Wake Me Up Muesli

My friend Emily taught me how to make Muesli (essentially it's toasted granola). It taste really good and can be easily adapted to your individual tastes. Plus it's kind of nice to make your own cereal because a)it's cheaper and b) you actually know everything that goes into it!

Ingredients

• large oats
  
• raisins or dried cranberries
  
• nuts (walnuts or pecans)
• flax seeds
• sunflower seeds
• panella (or brown sugar)
• maple syrup or honey
• all spice
• ground cloves
• cinnamon

Heat up a large frying pan. Don't put any oil in the pan, but be sure to keep a eye on it; the oats will toast quickly.

Toast your oats a few cups at a time. Keep flipping them until they are lightly brown on both sides. It doesn't have to be perfect, so long as the general colour is light brown, it'll taste good. I usually do a whole bag of oats at a time. Why? Because making Muesli is a time consuming task.

Once you've toasted all your oats put them into a large mixing bowl. Chop up your raisins and nuts. Put as many or as little as you see fit.

Toss in your spices. I only use a little All spice and ground cloves, maybe 1tsp of each and about 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. But again, it depends on how much you're making. So add a little and gradually increase the amount.

Add flax seeds and sunflower seeds. I like to go heavy on the flax, because it is high in omegas.

In a large pot, pour in your mixture and turn the heat on very low. Add about 1/4 sugar and your honey. If you use Maple syrup, it tends to be sweeter, so adjust your sugar accordingly. I personally don't like mine too sweet, so I use very little sugar and I use only enough honey to make some of the cereal begin to stick together. Once you've stirred it all together and the sugar has melted, take it off the heat and let it cool before putting it away.

Et voila! it's perfect just with milk (soy/almond/rice) or topped with bananas, strawberries, blueberries, etc. My mom likes to throw some on top of her yogurt in the morning. I love Muesli because I am always starving at breakfast and it keeps me full until lunchtime.