Life lately has been not so much the days of wine and roses…more like the-days-of-cobbling-together-quick-breakfasts.

(I sincerely hope none of you have thought that I’ve fallen off the face of the planet…although I sometimes feel like I may have…)

(Food photography attempts at 4:30 in the morning lend themselves to atrocious lighting…my apologies…let’s just agree to squint and pretend it’s arty, okay? Okay. Sounds peachy-keen.) 

I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but I wake up ludicrously early on days that I have to go to work (and actually, some would think I wake up ludicrously early on my days off too — but whatever…) — but this fact, plus a 12-hour shift, requires either mediocre morning meals or otherwise something very quick…but hopefully, something equally nutritious and sustaining.

Enter the bright and cheerfully colorful Greek yogurt parfait…

I generally use 0% fat plain Greek yogurt and whatever fruit/granola/nuts & seeds combinations I have on-hand for add-ins.

I’m basically in love with this maple almond butter, so it’s become a common feature in my recent parfait combinations.  Try it, it’s fabulous — and maybe just a tad addictive…

If you can manage to get this in the bowl and not eat it straight from the spoon then your will-power is supremely impressive.

Let’s get real though…I’m not going to tell you how to make a parfait (it’s all about layers, kids – no sweat, we can do this!), but I am going to share with you the one I made this morning, because I was so pleased with the combinations I chose and hey, sharing is caring, right?

Strawberry and Apple Greek Yogurt Parfait

• 2 or 3 gigantic fresh strawberries, cut into pieces
• Granny Smith apple slices, cubed (I used perhaps a third of an apple)
• non-fat plain Greek yogurt (about a third of a cup, maybe more)
• a (hefty?) sprinkling of your favorite granola (I used Hemp Plus granola from Nature’s Path…yum!)
• a small pinch of flax seed meal
• melted almond butter (or whatever nut butter you like) for drizzling on the top

In a bowl, put some of the cut fruit in the bottom.  Then add your yogurt, topping it with the rest of your cut up fruit, the granola, and the flax seed meal.  Drizzle with the nut butter of your choosing.  Grab a big spoon and an even bigger mug of coffee to start the day off right!

Happy Wednesday, loves!

(By the way, this post isn’t sponsored or anything, I’m just a fan of almond butter, singing my praises.)