End of Summer Tropical Parfait and Kitchen Hack Tool

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The end of summer is really here. Instead of dwelling on the fact that I want to be able to sleep in every morning I am celebrating the end of summer with a Tropical Parfait. My kids loved it so I bet your kids will to!

These last two weeks of summer have been full of bar-be-ques, water adventure and cool treats! Oh, and back to school shopping, hence the reason I haven't posted anything new in a span of  2 weeks. Well, at least I've been documenting our favorite kitchen creations and will have several new things to share in the coming days because.... insert audible drum roll.... the kids are back in school! They were just as ready as I was so I don't feel any guilt with the parting of ways. There are so many ideas I've had percolating this summer but I haven't had the time to focus on developing them, so now I'm putting the pedal to the metal and you'll want to stay in touch by subscribing to the RSS feed and steal borrow any ideas that suit you. But, believe me, you'll want in on some of the special projects around the corner!

Not too long ago we developed our favorite smoothie to date that the kids ask for again and again. Which I love because they used to grimace at the smoothies I would make for them. That's because I didn't have a plan for what I put in the smoothies. I would just grab what we had on hand and throw a little of this and a little of that, add some green stuff and make sure there was some liquid and press the magic button hoping it would magically turn my smoothies into blended genius. Sadly, more often than not the kids turned their noses up at them. But, not anymore! This summer we changed all that. Now I follow a formula and it has made all the difference. If you missed it, you need to go back and pin it so you can escape to an imaginary tropical place any time you want. In fact it is this Tropical Surprise Smoothie that inspired today's treat, the End of Summer Tropical Parfait. Parfaits are so versatile, they are perfect for breakfast, snack or dessert!


Tweet: Parfaits are perfectly versatile. Great for breakfast, snack or dessert. http://bit.ly/1PEun7P via @mommyspieslice


Ingredients:
1 cup yogurt (we love Stonyfield, vanilla)
1/2 cup almond slices
1 mango, diced
1 cup fresh pineapple chunks, about 1/2 pineapple
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Instructions:

1. Combine coconut with yogurt and stir. OR you can combine the coconut with the almonds. I've tried it both ways and it's great either way.

2. Prepare your Pineapple. After getting this pineapple coring tool you will save so much money versus buying the pre cut stuff at the market. Plus you save time compared to slicing up pineapple using just a knife. Watch this video and tell me you don't want to buy this corer right now!

 

3. Prepare your diced mango. This is one of those kitchen hacks I was so glad to learn. Because, again, I don't have to pay an arm and a leg buying the pre-cut and packaged mango. The kids and I are kind of mango fanatics so this video was big time awesome:

I kind of like to dice the mango by scoring one cheek then the other and then using the glass to separate the "diced" fruit from the skin.

Now you'll have each of your ingredients set and ready to go.

4. Now it is time to build your parfait! Layer a couple spoonfuls of yogurt at the bottom, Next add a spoonful or two of sliced almonds. Then one heaping spoonful each of the pineapple and mango. Repeat these steps once more then enjoy!

Yields 4 small parfaits. 

All summer long I have been hemming and hawing about getting a set of parfait glasses because I want to be earth friendly and not use the plastic disposable ones. And wouldn't you know the day I'm writing this post my order from Amazon Prime arrives? So I'll have to make another parfait pronto and update with another picture!

These were the two that I had a hard time deciding between.... but I ultimately went with this one:

I'd love to hear in the comments if you plan to make this parfait for your kids! Remember you can pin it and savor a little bit of summer any time of the year.

My kids love parfaits for an after school healthy snack. Here are some other combinations you may want to try (just click on the image):