Yogurt Parfait

(This recipe was first posted in conjunction with the Meijer Ad Week of 4/15/12 - 4/21/12)

A few years ago we visited some friends who served us yogurt parfaits as part of a light breakfast.  We really enjoyed the simple treat, and I bought the ingredients for parfaits as soon as we got home.  We've eaten a LOT of yogurt parfaits since then...if I had to guess, I'd say I've made well over 500 parfaits in the last few years!  My husband eats one for breakfast almost every day, and my kids will quite often choose this for an after-school snack.  I hope you enjoy this (somewhat healthy!) treat as much as we do!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup plain OR vanilla-flavored yogurt
2/3 cup fresh or thawed frozen berries
1/4 cup granola

Directions:
Hull and slice berries if using strawberries.  Layer all ingredients in order given.  Serve for breakfast or a snack.  Makes 1 large serving.

Options and Tips

• Measurements are approximate.  The first time I measured the ingredients was tonight, when I needed measurements to put on the blog :)  We like our parfaits with lots of fruit, but you might like more yogurt and less fruit...or vice versa.
• I buy Meijer brand light (fat-free) vanilla-flavored yogurt for our fresh fruit parfaits.  It's probably not as healthy as plain yogurt, but plain is a little too tart for our tastebuds.  When we don't have any fresh berries and I have to buy frozen, then plain yogurt is OK...the berries are usually frozen with sugar, so they balance out the tartness of the plain yogurt.
• We usually use strawberries or blueberries because they are the cheapest, but raspberries and blackberries are also delicious in parfaits.  In a pinch, we've also used peaches and grapes with favorable (or is that flavorable?) results.
• Last summer we picked and then froze pounds and pounds of strawberries and blueberries.  The U-pick price is SO much cheaper than buying bags of frozen fruit at the store every week...and in my opinion, home-frozen berries taste better than store-bought as well.  I spent a good deal of time picking and freezing, but it was well worth it because we consume so much frozen fruit.
• If you pack a yogurt parfait for a lunch, you can layer the yogurt and fruit in one container, but put the granola in a separate container or it will get soggy. 

The inspiration for this "recipe" came from Sara Johnson.