Back-to-school Breakfast Fruit Sundaes

 

Back-to-school Breakfast Fruit Sundaes

Tomorrow is the first day of school for my ponytails. But, for my youngest ponytail, it’s her very first day ever at her K-8 school.

Can you imagine the excitement in my house? I know you are guessing that it is my little ponytail who is excited. And yes, you would be right.

However, my husband and I are beyond excited because it means that we only have to drop the girls off at one school each morning, rather than two. Happy days! The mornings are going to get a tad bit easier. (And the afternoons too, I might add.)

But the first day of school isn’t just a date on the calendar—it’s a state of mind. It’s about new beginnings, a fresh start, a clean slate. You get the idea.

There’s something about this feeling of a fresh start. It must be the crisp haircut, the new pencil case and the spanking new Jordash jeans (okay, that was another era) that signal change is in the air. Even I’ve been swept up by this energizing atmosphere, and I’m the one paying for all the new back-to-school must-haves!

Despite all this change, one thing that won’t change is the fact that the girls don’t like to get up in the morning. Boy some mornings are ugly.

So, I’ve come up with a way to start tomorrow off on the right foot. I’m going to announce that there are sundaes waiting for them on the kitchen table—but only if they hop right out of bed. I’ll just be skipping over a couple of words…since it will be breakfast fruit sundaes that will be waiting there. Do you think they’ll be disappointed?

Breakfast Fruit Sundaes

• Mixed fruit (any combination of sliced strawberries, bananas, plums, peaches pineapple and blueberries)
• Vanilla yogurt (see notes)
• Granola (see my Maple Pistachio Granola recipe below)
• Honey or maple syrup (optional)

Place a ½ cup or so of mixed fruit in the bottom of a bowl or ice cream serving dish. Add a good-sized dollop of vanilla yogurt, followed by a sprinkling of two or three t heaping spoonfuls of granola. Drizzle with honey or maple syrup (optional).

Maple Pistachio Granola

• 1 ½ cups rolled oats
• 1/4 cup pistachios, chopped roughly (or chopped almonds)
• ½ cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup canola oil
• 1 tsp pure vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°. In medium-sized bowl, mix oats, pistachios, coconut, sesame seeds and cinnamon. Add maple syrup, oil and vanilla. Mix well. Spread out on a large baking sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes (until your granola is a lovely caramel brown colour). Be sure to start checking on it at the 10 minute mark, as it burns quickly.

NOTES:

• You can add a couple of teaspoons of pure vanilla to a container of plain yogurt to make your own vanilla yogurt. I like to add vanilla to 1% yogurt.

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