Friday, September 19, 2014

Sugar Free Muesli

This week I share with you a sugar free muesli recipe that you can make very easily. No soaking or dehydrating, just open packets, measure (or not), stir and store.

Before I do that I want to remind those of you who want to come to my Delectable Deserts and Sweet Treats class on 4 October that the Early Bird rate of $95 finishes next Wednesday 24 September. On Thursday 25 September it will be the normal price of $120.

Since I last blogged I have had more conversations about sugar with many folk. People are genuinely concerned and want to know what to do.

One of these chats included the surprise of how much sugar is in ‘natural’ mueslis.  Packets announce proudly in bold and colourful print that their product contains whole grains, natural ingredients, real fruit, etc. It sounds so very healthy. Some are and some aren’t. Marketing is a wonderful thing and a mystery to most shoppers. Much research and money has been spent to make you, Dear Reader, choose their product. You can be sure that the latest health concerns will be included in the marketing to reassure you.



Read the ingredient and nutritional panel. Where it says sugar, divide by four and that gives you the teaspoon amounts in your serving. It is likely to include both sucrose (refined sugar) and fructose (fruit) but also could have corn syrup. I have seen some labelling that listed them separately. Grouping them together makes it harder to figure how much refined sugar is in there.  It’s also possible it has artificial sweeteners in the mix.

In the end, it’s you who has to become the ingredient detective and take control of you and your family’s health. The government can’t do too much really, and the food companies sure won’t.

So if you want to reduce your sugar intake and keep more money in your purse, here is my standard ‘Smith House Muesli’.

Fill a large mixing bowl with rolled oats, (large or quick-cook, it doesn’t matter). Add raisins – an amount that would give you 8 – 10 in your cereal bowl. Add nuts and/or seeds; same kind of ratio as for raisins. Add cinnamon to the approximate amount of ¼ teaspoon per cereal bowl. Stir well and store in airtight container. That’s it. Top with your choice of milk or yoghurt, add fresh fruit if you like it. No sugar or honey is required, oats are naturally sweet, so are the raisins and the fresh fruit.

Rolled oats require heat to roll them so even though it’s uncooked muesli it’s not raw. Just in case you were wondering.

Artificial sweeteners got some bad publicity this week. See here.

Whilst in Perth we stopped at a café and chose to sit outside. We watched one of their parrot-type birds hovering around. It wasn’t our food he was after but sugar. That canny bird could tell the difference between the real sugar sachets and the artificial ones. They won’t take the false sugar. Smart birds.

Christine
www.gomoreraw.com
email: christine@gomoreraw.com

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The Anglo-Far East Company
The Original Private Gold and Silver Bullion Custodian
Your reference when you order: an-001
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Regards
Christine