Wondering about the beautiful-looking bowl in the background?
…It’s Muesli. One of my favorite breakfasts while I was staying in New Zealand.
What is Muesli?
Apparently, it originates from Swiss Germans. It “is a popular breakfast meal based on rolled oats, fruit and nuts” (Wikipedia). Deadly combination. Basically, muesli = uncooked granola.
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| New Zealand Muesli with fresh fruit and a side of soy/nut/rice milk. |
I saw this recipe on the web and decided I must try it (with turbinado instead of brown sugar, dates instead of raisins, almonds instead of sunflower seeds, and no wheat bran–I added extra oat bran and wheat germ instead).
I recommend enjoying your muesli with fresh fruit (berries and apples are nice) and milk of some sort. If you can soak your muesli in milk overnight/for a few hours, even better! Yogurt works too, but can mask the delicious flavor and texture of the muesli, and so I usually say “no” to yogurt with my muesli.
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| Homemade Muesli on a smoothie…not my favorite muesli combo, but still yummy |
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| Milk-soaked homemade muesli with fresh fruit |
Don’t like cows’ milk, or soy milk? Have you seen my “how to” on nut milk?
Not a big fan of raw oats? My friend Megan and I made some granola today, and it was actually officially called “Megan’s Granola”. How ’bout that? But, we made a few adjustments to this recipe.
Here’s what we did:
- Preheat oven to 325F, and line one large baking sheet with parchment
- In a large bowl, stir 4 cups rolled oats, 3/4 c. wheat germ, 3/4 c. oat bran, 1/2 c. almonds, 1/2 c. pecans, 1/2 c. walnut, and 1/2 c. shredded coconut.
- In a saucepan, on medium heat, stir and bring to a boil 1/4 c. honey, 2 T. brown rice syrup, 1/4 c. turbinado or brown sugar, 1/2 c. vegetable oil, 1 T. cinnamon, and 1 T. vanilla extract. Then, pour over dry ingredients, stirring to coat.
- Spread mix onto baking sheet evenly.
- Bake about 20 minutes, stirring once after 10 minutes (should be golden and crispy when done). Stir in 1c. dried cranberries and/or chopped dates.
- Store in an airtight container.
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| The lovely miss Megan herself |
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| Megan’s Granola |
Now for the big ? of the day.
Granola or Muesli?
That depends. I like Granola for smoothie and yogurt toppers, or just by itself. But, Muesli is best with milk, as a cereal. Granola also has added oils/fats, so can be more of a heavy snack, but is very satiating. Muesli is raw, and thus might make you feel full longer, as the oats expand while absorbing water in your stomach! Megan shared with me that she used to eat two bags of raw oatmeal packets for breakfast. That’s intense, Megan.