Friday, January 28, 2011

Oatmeal Month-Muesli

I recently read the January is national oatmeal month.  More oatmeal is consumed in January than any other month. Which makes sense to me because recently it has been FREEZING at my house.  There is something about eating a hot breakfast on a cold winter morning.  Oatmeal is great for you eating oatmeal can lower blood cholesterol and may reduce the risk of heart disease.

But there is so much more you can do with oatmeal beside eating it hot.
You could make granola, bake bread, or make muesli. What is muesli?  A breakfast cereal based on uncooked rolled oats, fruit and nuts. More importantly it is a healthy make a head breakfast that can get your family out of the house fast.

A few days ago on thekitchen.com they had a recipe for muesli that we have warped to work for our family.  It is pretty similar to the original muesli recipe developed by Dr. Bircher-Benner in the 1900 in Switzerland. 


Shredded Apple Muesli
serves 4-6
2 cup dry apples
2 cups oats
cinnamon, to taste
freshly ground nutmeg, to taste
1 cup freeze dried fruit (we really like mangoes but you could substitute strawberries, blueberries, raspberries)

To serve:
1 handful of chopped nuts (reserving a few to sprinkle on top)
1 large container of yogurt (coconut and soy yogurt are delicious with this breakfast and make it vegan)

  Place oats, apples, nuts (we used almonds)  into food processor and pulse about 3 times, until mixture is lightly chopped. Add spices and fruit, pulsing the processor until mixture is roughly chopped.

To serve: Place about 1/2 cup yogurt in each bowl, stir in about 1/2 cup muesli mixture, top off with a few chopped nuts and fresh fruit.

*Note, this muesli mixture keeps well in the fridge for up to four days, making it a perfect make–ahead breakfast for the work week.