Stevia Sweetened Jello Recipe- Low Carb, Paleo Dessert

I think it is absolutely impossible to get a picture of jello that looks remotely photogenic. Oh well...

I was looking for an idea for a treat to make for myself , but the thing is, I AM trying to lose weight, so I shouldn't really be eating snacks, as they are always extra calories from fat, or extra carbohydrates, both which contribute to weight gain if you have them to much.
But it's hard to not eat any treat or dessert when I make dessert for my family, and so I was trying to come up with an idea that wouldn't be high in either carbs or fat.

Stevia has no carbohydrates, tastes sweet, and is totally natural and unprocessed, (the stuff I use, anyhow- it's pure stevia leaves) and therefore, according to most natural foods gurus, is one of the better sweeteners to use. Unfortunately, many, like myself, do not enjoy the taste of stevia sweetened items, as it can have an aftertaste. Therefore, I do not tend to use stevia.

There is one way that I do enjoy stevia- and that is in drinks. Stevia sweetened tea is something I find pleasant to drink. And to turn stevia sweetened tea into a dessert I could either make freeze pops/popsicles, or I could turn them into jello.

Jello it was!

I knew from my fruit juice sweetened jello recipe what the proportion of liquids to gelatin were needed, and just went from there.

You can use whatever tea you like for this- I used strawberry tea and foraged sumac berries to make my tea.

It came out delicious! Fortunately I made a huge batch, since my kids all wanted jello in addition to the dessert I made them. Afterwards, I snacked on it between meals instead of eating other stuff, and it satisfied my sweet tooth without packing on the pounds... or the chemicals- so that's a score.

Stevia Sweetened Jello Recipe- Low Carb, Paleo Dessert

Ingredients:
12 cups of extra strong stevia sweetened tea
6 tablespoons gelatin- I used fish gelatin, feel free to use bovine, or any other plain gelatin.
2 cups boiling water

Instructions:
1. Seep your tea bags/leaves/whatever you're using to make your tea, together with your stevia leaves, in boiling water. You want to have 12 cups of extra strong, extra sweet tea. Of course, if sugar isn't an issue for you, feel free to use whatever sweetener you like; just make sure that the sweetener is fully dissolved in the tea.

2. Strain the tea so that no solids- tea or stevia leaves, remain behind. Let the tea cool.

3. Pour 1 cup of the cooled tea over 6 tablespoons of dry gelatin to soften.

4. Set aside for 30 minutes.

5. Pour 2 cups of boiling water over the softened gelatin, and mix very well, until the gelatin is fully dissolved in the liquid, no clumps remaining behind.

6. Mix the rest of the cooled tea with the mixture containing the gelatin, and stir to combine.

7. Chill in the refrigerator completely. I find in the winter it takes about 5-6 hours for the jello to fully set, but in the summer it can take up to 18 hours even!

8. When the jello is fully solidified, spoon out into individual portions, and enjoy!

Note: This makes a very large batch of jello. If you want to make it smaller, make 6 cups of strong tea, use 3 tablespoons gelatin, and 1 cup boiling water, and use only 1/2 cup of cooled tea over the gelatin to soften it.

What are your thoughts on stevia? Do you like it? Do you consider it healthy or not? If, like myself, you only find stevia tolerable some of the time, how do you find it tolerable? 
When you're trying to lose weight, do you nix the snacks and treats entirely, or have you found some healthy, weight loss friendly treats to snack on? And if so, what are they?
Does this look like a recipe you'd try?