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New Year's Resolutions:
Display less exuberance in researching sparkling wine articles.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and go Green.
Get my kids to eat a great breakfast every day.
I
recently read somewhere that people who eat the same nutritious foods
one meal per day enjoy greater overall happiness and health than those
who prefer a little variety in the menu. Intrigued by this idea, I
began shoving off mental images of the same man in a grey suit ordering
the same dry toast and black coffee every day and tried rather to
imagine the rationale behind such a curious fact. I suppose it's
similar to Einstein's wardrobe, which consisted of identical sets of
clothes, thereby removing the daily mental effort put in to deciding
what to wear.
So, back to my first image of the man in the same suit . . . .
The
key to making it work, I've decided, is breakfast. It's the only meal I
can conceive of keeping consistent, as lunch is usually
catch-as-catch-can, (based on dinner leftovers) and dinner is, well, a
sacred institution I try to uphold, even when half the diners at our
table still need frequent reminders that food must be chewed and should
not be passed via flinging. Serving the same meal each night could very
well be my personal image of hell. Breakfast, then, will be the answer,
the same every day. Merely an extension of my cappuccino ritual,
whereby like the sun, I have only one, but without it no day is begun.
Eureka!
I have the perfect daily mealóBircherm¸esli. The pronunciation can be
difficult, so this Swiss dish is often shortened to "M¸esli" and,
sadly, relegated to the cold cereal isle. If you make your own, though,
and take a few extra steps in the preparation, what a treat awaits you!
You'll be jumping out of bed for it, no thought wasted on what to eat,
just how to mix your m¸esli.
Introduced in 1900 by the Swiss
pediatrician Dr. Bircher (and introduced to me by my Swiss husband)
this is the ultimate health food that really tastes good! It should be
a combination of grains, honey, milk, yogurt, nuts, seeds and seasonal
fruit. What I wanted was a way to make it simple so that it really
could be served daily. So I've devised my own variation where most of
the dish can be made in advance. If I can get my kids to eat this every
day, they'll be winning Oscars and Nobel Peace prizes and running for
President, andówait a minute. I guess that's Al Gore's resume. I don't
know what he eats for breakfast. But my kids will win the electoral
vote, too. Or, at least be very healthy, which is the most important
thing of all.
Angela's M¸esli
*Note: This is a very
flexible recipe and should be adjusted to personal taste. Most of the
items listed can be found in bulk at the Food Coop.
4 cups rolled grains, like oatmeal, barley, rye, quinoa
1 cup chopped walnuts
1⁄2 cup sliced almonds
1⁄2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)
1⁄2 cup raw unsalted seeds, like sunflower, pumpkin, sesame
3 Tbs. ground flax seeds
1⁄2 cup heart-healthy oil, like sunflower or safflower
1⁄4 cup pure maple syrup
1⁄4 cup honey
1 cup dried fruit, such as raisins, currents, chopped apricots
milk, yogurt and fresh fruit for serving
Adjust
an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix the rolled grains, nuts, coconut and seeds
together.
Heat the oil, maple syrup and honey together in a small
saucepan until warm. Pour over the grain mixture and toss to coat.
Spread on a large rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven, stirring
every five minutes, until the mixture is light golden brown, about 20
minutes total.
Stir in the dried fruit and let cool. Store in an airtight container.
When
ready to serve, pour desired amount into a serving bowl and add a
little milk. Let soak for several minutes to soften the grains (a good
time to put on the coffee).
When the cereal mixture is softened
to taste, add in any chopped or sliced seasonal fruits you wish (apple,
banana, peach, fresh or frozen berries, etc.) and enough plain yogurt
to make a creamy mixture. Enjoy!
Editor's Note: Angela Denstad
Stigeler writes a food column each week for the Caledonia Argus. She,
her husband and their two young children live in Caledonia.
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