Alisa Fleming, www.GoDairyFree.org ~ Earth Day celebrations abound this week, and when it comes to recipes and prepared food, it is difficult to get closer to the earth than Muesli.  This simple mix of whole grains, nuts, seeds, and fruits, enhanced with just a bit of sugar (if you wish) is loaded with fiber and protein, while still maintaining a vegan status.  The recipe below is from the e-newsletter, Micki's Kitchen Gazette.  It can be altered to use whatever nuts, seeds, and dried fruits you have on hand, but we highly recommend choosing organic whenever possible.  While it is easily a delicious breakfast, Micki claims that this recipe makes a delicious (dairy-free) "ice cream" topping ...

Homemade Muesli

Recipe and commentary from Micki's Kitchen Gazette 

Yield: 30 Servings
Preparation Time: 10 min 

• 8 cups quick oats (use certified gluten-free oats for gluten-free)
• 2 cups bran or wheat flakes cereal (use certified gluten-free oat bran for gluten-free)
• 1 cup unsweetened dry coconut
• 2 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1 cup craisins
• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup blueberries, raisin like
• 1 cup dried apples, chopped
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup ground flax seeds
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup fructose or brown sugar (optional)

Mix all ingredients together and store in an air tight container. Use within 60 days.

And, just in case you are wondering......

Muesli is a cereal made from toasted whole oats, nuts, fruit and typically wheat flakes. Because it contains whole grains, it is high in dietary fiber. The term Muesli, of which there are many variant spellings, derives from the Swiss German word mus, which means 'mixture'. Dr. Maximilian Bircher-Benner, who ran a sanatorium in Switzerland invented muesli at the beginning of the 20th century. Bircher-Benner was keenly interested in promoting healthy diet and exercise. Along with eating nutritious foods like Muesli, and forgoing much if not all meat in their diet, Bircher-Benner's patients had regular physical exercise and spent a portion of each day gardening. Their behaviors were modeled on the life of Swiss shepherds, who Bircher-Benner felt had the healthiest lifestyle.

Micki Sannar is the author of Olive Oil Desserts, with her second edition of this publication due out in the late spring.