Please tell me I’m not the only one who loves whipping up on-theme food for my kiddos on holidays and special occasions. I know, it’s a little bit nerdy and over the top, but I love it so much. Last Valentine’s Day I made the kids these strawberry ice cream chia pudding parfaits and oh my word… You should have seen their little eyes light up when I set breakfast down in front of them!
Besides the fact that they’re both nutritious and super delicious, the thing I love about these ice cream chia pudding parfaits is that they’re a lot easier to make than they look. In fact, you can do most of the prep work the night before so they come together super quickly come morning.
First up, you’ll want to cut a bunch of strawberry hearts… Just cut the green leafy part of the strawberry off to create a ‘v’ shape at the top, then slice! You’ll want fairly thin hearts to place along the inside of the mason jars, so keep that in mind while slicing. If prepping these the night before, just pop them into an air-tight bag or container in the fridge. And while you’re at it, wash and dry a few blueberries and add them in there too.
Next up, your chia pudding. I have a couple of posts about chia pudding (our tropical version | our chocolate version), but if you haven’t tried it, you really must. It’s so unique and delicious and my kids just love it! To make it, pour 1 cup of coconut milk into a jar along with 3 tablespoons of chia seeds, 1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup, and a little splash of good vanilla. Shake it up like mad and then place it in the fridge overnight to thicken. If you can, give it a couple of extra shakes before going to bed for the night to help prevent clumping. If not, no worries – it’ll be fine either way.
Alright… Now for the part that has to be made in the morning… The strawberry ice cream! Or nice cream as it’s often called.
Chuck 3 frozen bananas, along with 5 big frozen strawberries and a splash of good vanilla, into a food processor. I find this works best if the frozen fruit has had just 5 minutes at room temperature, but you can do it straight from the freezer too. Basically, you just need to blend it like CRAZY. It’ll take a little while and will most likely require you stopping the food processor to scrape down the sides a few times, but keep going {past the chunky stage, past the mealy stage} until your bananas and strawberries are the consistency of soft serve. Mmmm… so good!
Now it’s time to assemble! Line a mason jar with your strawberry hearts simply by pressing them against the glass surface…
Then gently fill the jar about halfway full of chia pudding…
And generously top with strawberry ice cream.
Finish off the strawberry ice cream chia pudding parfaits with a strawberry heart and a few blueberries on top and breakfast (or snack) is served!
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Breakfast // Heart-shaped wholewheat flax oat pancakes with a tiny drizzle of pure maple syrup. Strawberry hearts.
Special drink // Frothy strawberry milk (made with freeze-dried strawberries) with heart-shaped milk ice cubes.
Lunch // Veggie and wild rice soup with heart-shaped carrots (aka “love soup” according to Grae).
Dinner // Roasted veggie and feta pizza on a thin wholewheat crust.
This morning Gracen and I made one of our go-to breakfasts… Eggs in a hole. Except we always make ours with a fun shape instead of a plain old circle and then change the name just a tad. ☺ On this morning’s menu? Hearts in a hole. 
I love this breakfast because it’s so easy, but it’s more fun than just plain eggs and toast. Plus Grae gobbles it up every time and all you really need is eggs, bread, a little bit of oil, and a cookie cutter of some sort. 
This is really so simple that it doesn’t warrant instruction. Just place the cookie cutter in the middle of the bread…
And really push down.
Then place the bread, along with the cut out in an oiled pan warmed over medium heat and carefully crack the egg into the hole. Because we like our eggs cooked hard, we cover the pan right away.
When the white appears cooked through, flip everything over and let it cook a couple more minutes.
That’s it – breakfast is served. And today, just for fun, we added strawberry hearts too. (This meal may just have to be repeated on Valentine’s Day.)