Half the time I’m very much – YAY breakfast! The other half of the time I’m – bleh, breakfast.
I know. Shame on me. When I was working as a health educator, there is no telling how many times a version of the words, “eat breakfast,” came out of my mouth. But truth be told, some days I wake up excited for it, and other days I’ll pass and go straight to lunch.
I think it has to do with being inspired. Or uninspired, as the case may be.
Breakfast can get seriously repetitive. After two days of eggs or oatmeal, I’m ready to have a team meeting for a new menu plan. When I have a new breakfast idea, BOOM! I’m back to being the meal’s biggest fan.
The challenge I’m facing lately is that high protein breakfasts aren’t appealing. I’m kind of over eggs. Unfortunately, when I veer from them, my morning sweet tooth comes roaring back. So I must find ways to satisfy that without sitting down to a half cup of the granulated white stuff to start the day.
I’m in a yogurt phase right now. I try to stick with plain yogurt most of the time and add the special touches myself. I’ve been mixing my yogurt with unsweetened peanut butter, but again comes the monotony of the fruit and nut toppings.
I’ve had a few pears softening nicely in the fruit basket. So I thought, what if I cook those down and then combine them with my peanut butter? Then spice it up with cinnamon and vanilla? It sounded like an idea with new-breakfast potential.
Two things: 1) the pear and peanut butter mix is so good you may devour it before it reaches the table, and 2) this parfait rocked my breakfast world.
It’s one of those times when you think something should be pretty good, take a bite, and you want to tell the world. Good thing I have this blog. That’s kind of what it’s for.
Say hello to my new breakfast. Normally, I’d stir the pear and peanut butter right into the yogurt, but I thought I should make it a little pretty to share. So parfait it was.
I’m thinking it will take longer than a couple days for me to get tired of this one.
This breakfast has no added sugar and it’s also grain free. I think you’ll find it needs no other sweetener, especially if you use a ripe pear that has softened a bit. A seed butter might be a good option if you need a nut-free version. Otherwise, stick with the peanut butter. As far as it’s concerned, pear could very well be the new chocolate.
- 1 pear, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup unsweetened peanut butter
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped*
- 1/4 cup roasted pumpkin seeds*
- Place the pear in a medium sauce pan and add the water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to maintain a low boil and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until the pears are soft and begin to break apart. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and cinnamon.
- Once the pears are cool, transfer to a small blender or food processor. Add the peanut butter to the pears and puree until smooth.
- For each parfait you will use half of the pear and peanut butter sauce, a 1/2 cup of yogurt, 2 tablespoons each of the peanuts and seeds.
- To assemble each, layer the yogurt and sauce in a serving dish. Sprinkle each layer with nuts and seeds, reserving a few to sprinkle on the top. Serve right away.
- *Choose salted or unsalted nuts and seeds based on your tastes and dietary needs. I typically use unsalted varieties, but I will sometimes mix in lightly salted for extra flavor.
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