Breakfast

There's something special about breakfast: it sets up the direction for the rest of the day (and if it's a Monday then it's the foundation for the whole week!).

As you already know I'm very conscious of what's in the food we buy and muesli is no exception! I'm always horrified to read the ingredient list - I hate it when there are things in there that I have no idea what they actually are... And the sugar (not usually called "sugar" on the list) and Salt (Sodium Chloride sound like Salt? Honestly now!). Why do breakfast cereals need sugar and salt added? It makes me wonder if the ingredients they put in are inferior and they need the extra flavours to make them palatable... Just a thought!

My mom used to make muesli for my dad when I was little and I remember the yummy smell as if it were yesterday... Given that I have a man who eats muesli every morning (except the ones when there are leftovers from dinner!) and is conscious of what he eats, it made sense to try my hand at making some. I googled muesli recipes and came up almost blank. It's not that there aren't a million recipes, it's just that they're not really for making muesli!

I decided to wing it and the results were most pleasing: I chucked all of my favourite ingredients into a baking tray and put it into the oven at 150 deg until it was toasted, mixing occasionally. The bulk of the muesli was rolled oats. I also added almonds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, linseeds, and coconut. in no particular ratio - just added as much as thought looked about right for how I like the ingredients (more of the ones I really like!). Once it was all toasted I added some dried cranberries. I find these much nicer than raisins and add them after otherwise they dry out and taste yucky (one of the reasons I don't buy muesli with raisins in it).

It tastes great and has no "extra stuff" and nothing I can't identify... Now that's a great breakfast :-)