A Cookable Feast

While I was cooking this weekend, I was listening to an entrepreneur-focused podcast where both speakers started bonding over their love of make-ahead yogurt breakfast parfaits that they put together in Mason jars. I thought, how fun! What a great idea! I don’t currently have any Mason jars in the house (though I probably will get a few now so I can make my own beautiful fruit-and-nut-layered yogurt parfaits), but I wasn’t about to let that stop me from making some variation of this idea. Hello, Apricot and Sliced Almond Muesli with Cinnamon- and Lemon-Kissed Yogurt!

What’s so great about this breakfast bowl? A few things: it’s really easy to assemble; as with the layered yogurt parfaits, you can make it the night before and prevent the hectic a.m. breakfast scramble; and it’s healthful, being processed-sugar-free and packing a fiber-and-protein-loaded punch that totally fills you up! Plus, it’s pretty – see how pretty it is unmixed? I had to take a picture of it unmixed to show you!

One thing I feel is worth mentioning: the honey I used was raw organic honey, which I recently purchased for the first time; previously I had used standard, non-raw, non-organic honey. I was afraid raw honey would have some sort of hardcore, for lack of a better word, gamy taste – but it doesn’t. It’s richly delicious, with a more complex flavoring than standard honey, but I still find it completely accessible. I thought it was worth bringing up in case any of you are like I was and want to try raw honey but are afraid that it’s going to taste all wonky. In my opinion, it doesn’t!

-3/4 cup organic plain yogurt

-1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

-1/4 cup sliced almonds

-2 tbs. raw sunflower meats

-1 fresh, ripe apricot, pitted and chopped into small pieces

-Juice from a quarter of a lemon

-1/2 tsp. cinnamon

-Honey to garnish

If you are making this ahead of time, add all ingredients to a container with an air-tight lid and drizzle liberally with the honey. You can layer all of the ingredients or mix them all together before refrigeration, per your preference (I like to mix the ingredients together well so the flavors have a chance to marry). This recipe should store well in a sealed container in the fridge for several days, enabling you to make a few of these at a time. Yahoo to time-saving methods – and to healthful, delicious, non-standard breakfasts!