My Morning Muesli

Last summer we spent a couple weeks in Europe sight-seeing and visiting our kids. I fell in love with the European breakfasts, especially  the muesli. Muesli is a cereal made from toasted whole oats, nuts, fruit and typically wheat  flakes. Since it uses whole grains, it is high in dietary fiber and relies on the natural sweetness of the fructose in fruit.  Depending upon the amount of nuts, it can also be relatively high in protein, unlike most other breakfast cereal.

Dr. Maximilian Bircher-Benner was in charge of a sanatorium in Switzerland at the beginning of the 20th century. He invented muesli because he was deeply interested in promoting healthy diet and exercise for his patients. Along with eating nutritious foods like Muesli, and forgoing much  of the meat in their diet, Bircher-Benner’s patients had regular physical exercise and spent a portion of each day gardening. This was modeled after the life of Swiss shepherds, who he felt had the healthiest lifestyle.

Recipes for muesli often include soaking the grains overnight in fruit juice or milk. My muesli is a conglomeration of what I have on hand. However, I always add enough liquid (almond milk is my favorite) to make the mixture quite wet and soupy. I usually do not soak my muesli overnight. This is one of Ron’s favorite breakfasts

I found this Nutty Flax at Big Lots. I have never seen it in grocery stores before. I was impressed with the ingredients. I often find unusual and cheap food items at this store. They never carry the same stuff, so it may be hit and miss.

The only store that carries this boxed muesli is Fareway. I always add other ingredients to this , although by itself it is quite good.

These were the ingredients I used this morning for our muesli. I added a couple spoonfuls of coconut milk yogurt.