Brian eats yogurt every day for breakfast. Every. Day. He says that it’s the only food that truly fills him up in the morning. My good little, nutritiously minded husband, opening up some berry flavored yogurt each morning before he heads out to work. Me, I’m more particular (surprise, surprise!). The wholesome nature, the sustenance of yogurt, is exactly why I don’t partake of this morning ritual. Many times it’s just too much for me, all those milk products first thing in the morning makes my stomach gurgle with lactose intolerance. Give me a piece of toast anyday!

But for every rule there is an exception. And that exception for me is Greek Yogurt. Thick, whipped almost, with exceptional body, and a delicate, slightly sour taste, this yogurt I love…in moderation. It’s true, that traditionally, Greek yogurt is made with an obscene amount of fat. It could be equated with tipping your head backwards, holding your mouth agape, and squirting in enormous amounts of whipped cream in– straight from a can. But there is a low-fat variety, and this is perfect. So perfect in fact, I find myself making morning parfaits, and gobbling them up with a restrained gusto.

What do you make these morning treats with, you may be asking yourself? When the crunch of an apple is too startling a soundtrack with which to start your day, and a tangerine, is still hollow, and woody in flavor, there is only on thing to do, and that is, to make your own apple-pear sauce to layer in the parfaits. I used a tried-and-true recipe for making the sauce. Scented with a vanilla bean, for depth and interest, apple-pear sauce is chunky and hearty, and so simple to make.

The sauce stores well in the fridge, so I made these parfaits for a few days afterward. A spoonful of my precious Greek yogurt, and a dollop of the fresh, homemade sauce, and I too had a little breakfast ritual, with only the minor gurglings of lactose intolerance!