Cooking with Kids: Banana Nut Breakfast Parfait Recipe Idea

We try to start our days with healthy breakfasts at least 6 days of the week! We limit sugary cereals and waffles or pancakes to once a week--and get creative with fruits, vegetables, nuts, healthy proteins, and grains during the other days of the week. My youngest daughter loves yogurt parfaits for breakfast--in part, because a homemade parfait keeps her tummy full until her late school lunchtime and, in part, because she can make yogurt parfaits all by herself--and create her own breakfast recipes every day of the week. As a mom, I love yogurt parfaits for some of the same reasons that my little one does--plus they offer a healthy start to her day with ingredients that I can control (even when she thinks she is in control)--and the sweetness and versatility of yogurt parfaits appeals to my sometimes picky, recovering, mainstream cereal addicts. Her latest yogurt parfait creation was a Banana Nut Breakfast Parfait and she was more than willing to share the recipe (and her photos) this morning!  

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Ingredients for Lynnie's Banana Nut Breakfast Parfait
1 c. Stonyfield Banilla Yogurt (This is my favorite since it's organic and has a yummy, natural banana/vanilla flavor--but, your favorite banana yogurt will work too!)
1/2 Large Banana, Sliced
1/4 c. Toasted Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats (Or whatever oats you have on hand)
1/8 tsp. Cinnamon
2 Tbsp. Sliced or Slivered Almonds  

Lynnie's Instructions for Preparing a Banana Nut Breakfast Parfait
Combine the Oats, Almonds and Cinnamon. In a small bowl, combine the oats, almonds and the cinnamon. Toss to coat in the spice. Lynnie often uses a bowl with a lid--simply adding the ingredients, sealing on the lid and tossing to combine. It's fun to shake the ingredients and it's faster on busy mornings.  For the photo above, she opted to simply layer the ingredients one at a time--but, she feels that the flavors are best blended when the cinnamon, oats, and almonds are combined.

Layer the parfait into a serving bowl or a fun parfait glass. Sometimes we even build these in stemless wine glasses or martini glasses for the visual effect. For some reason, the girls always think it is so much more fun to eat or drink from "unusual" containers. Begin with 1/2 the yogurt, followed by 1/2 the oat/nut/cinnamon mixture, and 1/2 the banana slices. Repeat the layering and serve.

Since this is really an all-in-one breakfast with grains, protein, dairy, and fruit--we generally skip any side dishes. Our girls drink a lot of water--but, we sometimes serve almond milk or juice with this breakfast.

Looking to use other fruits or flavors?  Swap with other yogurt flavors and fresh fruit! It's an easy way to teach the kids about healthy foods--and to let them get creative with meal preparation. Make up your own parfait recipes or try our Cherry Vanilla Almond Greek Yogurt Parfait ..... or a Chocolate Berry Greek Yogurt Parfait.