What Lisa Cooks

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Yogurt Parfaits

I recently wrote about my super picky child, and how she is finally starting to try new foods, now that I have completely given up on pushing her.  But we are still in the baby steps phase with that, she certainly has a ways to go before she is eating everything the rest of us eat.  So for now, a very large part of her diet is still yogurt.  I'm thankful at least that she really loves something that is so healthy, and I can load it up with fruit and oats to really make it an even more complete meal for her.  

I make plain yogurt, or if I haven't had time, I buy it.  She likes her yogurt all dressed up with oats and honey and sometimes some jam or fruit.  I recently made lemon curd, so lately that has been her topping of choice, along with a little whipped cream.

It's a fantastic meal for her, but it can be a bit of a mess to get all these things out, so to save myself some time I decided to make her some yogurt parfait's in jam jars, so that she can help herself to one in the fridge whenever she needs a snack.  Or they are great for an easy week day breakfast.  

These are kind of like a combination of a flavored yogurt + an overnight oats idea.  

There's no real recipe here - that's the beauty of it.  You just take whatever you would normally put in yogurt or an overnight oats, and layer it.  Things like: 

  • honey
  • oats or granola (it will get soft)
  • berries
  • bananas
  • jam
  • cream
  • dried fruit
  • nuts or seeds

For this batch I layered plain yogurt, honey, oats, cream, lemon curd, and strawberries.  Just a little bit of each, and then repeat, until the jar is mostly full.  Its a good idea to leave a little room for stirring. 

Leftover jam jars seem to make the perfect size for a good serving, and I've got tons of them around.  But I'm sure you could get creative with other kinds of containers.  

Once you've layered everything, just put a lid on and put in the fridge.  I think they'll be good for several days, and it will probably very depending on whether you used fresh fruit. 

Enjoy!