Berries In, Ballroom Dancing Out!

My daughter came home from school with that "look" on her face that something was wrong. "Mom, I had a bad day." "What happened?" I asked. "Our P.E, teacher told us that we are starting ballroom dancing. Ugh." The concept of holding hands and dancing with a partner is pretty traumatizing if you are in the sixth grade. What traumatizes me is not ballroom dancing, (plus last time I danced with my husband was on our wedding day twenty years ago) but to make something for our year-end teacher appreciation breakfast. It needs to be quick and easy because if you are a parent with a child in school you know that year-end is an absolutely wacky time. My inspiration on what to make for the breakfast hit me as soon as I arrived at our local farmers market and saw all the glorious berries. Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries! I decided to make yogurt parfaits. Now, the beauty of a yogurt parfait is that it is delicious, easy and relatively inexpensive to make and NO COOKING REQUIRED! They are also great to bring to a sports team fundraiser, like I do for our snack bar at our swim meets. I like to use a non-fat vanilla yogurt because it almost tastes like vanilla ice cream. I also like to use a vanilla granola or a pecan maple granola. Whatever granola you choose you can't go wrong. I prepare them in individual 10 ounce plastic cups and usually keep them in an ice bath if  they will be sitting out for awhile.  

I grow raspberries, blueberries and strawberries in my garden which have not yet ripened. In terms of plants, they are pretty low maintenance. What I have too, are lots of wild blackberries which are delicious but are out of control because they keep reseeding like crazy. If you have a little parcel of land, just start with one thing, perhaps a blueberry plant or couple of  raspberry canes. Keep in mind the raspberries and blackberries do get out of control, so be careful where you plant.  Strawberries in pots work well, too. So go ahead and give it a try. Berries are some of the most healthiest foods you can eat.  Read more about the health benefits of berries by clicking here.

What is amazing to me is here in Northern California the blackberries are rampant and grow along the side of the road. In the summer you can see adults and children  picking the ripe berries. However, they are so excited about the berries that they don't notice the poison oak! Many times the poison oak and the berries are intertwined and if you are a "food" person and not a "plant" person, you better watch out because you will be itching and scratching for a few days.  So be careful of the thorns when picking the blackberries and watch out, too, for the poison oak!

                                   Poison Oak looks like this!

Yogurt Parfaits

This recipe is for only one parfait, multiple it for as many times as you need. 

10 ounce plastic cup

3/4 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup granola, preferably vanilla, pecan maple or whatever you like

1/4 cup fresh berries; whatever is in season or an assortment of all berries

Put yogurt in cup, add layer of granola and top with berries.  That is it!