Sugar Free Chocolate Pecan Sandie Trifle With Strawberry

Hello to all my foodie friends out there in web land its MadJon again writing from a not know place.= called Trenton, SC.  I don't know how busy you have been but school started and then there are football games, catering and finishing up the third season of playing host to the Cooking With MadJon and Friends TV show.  Its been a interesting year with more guest on our show.  I've had more guest with products here in S.C. like Lee's Seasonings and Ron Moore with his healing Salts.  We only have about 4 or 5 more shoots to do for specials like for the Holiday season and cooking at the S.C. State fair.  Which there will be SCSFA members at the fair selling all their products.  The products are all made with produce from the great state of S.C. and there are like about 350 members in our group.  That is how I sell MadJon's Salsa, Me Me's Pasta Gravy, and Me Me's Cake Syrups.  The cake syrups serve to add moistness to the cakes as well as flavor.  Let's see do you want to know how I got started with making products and ending up with my own TV show.  Well the story is I make a mean pasta gravy and salsa that my family and friends loved so like all kids they thought I needed more to do with my life because my grands were in school and my hubby was working, the kids all had jobs getting on with life and they thought I had too much time on my hands and they can't have that, noooo.  So they said mom we think you could sell your pasta gravy and salsa so I got it tested and got the bar codes, etc.    However I needed a place to make the product, sell the product, and test the product.  So a place opened up and I decided I'd see if anyone would buy my food after all my grandfather was a chef on my mom's side and I was taught a few things and like the saying goes the Apple doesn't fall to far from the tree.  Let's see, i had the passion, love for people, and now let's see if I had the skills.  I opened the cafe and started testing out recipes on my customers and they would always say my compliments to the chef and then ask to meet me.  My mom was from the North and my dad was from the South, they both were wonderful cooks.  My mom cooked a lot of Italian foods that her dad made and my dad made all the southern foods and the HOT southwestern dishes that he loved.  He learned to cook the dishes for us though our travels that we took across this great country of ours.  We were always on the move from the East coast to the West coast, north and south.  We had housekeepers that would clean and cook for us and I used to watch the cook when we lived in Texas make the hot sauce that my dad when eat when he came home with the re fried beans she'd cook for us.  She'd put the tomatoes right on the burner and I'd watch her roast the vegetables for the sauce right in front of my eyes and the peeling when just crackle, I loved it but boy was it HOT.   We lived on route 66 out west up and down the road we'd go, I have a ton of stories to tell you there.  Any Who am getting off the subject.  Back to the products.  The cake syrup came from a idea I had when I was a kid and we'd run out of syrups at our house after all their were six kids and they ate like pigs.  You'd have to be the first to eat the food when they bright it home.  Any who I was making a coconut cake one day and I didn't like what they told me to use so I made syrup to pour on the cake after it was cooked and it made it moist and added flavor.  So now I make the syrups in different flavors and add it to all my cakes.  The names for the products come from my grandchildren, the first three letters of each of their names and combined them. It just happens to be french, it means Beef and Spice among some other meanings but am sticking to this meaning.  OK so now you know something about the products that I sell.  The TV show came after I had won about 30 awards for the cafe and one award for my hundred dollar apple pie.  Any who lets talk about the dish am writing about today.  My friend has a sugar problem and we play bridge once a week and of coarse we eat.  So am trying to help him out.  I hope you enjoy the recipe and give it a try.  You can use Greek vanilla yogurt with this dish instead of pudding however am using skim milk for this recipe today. Oh, I meant to tell you that the Strawberry has about 200 seeds on it and its the only fruit that carries its seeds on the outside.

Chocolate Pudding Pecan Sandie Trifle With Strawberry (Sugar Free)

1 Box Sugar Free Pecan Sandie's, Crushed
1 Box Large Jell-O Chocolate Pudding, Instant
1 8 oz. Sugar Free Cool Whip
Skim Milk
Fresh Strawberry's, sliced in half
(Banana's or crushed Pineapple, drained) optional

Mix the milk with the jell-o according to package directions.  In the bowl add some halved strawberry's on the bottom of dish.  Add some crushed pecan Sande's and top with some pudding.  Add some cool whip and repeat the process until pudding and Sandie's are all gone with the fruit.  If you wish you may add some pineapple, drained and some bananas to the mix.  Easy recipe.  Serves at least eight.

I hope you enjoy this dish its very easy to make and your guest will love it.  Please come like my fan page at https://www.facebook.com/CookingwithMadjon and please follow me.  Also if you have a ipad please come and view my new MadJon Holiday e-cookbook on itunes.  The recipes have been well tested.  Yum Yum.  Happy trails to you and yours until we meet again.  Any questions my e-mail is madjon51@aol.com, send recipes if you wish or if you have any questions please feel free to ask.  I love hearing from you all.  Eileen F Hutson, MadJon.