Fruit and Vanilla Yogurt Parfait

How do you increase your calcium and fiber in one meal? Fruit and Vanilla Yogurt Parfait is the perfect way to bump up your nutrition in the morning or at snacktime.

Both of these nutrients are ones most Americans don’t get enough of. Calcium is one that women and young girls aren’t getting adequate amounts either from food or from their multivitamin. I would much rather see everyone getting their calcium from food, because you don’t just get very much calcium from a multivitamin and you should never take a separate supplement of calcium unless your doctor has identified a reason. You often get vitamin B12, magnesium, phosphorus and sometimes, vitamin D from foods high in calcium. These are all important for good health.

Fiber is also in short supply in the typical Western diet. You get fiber from plant foods and plant foods only. Fiber is what gives plants structure. So, firmer vegetables naturally have more fiber. Think about it – broccoli has more fiber than a cucumber. Some berries just happen to have more fiber than others and raspberries are one of those. They have more fiber than their other common berry cousins, such as blueberries or strawberries.

You can either buy vanilla yogurt or you can make it, either way it will be delicious. You can make your own sweetened vanilla yogurt by mixing plain yogurt with a vanilla bean and some honey.

You can also make your own granola. Can you believe how expensive granola is in the stores these days? And it’s so easy to make. Try my recipe for Maple Walnut Granola if you want to try your hand at it.

If you want to make these in advance, let’s say the night before — you can layer the yogurt and fruit and hold off on the granola until you’re ready to eat. If you put the granola on too far in advance, it may get soggy.

Try this Fruit and Vanilla Yogurt Parfait for a healthy breakfast or keep in the fridge for an energizing snack.

If you like this and want more delicious recipes, check out my new cookbook on sale now, Live to Eat Well.

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