still mix the whipped cream  in with
the jello before eating it too...

Servings: (6)
Prep: 5 Mins.
Pre-Set: 1 Hr.
Full-Set: 4 Additional Hrs.
--(or overnight is more flavorful)

INGREDIENTS:

1 (6 oz. pkg.) lime jello (or orange, or lemon)
2 cups boiling water
2 cups total: reserved juice from fruit (below) + cold water
1 (8 oz. can) pineapple chunks, drained (reserving juice), roughly chopped
1 (15 oz. can) tropical fruit chunks, drained (reserving juice), roughly chopped
2 carrots, peeled, and shredded
1/2 tablespoon lime juice (or orange juice with orange jello, or lemon juice with lemon jello)
½ cup coconut, shredded

--Prepared whipped cream

METHOD:

In a medium saucepan, heat 2 cups of water over high heat to boiling, remove from heat and add lime jello, gently stirring until dissolved. Add remaining 2 cups of cold liquid (reserved juice and cold water), and stir to combine. Pour into a 2 qt. square glass dish, and refrigerate to partially set for 1 hour (to prevent the additional ingredients from sinking later on).

Just before jello has partially set, grate carrots (to prevent them from oxidizing) and toss into a small bowl with lime juice. Remove partially set jello from the refrigerator, and fold in tropical fruit, carrots, and coconut. Return to refrigerator and let set completely, about 4 hours. Serve with whipped topping (I like to mix my whipped cream into the jello mixture, as stated above ;). – Enjoy!

Be sure to store leftovers, covered, in refrigerator.

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Tip:  I don’t use pre-shredded carrots or a food processor to do so because they do not maintain the proper texture or flavor for this dessert, IMHO; I simply shred using a box grater ;)