Morning Sunshine Parfait & Smoothies

February 6, 2014 by Laura Haugen 7 Comments

Brighten your winter mornings with fresh, colorful, and vibrant breakfasts. With energy boosts from muesli and chia seeds, these will power you through until lunchtime. Morning, Sunshine!

Tropical Fruit and Yogurt Parfait with Muesli

• Assorted, sliced tropical fruit: mango, kiwi, pineapple, banana
• Grapes, red or green, whole or halved
• Fresh or frozen & thawed berries
• 1 cup good-quality plain yogurt
• 1 cup muesli
• sprig of mint, honey if desired

Directions: Spoon some fruit into the bottom of a parfait bowl or glass, then spoon some yogurt on top, repeat with additional fruit and yogurt for 2 or 3 layers. Garnish with some of the crunchy muesli (save some to add when you get to the bottom strata of fruit and yogurt) and a mint sprig. You might also like a little honey as sweetener, but I find it’s not necessary.

♥

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Blueberry-Mint Chia Seed Smoothie & Mango-Banana Chia Seed Smoothie

Blueberry-Mint:

(Makes 2 servings)

• 1 Tbs. chia seeds (dry), plus 4 Tbs. water
• 2 cups frozen blueberries
• 6 medium-sized mint leaves
• 1 Tbs. coconut oil
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 spritz of lemon juice (about 1 teaspoon)
• milk of choice (low-fat, whole, almond, coconut) to achieve desired consistency (about 1 Tbs.)

Directions: Combine chia seeds with the water and let sit for at least 1/2 hour (you can do this a few hours ahead or overnight too). In a blender, combine frozen blueberries, mint leaves, coconut oil, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, and the gelatinous chia seeds and blitz. Add a bit of milk at a time to get it blending and to achieve the consistency you like. Scrape down the sides of the blender and blitz one last time to blend thoroughly. Transfer to 2 glasses.

Mango-Banana:

(Makes 2 servings)

• 1 Tbs. chia seeds (dry), plus 4 Tbs. water
• 2 cups chopped mango
• 1 banana (freeze beforehand if you want more of a frozen smoothie drink, but it’s not necessary)
• 1 Tbs. coconut oil
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• milk of choice (low-fat, whole, almond, coconut) to achieve desired consistency (about 1 Tbs.)

Directions: Combine chia seeds with the water and let sit for at least 1/2 hour (you can do this a few hours ahead or overnight too). In a blender, combine mango, banana, coconut oil, Greek yogurt, and the gelatinous chia seeds and blitz. Add a bit of milk at a time to get it blending and to achieve the consistency you like. Scrape down the sides of the blender and blitz one last time to blend thoroughly. Transfer to 2 glasses.

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