Mother-In-Law Cheesecake

Don't you think it's about time I did a freezer dessert? :) Last week was a bit stressful as I ended up working for/with my husband at an expo... consequently I completely and totally spaced the fact that Friday came and went without my freezer food post! So to make it up to you loyal follower(s?), I give you a favorite family dessert! This one comes from my mother-in-law's mother-in-law (aka my hubby's grandma) with her permission. It's much lighter than a regular cheesecake, but still very filling. Guaranteed to please your mother-in-law!

Mother-In-Law Cheesecake

Crust:

2 packages graham crackers

2 cubes melted butter

½ cup sugar

Filling:

2 8 oz. packages cream cheese

2 cups sugar

6 T. lemon juice (or ¼ c + 2 T.)

Put in mixer and mix well. Then fold in 2 9 oz. cartons of cool whip. Pour on top of graham cracker crust in a 9x13 pan. Top with fruit topping. Put in freezer.

Topping:

1 box Danish dessert

1 pint fruit (cherries, raspberries, strawberries, etc.)

Notes: Don't forget to pull it out of the freezer soon enough for it to be softened enough to eat - like maybe when you sit down to dinner? If you find it's getting too melt-y before you're ready to eat, stick it in the fridge. If there are any leftovers (which never happens at our house!), just keep them in the fridge.

Also, for my little fam I usually just do half of this recipe and put it in a pie dish.

If you want a slightly healthier version, you can cut the butter down by 1/3 on the crust and it won't be too crumbly. You can also cut out the sugar in the crust (I know this because I have forgotten it the last couple of times I've made it) and it's not very noticeable. OR you could maybe even substitute really finely chopped oatmeal (like in your blender) for part of the graham crackers - haven't tried this yet though. And of course you could also do the low fat cream cheese - it just makes the consistency a tad bit runnier, but if you've never had it with the regular cream cheese you wouldn't even know it was any different. That's what I usually use and it's still absolutely delicious!