Honeyed Greek Yogurt with Fresh Summer Berries & Homemade Granola Parfaits

Our first large purchase together, as husband and wife, was a trusty and very roomy Maytag refrigerator. We strategically arranged its delivery to our new apartment that was waiting for us when we returned from our honeymoon {sigh}. Poignant memories that seem like it was ages ago. It was a great fridge that was amazingly spacious. I could fit large platters of chocolate eclairs and various other desserts and pots and pans of food. It was especially utilized, without a care or thought, during the holidays.

That trusty fridge saw us through our apartment years and through our first house. By the time we made the leap to our second residence…it tried to hold on, but alas…it croaked. I hadn’t given it much thought about how much I might miss it. Do you really miss appliances like that (I do and did)?    I was secretly happy that we were upgrading and that I could select a new fridge that would better match my kitchen. The second fridge needed to have an ice maker, according to Hubbs. Had I known then what I know now about what it would cost in terms of valuable real estate in our refrigerator and freezer, I would’ve made a compelling argument against an ice maker contraption in the refrigerator door. Having an ice maker in the fridge takes too much space, thus taking away what room could’ve been had, had it not been there. The new fridge offered less space. Truth-be-told, it is the reason many a dessert and/or dinners do not happen because I simply don’t have room to store leftovers or prepare things in advance (what an excuse). With our current onslaught of muggy, hot weather – EVERYTHING is stored in the fridge right now to save it from spoiling.

Hubbs surprised me with a backup refrigerator that was delivered yesterday afternoon. At first it was difficult to be excited about it, as I hadn’t anticipated it and really…we can’t afford the expense right now. But now, my mind is racing with reorganization between the two fridges and what I can now have fun making without such rigid parameters as no where to store things! Thank you to my Hubbs – xoxo!!

So what does this story have to do with Honeyed Greek Yogurt with Fresh Summer Berries that I made up last week? Not much, except that the bottom shelf of my refrigerator has been housing summer fruits, taking up space…and no space for me to make and bake up some deliciousness with these colorful and tasty treats from nature.

The easy thing about these yogurt parfaits is that you assemble them as you need them, better than preparing them too far in advance (having to store them in the fridge!). Otherwise, if you’re using granola or some other crunchy type of element in the parfait, they’ll get soggy.

Hurry up and use those summer berries before they’ve expired beyond use. Here’s a quick, easy and healthful treat for breakfast, brunch, snack or dessert. I’m including a link to the granola I used from a previous post this year – making your own homemade granola. For these parfaits, I made the granola without adding dried cranberries (using dried fruit in ice cream or cold-type desserts sometimes makes them hard and too chewy).

Honey, Pecan and Cranberry Granola

• I used plain, non-fat Greek yogurt for these parfaits. The non-fat variety can tend be a bit dry. For the kiddies and if non-fat vs. low-fat is not an issue for you, low-fat Greek yogurt will work just as well.
• These parfaits can easily be assembled with any fresh fruits: stone fruits such as peaches, nectarines, plums. Using berries and pitted cherries would be tasty too.
• I’ve used homemade granola between the layers – here’s the link to a previous post featured on TeenieCakes.com: Honey, Pecan and Cranberry Granola.
• I luv/adore honey with Greek yogurt.  Drizzle tablespoons of it in between the layers for natural sweet goodness.
• I’m not using exact measurements for these parfaits.  Assemble them to liking and taste.   Making individual servings is easier and great portion-control vs. throwing it together in a big bowl for all to rummage through.

On another note, I’m in the process of working on an online photography gallery and portfolio. I’ll officially announce it in the coming posts, but if you’ve read this far, maybe you’d like to check it out…Cristina A-Moore Photography. 🙂