~breakfast~

One of my New Year resolutions is to avoid food additives as much as possible. I’m not going to be overly precious about it, I just want to minimise artificial ingredients in my food – such as those that begin with numbers – eek! Reading nutritional labels these days can be quite unappetising, and there are a lot of foods out there that I would hardly classify as food.

I’ve been making my own breakfast muesli for a few months now, it is effortless and it tastes great – unlike many commercial versions which can taste like sugar-coated cardboard. I vary the ingredients each time, and unlike the bought stuff, I haven’t got sick of it yet! It is nutty and fresh tasting, and leaves a wonderful aroma in the kitchen every time it is made.

My recipe is adapted from the one on the pack of Harraway’s Traditional Wholegrain Oats. In my opinion these are the best in the world – and that has nothing to do with the fact they are from my home province! Check out that ingredients list: 100% oats!

Toasted Muesli

4 C Harraway’s Traditonal Wholegrain Oats
1/2 C oat bran
1/2 C wheatgerm
1/2 C coconut (I use a mixture of dessicated and thread coconut)
1/2 C of your favourite nuts
2 T pumpkin seeds
2 T sunflower seeds
2 T linseeds
1/2 C raisins or sultanas
1/2 C other dried fruit
1/4 C rice bran oil
3 t Airborne Vipers Bugloss honey

Mix first 8 ingredients in a large roasting dish.
Melt honey in oil and mix evenly with dry ingredients – I use my fingers here!
Bake at 100 C for 30 mins, opening the oven door occasionally to stir, and inhale the lovely aroma.
When cooked stir through the raisins and dried fruit.
Cool and store in airtight container.

For this batch I was still feeling rather Christmassy, and used dried cranberries and pistachios. Other favorite combinations are apricot and almond, or date and walnut with a teaspoon of ground cinnamon. There are endless possibilities – and I’d love to hear your favourite version!