Add great flavor and a healthy boost of high-quality protein to your family’s breakfast with this Protein Power Breakfast Parfait. Made with layers of cottage cheese, high-protein cereal, walnuts, and fruit, each serving has an impressive 19 grams of protein.

Parents often worry that their kids aren’t eating enough protein, but it may be more important to focus on the distribution of protein throughout the day versus the total amount.

Health experts recommend we consume 10 to 35% of our daily calories from protein. That’s a big range, and quite frankly, a bit confusing. To set the record straight on protein and to bring a healthy helping of practical advice to our table and yours, I checked in with protein expert, Chris Mohr, PhD, RD from Mohr Results, Inc. for some protein pointers.

[Tweet “Protein Power Breakfast Parfait provides 19 grams #protein at #breakfast”]

Important Protein Pointers from Chris

1. Protein is important for all of us because it rebuilds and repairs muscle tissue.

2. The RDA for protein is .8 grams per kilogram body weight, but research suggests a higher amount would be better.

4. Our bodies don’t store amino acids (the building blocks of protein), so what we don’t use, we excrete. Therefore, consuming most of your protein at one meal is not effective.

5. You’ll get better use of the protein you eat if you distribute smaller amounts throughout the day; most people eat the least amount of protein at breakfast and the most at dinner.

6. The MAGIC NUMBER for protein distribution: 20 to 30 grams at EVERY meal.

Here’s how those numbers can add up …

[Tweet “Add a boost of #protein to #breakfast w/ this cottage cheese + fruit + cereal + walnut parfait”]

Protein Power Breakfast Parfait

 

Author: Liz

Nutrition Information

• Serves: 1

• Calories: 330

• Fat: 14g
• Saturated fat: 2.5g
• Carbohydrates: 39g
• Sodium: 470mg
• Fiber: 7g
• Protein: 19g
• Cholesterol: 15mg

Recipe type: Breakfast

Save Print

As you'll find with most of my recipes, there's a lot of flexibility. For example, if you're not a fan of cottage cheese, use Greek yogurt instead. Any fruit will do and when it comes to the nuts, you can substitute with almonds or pecans. I used Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal, but again, use whatever makes your taste buds happy.

Ingredients

• ½ cup low-fat cottage cheese + 1 tablespoon, divided
• 6 tablespoons (1/3 cup) high-protein, whole grain breakfast cereal, divided
• ½ cup mixed fruit (we used blueberries, raspberries, and quartered grapes), divided
• 2 tablespoons chopped toasted walnuts, divided
• 1 teaspoon agave or honey

Instructions

1. Place ¼ cup of the cottage cheese in the bottom of a pretty glass. Top with 3 tablespoons of the cereal, ¼ cup of the fruit, and 1 tablespoon of the walnuts. Repeat the layers with another ¼ cup cottage cheese, 3 tablespoons cereal, and ¼ cup fruit. As a topper, add the remaining 1 tablespoon cottage cheese and 1 tablespoon walnuts. Drizzle agave on top.

Notes

I have 19 grams of protein in my parfait. Pair it with a glass of lowfat milk, and you'll get an additional 8 grams.

3.5.3226

How do you add protein to your family’s diet, especially breakfast? I would love to hear from you!