Yogurt Parfaits

Looking for an easy dessert to impress your significant other? How about a sweet, nutritious breakfast to start your day off on the right foot?

Perhaps you need one recipe that can solve both dilemmas. Impossible, you say? Bah! The B.A. Gourmet doesn't know the meaning of the word. Behold! The Yogurt Parfait!

Ingredients:

1 Single-Serving Container of Yogurt

1/2 of a Banana

2-4 Strawberries

1 Granola Bar

Steps/Analysis:

Since I was serving two people, I doubled up on this recipe, selecting Strawberry and Pina Colada flavored yogurt. You can pick just about any variety you like, but try to keep it simple since you'll be adding other sweet and chunky elements.

First and foremost, stir your yogurt thoroughly to get it to a smooth texture.

Pour approximately one third of the yogurt container into a small bowl or coffee mug. Slice the banana into small pieces and layer on top of the yogurt foundation.

Next, add the second third of your yogurt. On top of this level, add chopped strawberries.

Before unwrapping the granola bar, bash it a few times against the counter top. Don't be afraid to let out all of your aggression from the day. Take a hammer to the bar, if you like. The idea is to create small crumbs. You could also just buy loose granola to accomplish the same thing, but that's hardly as much fun.

Pour half of the granola crumbs over the strawberries and cover that up with the last of the yogurt.

Give the top a dusting of granola particles and enjoy the fruits of your labor (cue rim shot).

Serving/Notes:

If you follow these instructions, you're good to go as is. Of course, I imagine there are all kinds of interesting and delectable variations. Off the top of my head, I can picture chocolate chips, raspberries, blueberries, jam, graham crackers, chocolate syrup. Just make sure that your additions make sense with the flavor of yogurt you've purchased.

Super Duper Chunky PBJ

Hello, B.A. Gourmet-niacs! You thought I had abandoned you, didn't you? It's been a while, I know, but I do have an excuse for not posting a single recipe this month. I swear.

The truth is that the B.A. Gourmet is now the graduate school gourmet (Don't worry, there won't be any confusing name change). By that, I mean that I have enrolled in graduate school. I've spent the last few weeks packing, moving, unpacking, and adjusting to my return to academia. I haven't had much time for cooking, or, at least, cooking anything new and exciting.

I'm hopeful, though. Living on my own means that I'll be responsible for feeding myself every day of the week. Since I'm not made of money, I'll be cooking more often than not. That should mean a return to normalcy shortly.

In the meantime, I have a recipe-esque kind of peace offering: Super Duper Chunky Peanut Butter and Jelly.

Ingredients:

Bread

Chunky Peanut Butter

Jelly (I prefer raspberry)

Granola

Steps/Analysis:

Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you how to make a PBJ, step by agonizing step. It's up there with boiling water in the world of kitchen basics.

My variation on the sandwich, though, means sprinkling a handful of granola on top of the peanut butter before assembly.

I inherited a bag of somewhat bland granola from a loved one who was trying to get more fiber in her diet. Since I'm a fan of the texture of chunky peanut butter anyway, I thought this might be a way to put it to good use.

Serving/Analysis:

This will definitely be the crunchiest peanut butter and jelly sandwich you've ever eaten. If that appeals to you, you'll be in heaven. Embrace the inner schoolchild and consume with potato chips, carrot sticks, chocolate milk, whatever.

So, was this a cop out post? Perhaps. It's certainly nothing ground breaking. But it is a promise of better things to come. I haven't forgotten you, my dear readers!