Muesli

So a few weeks ago we were at the Martinborough farmer's market, visiting Tim's Dad who has a stall there for Lighthouse Gin (a seriously nice gin that he helps produce). Anyway, as we were wandering around the market sampling the local delicacies, I came across a stall that sold, among other things, home made muesli. 'Try this', the trendy lady at the stall said 'it's packed full of goodies and I know your little one will love it'. She passed a small sample of the muesli over to our daughter, who gobbled it up, then added 'so will you be buying some of this today?'

I picked up a bag in the ruse of examining it's contents while glancing furtively at the price tag. $11 for a small bag of muesli! I mean, I'm all for supporting cottage industries and people at these farmers markets but I knew I could make this myself at a fraction of the cost - and get to put whatever I liked in it.

Needless to say, I politely declined to buy the muesli, although we did buy a bottle of an excellent sauce called 'wild meat sauce' - you can get it from:  http://glasseyecreek.co.nz/ and I would really recommend it!

Anyway, so today when pondering what to have for a quick and easy lunch (during the five minutes I got when both kids were asleep) I decided to make my own muesli. I mean, I wouldn't be an authentic 'yoghurt maker' if I didn't have home made muesli in the pantry now, would I?

And as it turns out, it's dead easy!

Here is how it's done, for anyone who is interested in such things.

Yoghurt maker's muesli

Ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats (I used Harraways)
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup pumpkin and sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup bran flakes
3/4 cup sultanas (or any dried fruit - cranberries are also very nice)
1/2 cup nuts (I used almonds)
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar

Method:
Heat your oven to 140℃. Mix the rolled oats, coconut, seeds, bran, and nuts in a large bowl. In a saucepan heat the canola oil, brown sugar, and honey on a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry mixture and spread mixture out into a roasting pan. Bake for around 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and mix in the dried fruit.

Seriously, how easy is that?!

Oh, and it tastes excellent when eaten with yoghurt (home made, of course) :)

Muesli fresh out of the oven!