Muesli

What are you doing this weekend? Maybe making some home made muesli after this wee read!

Muesli is often flaunted as an amazingly healthy and convenient meal and is marketed to the health conscious crowd. It is no surprise that people choose muesli and muesli bars for breakfast in preference to packaged cereals high in sugar or savory meals such as eggs.

It may shock you to know that most muesli bars and muesli’s readily available in supermarkets and health-food stores contain an alarmingly high amount of sugar, processed carbohydrates and often harmful vegetable oils! These can have detrimental effects on your overall health and weight loss goals.

If the idea of giving up on muesli is far too much to bear, consider making your own simple, yet delicious, sugar free muesli that will not cause a huge blood sugar spike.

An example could be combining seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, chia, sesame) with roughly chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, macadamias, hazelnuts, almonds) and coconut threads. You could mix these with coconut oil, cinnamon and vanilla and bake in the oven until lightly toasted.

I like to throw a few things together, a few nuts here and few seeds there, like the above. However you can try this recipe:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups rolled oats

• ¾ cup desiccated coconut (or coconut threads)

• ¾ cup sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds

• ¾ cup mixed raw nuts of your choice (roughly chopped)

• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Mix together the oats, coconut, seeds, nuts and cinnamon.

2. Place the mixture in a large shallow roasting pan. Drizzle with the melted coconut oil.

3. Bake at 150°C for about 25 minutes or until golden and toasted. Stir occasionally to ensure even cooking.

4. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

5. Store in a large airtight container. Makes about 8 cups - which is 16 half cup serves.

* Look out for bulk bin specials on nuts and seeds at your local supermarket so you can buy the ingredients for less money. You can also use your favorite dried fruit in this recipe.