Oatmeal

Oatmeal tips:  Our fresh oats have the tendency to have the gluten leave the grain when you cook them, resulting in a "glue like" consistency. Some people like this, if you don't here are some tips to keep the gluten in your grain and the oats together: (information from experience,  Robin Burnside's book, and my dad)
Use a ratio of about  1 3/4 cups of water to 1 cup oats
Boil water first, with a pinch of salt, then add oats
Cook oats for about 20 minuets, covered on low. Do not lift lid or stir!
Spoon it into bowls without stiring.

"Live" Muesli

This recipe is adapted from Robin Burnside's book "Homesteaders Kitchen" which I highly recommend as it has a fresh light take on farm fresh food recipes. She lives in Big Sur California, so some of her ingredients are not exactly local to here, so I have adapted this to include more fruits that can be grown here. According to Burnside, nuts and seeds have an enzyme inhibitor in them when they are raw, which soaking overnight removes. Other people like Sally Fallon also talk about this - the theory being that this inhibitor makes the nut or grain less digestible. I flake the grains I want to use all at once, and then combine the dry ingredients in this in bulk, and keep it in a big air-tight jar on my counter ready to soak it in a bowl the night before I want to eat it. It is very quick and easy to prepare.




1 cup oat groats
1 cup other flaked grains such as spelt, barley
1/2 cup almonds
 1/4 cup sunflower and pumpkin seeds
a dash of raisins, dried dates and/or other dried fruit diced, such as apricots
1/4 cup wheat bran (sift this out of your flour for a lighter bake and save it for this!)

Soak overnight in a generous bowl of water.
In the morning, strain the water out, then to the wet mixture add...

Chopped apples/plums/peaches/blueberries etc- whatever your hearts desire!
Yoghurt or your milk of choice
Optional - maple syrup or honey to sweeten, "superfoods" you like to add like flax oil, bee pollen or herbal powders.

Eat right away!