Can I just take a sec to talk about living with hungry dudes? Have I told you about my little brother’s obsession? He’s a huge fan of smoothies, parfaits, and any other thing like that. Basically, if it’s got yogurt and/or fruit involved he’s into it. He’s at that early teen boy stage where his appetite seems to be increasing daily from growing so he’s becoming one of those always-ravenous, wild animals, haha.

It’s both good and bad because I love that he’s more interested in trying my creations than he used to be, but at the same time…..he’s more interested in trying my creations than he used to be and I therefore I have to occasionally fend him off any recipes or food photography projects in progress like he's a naughty puppy.

I’ve got this theory that when boys hit that age there’s a survival instinct or something that gets switched on and tells them to take in as much food as possible which then makes them more open to tasting new foods to keep up with demand. The truth is that it’s great from my standpoint because it gives me more space to experiment and test out recipes since I can count on them disappearing into whatever bottomless pit those boys put it all in.

Of course, when that survival instinct kicks in it must overpower any thought to health and nutrition that may have been there before ’cause I think they’d try living on chocolate and bacon if left alone. It’s actually pretty hilarious to imagine based on how helpless they can be in the kitchen. Okay, but the point I’m getting to here is that I’ve been doing my best to find new foods that are on the healthier side to satisfy their hunger before they go in for the chips. I’ve discovered that it’s easiest when you start with stuff they love, like parfaits with granola!

I’ve made chia pudding before but I couldn’t remember if it was something I’d ever tried to get the boys to eat so I decided to give it a go the other day to see. Moment of complete honesty here, they weren’t so thrilled about it. It wasn’t the combo, they loved the flavors and the granola and said it went perfectly together, but the texture of the chia seed pudding kind of threw them. Hey, but I’ve got good news if you feel the same way about it, you can blend it up like magic into a super creamy smooth pudding that you’d never guess was dairy free! When I did this I got two thumbs up from everyone, so to blend or not to blend is totally up to you.

All right, the texture of chia pudding may or may not be your thing, but Stovetop granola you guys, it’s my new favorite thing….in the world……like ever!!!! Fine, so I’ll probably have a new favorite thing in about 5.9 seconds, but still this stuff is life-changing in a big, big way. See, I love making homemade granola and it’s so easy too, but for some reason whenever I think about doing it I never seem to feel like turning on the oven and dirtying dishes just for granola because it’s so simple. I don’t even know why, isn’t that dumb?

I mean, we’re talking about me here, a girl who’s been known to heat the whole oven for only one clove of roasted garlic or dirty every dish in the kitchen for a single meal, so why I rarely make granola doesn’t make any sense. Whatever the case though, this stove-top granola solves it all because it’s fast, simple, and only uses one pan! Can I get a round of applause for this? YES!

These parfaits are a great breakfast to have ready to throw together when you’re crunched for time. They also make great snacks for any time you want them or you can eat them for a healthy dessert that you’ll feel good about afterwards. Bottom line, it doesn’t matter when you want to eat these, you’ve just got to try them!

As always, the recipe is available upon request, and I always give an upvote for the first one.

Also, check out some of my other recent food posts for more mouthwatering photos!

ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL! All of these food photos were taken with my Nikon D5300 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G. You can find out more in my INTRO POST.