Birthday Parfait

• 2 clear glasses or mason jars
• 2 5.3 oz containers of plain yoghurt or greek yoghurt
• 2 granola bars, broken up into pieces
• 1 mango
• 2 pints berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc)
• 1 banana
• Optional: walnuts or sunflower seeds

1. Choose two clear glass cups to use for your parfaits. Rinse them in cold water and dry with a clean kitchen towel or a paper towel.
2. Before opening granola bar package, use your fingers to break apart the granola bars into small pieces. Carefully open the package and pour a thin layer of crumbs into the bottom of each cup.
3. Prepare fruit and berries. Peel and slice mango into small pieces. Rinse and hull strawberries and chop into small pieces. Rinse blueberries. Slice banana into thin coins or half-coins.
4. Assemble the parfaits in each glass. Using a spoon, add a layer of yoghurt on top of the crumbs. Add a layer of fruit and berries. Add another thin layer of granola crumbs, followed by yoghurt and more fruit and berries. Continue until the glass is full.
5. Top with crumbs and, if using, nuts or seeds. Enjoy!

ABOUT YOGHURT Nobody knows when yoghurt was discovered. Fermented milk was being used in prehistoric times. Ancient nomadic tribes in eastern Europe and the Asian steppes stored milk from cows, sheep, goats, horses, and camels in containers made from animal skin.

Legend tells us that yoghurt was discovered when a shepherd forgot about some of his milk for a while, and, when he remembered it, found it transformed into something denser.

The first recorded example of yoghurt making was Turkish shepherds, who have been turning milk into yoghurt as early as 3000 BCE.

The bacteria that make yoghurt are known as yoghurt cultures. Bacteria ferment lactose which produces lactic acid. Lactic acid acts on the protein in milk to give yoghurt its texture and tart flavor. Cow’s milk is the most common milk used to make yoghurt.

Yoghurt contains high levels of lactic acid which promotes healthy skin. Yoghurt has been used as a natural moisturizer to revitalize dull, dry skin since ancient India.

All yoghurt begins its life in the same way: milk is heated, cooled, and left to ferment. To make Greek yoghurt, yoghurt makers strain the yoghurt to let the liquid whey run off, and what’s left behind is Greek yoghurt, which is denser in texture and nutrition. Greek yoghurt has almost double the protein and triple the saturated fat, with half as much sodium and half as much carbohydrate as regular yoghurt.

A single cup of yoghurt has an average of 10 grams of protein per 8oz serving. That’s 20% of the recommended daily protein intake.

Americans consume more than 300,000 tons of yoghurt every year. More women than men eat yoghurt - 68% of women eat yoghurt on a regular basis, while only 43% of men do.

Yoghurt is extremely good for your digestive system - the active live bacteria in the yoghurt help regulate digestion and decrease stomach aches. In the 1500s, the French king François I suffered from recurring diarrhea, and none of his doctors could cure him. Finally, Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, sent one of his own doctors to France with the miraculous cure: yoghurt!

Yoghurt contains high amounts of protein, calcium, riboflavin, and vitamins B6 and B12. It is healthier than milk, and many people who are lactose-intolerant can still enjoy yoghurt because much of the lactose has been fermented to lactic acid.