Cool & Creamy Layered Strawberry Dessert

Today my husband is 40. Yup. He's made the leap into the next decade. I think it hit him fairly hard actually. So I threw out lots of sayings to make him feel youthful again. You know the typical sayings: "You're only as old as you feel.", "40 is the new 30", "Glad it's you, not me". You know uplifting kind of things. Luckily he has a youthful wife who is a few (ok, a couple) of years his junior. I like to refer to myself as his trophy wife. ;)

So anyway, since Karate Guy's birthday is within the same week as dear old Brad's and I was tired of baking cakes on hot days I decided to make him a different kind of dessert for his fete. I remembered that Brad had asked me weeks ago to make this ridiculously easy, yet very pretty refreshing dessert for him so I made it today. It took less than 10 minutes to prep it (and 3 hours in the fridge) and I had a very pretty dessert that looked like it took a lot longer. Brownie points with minimal effort. Gotta love it!

Originally the recipe makes 8 servings but here in our house our birthday motto is "go big or go home" so I only made 5 servings and put them in large plastic wine glasses. Topped with whipped cream and some additional strawberry slices it was wonderful.

1 (6 servings) strawberry Jell-O mix
3 cups boiling water
1L container Cool Whip, frozen (I used reduced fat ... like that will help in this dessert)
2 cups strawberries - culled, halved and sliced
additional whipped cream
additional strawberry slices for garnish

In a large bowl, combine Jell-O powder and boiling water. Stir until dissolved. Add the frozen Cool Whip to the Jell-O and cut it into smaller chunks. Using a large whisk, beat the Cool Whip until it has combined with the Jell-O.

Meanwhile, divide 2 cups of strawberry slices among 8 glass cups (or 5 large plastic cups if you're like us) - as long as you can see through them so you can see the layers it's all good. Pour Jell-O mixture over strawberries. Refrigerate for a few hours. The layers will form while the mixture cools down.

When ready to serve, top each cup with whipped cream and additional strawberry slices.

Tip: Try using different kinds of Jell-O with different kinds of fruit. Just stay away from pineapple and kiwi because the Jell-O won't set if they're added.