Mix Your Own Muesli - Your Own Way
Are you a muesli fan?
Do you like to wake up in the morning to a bowlful of the mix, and savor its wholegrain cereals, seeds, nuts, and dried fruits? If so, you’ve probably tried a range of types available in the shops, enjoying some more than others. But have you ever tried mixing your own muesli instead?
This way, you can select your favorite contents and cut out the rest. You might also like to factor in other feature preferences, such as fair trade, gluten-free, fine-cut, or chunky. The choice will be yours.
Mix for the months ahead
Mixing your own muesli may be costly and time-consuming to start with, while you’re trying out different variations, but once you’ve found your ideal recipe, you can buy each ingredient in bulk at wholesale rates and prepare your mixes in bulk too, saving time and money in the long run. Here are some potential ingredients to consider.
Cereals
Standard muesli consists predominantly of oats, combined with other cereals, such as bran, wheat, rye, and barley. However, you may wish to turn the tradition upside down with a different main cereal, such as bran, rice, or quinoa flakes, and some of the more unusual types as supplements. Check out their nutritional elements for a mix to meet your dietary needs.
Dried fruits
Dried fruits are highly nutritious, being rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other health-enhancing elements, although some types tend to be candied (or sugar-coated).
Think about texture and color when choosing your fruits. Sultanas, a staple of shop muesli, will bring a pleasing succulence, for instance, as will figs, apricots, and prunes. Coconut, pineapple, and banana will add sweetness, but if you prefer a sharp bite with your breakfast, seek out the stem ginger.
Seeds
Seeds are highly nutritious, containing protein, fiber, and health-promoting minerals. Try out some of the many types available, such as pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, and poppy. Greenish-black pumpkin seeds and deep-red pomegranate ones will bring color to your mixture.
The tiny poppy seeds, by contrast, will blend in with the other ingredients, adding to overall texture. Sunflower, hemp, and sesame seeds are great for crunch.
Nuts
Like seeds, nuts are highly nutritious and great for texture, with the added bonus of having sumptuous flavors. If you have a nut allergy, just add more seeds to compensate. Otherwise, why not treat yourself to a nut-tasting feast, to find out which of the many varieties you relish most, then make a beeline for it?
Sweeteners
One of the beauties of home-made muesli is your total control over it, right down to how much sweetener to add, and what sort. Perhaps you’d prefer brown sugar to white, and maybe a particular type of brown, such as demerara or molasses. You might wish to avoid sugar, use a natural alternative such as stevia or coconut sugar.
Add in extras
How about adding a few spices into your concoction for extra flavor? Cinnamon will provide a refreshing, fruity sweetness and vanilla, a mellow one, while a shake of ground ginger will add a kick to the mix. You may have other extras in mind too, such as dried fruit peel or edible flowers.
Mix for your family
If you have family members to provide for, the chances are they all have different likes and dislikes when it comes to muesli. They may have different health needs too. Once you’ve got your own arrangement stirred and stored, why not offer them each a personalized breakfast mix? Better still, suggest they mix their own.
Once you start researching and experimenting with the huge range of muesli ingredients available, you’ll find the process fun and fascinating. But don’t forget to take a break now and again, to eat a bowlful of your marvelous, magic mix.