Sometimes the simplest things make my day so much better. Since we’re still trying to get back on the early morning school schedule, a quick and tasty breakfast for the kids (and me) is a lifesaver. This yogurt parfait fits the bill and also doubles as an easy after-school snack. The best part is that it not only uses fresh, in-season fruit, but I also get to pull out my Tupperware container full of cereal dregs. Yep, you heard me–cereal dregs.
Anyone who knows me knows I don’t like waste in the kitchen. Americans throw away 40% of their food every year which is ridiculous especially since it’s fairly easy to reduce that percentage. My sweet hubby is the master of leftover makeovers which helps and we also have chickens that love kitchen scraps (healthy ones only please) and we compost the rest. I am always looking for ways to use up those inevitable little amounts of leftover food and one of my favorite tricks is saving the cereal dregs. You know what I am talking about–the cereal crumbs at the bottom of the bag that you can’t put milk on because it just turns to sludge. Don’t lie–you throw them away. Not any more. Just dump it in a plastic container with a lid and put it back in the cupboard. Every time you get to the bottom of another cereal box, put the dregs in the container. The more varieties of cereals the better. Now you need 3 more ingredients to make delicious yogurt parfait.
Put 3-4 oz. of yogurt in the bottom of a bowl. If you used Yoplait like I did that’s half the container. Now put on a generous amount of berries or cut-up fruit. I used strawberries out of my garden which made me extra happy. Any fresh berry works great here but also bananas, peaches, nectarines, pears, kiwi or really any fairly soft fruit. Then sprinkle on as much cereal crumbs (sounds better than dregs, don’t ya think?) as you like. I like a lot. Repeat starting with yogurt so you end up with two alternating layers of each ingredient.
Top with whipped cream and if you’re going all fancy-pants then top that with sprinkles and a maraschino cherry. Except maraschino cherries are nasty so I used a strawberry and a sprig of mint instead. It looks like a fancy dessert and your kids will think it’s a celebration when actually it’s just Thursday. Enjoy!
Lawrence says
Yum! I’ll make it for my son this weekend. Thanks for your good recipe.