Way back in the late ’70’s – maybe early ’80’s – I fell in love with Swiss Muesli, namely, Familia cereal.  It was pricey, and I looked at the ingredients on the box and decided that not only could I make my own for a lot less, but I could customize it to my own tastes and make it even healthier!

Frugal’s Muesli – this is pecan date, but another favorite is slivered almond and pear.

My tastes have changed over the years, but I still make my Muesli. The biggest change has been a recent one – my brother stressed how important it is to eat almonds, and he has 10 every day.

Prior to that, I had skimped on the nuts, the most expensive ingredient. Now I include the recommended 10 nut serving in every 1/2 cup serving of my Muesli. I’ve measured it out, below, so you don’t have to count. The other change is that I’ve been cutting way back on wheat products, so I usually substitute an extra half cup of barley for the half cup of wheat flakes.

I don’t think you’ll find any Muesli on the market that has this amount of tasty and healthy ingredients. What you will find, according to my comparisons, will run from $4.99 a pound up to $7.99 a pound, and at more at high-end and health food stores.

You’ll also find they are mostly oatmeal, one of the cheapest, most widely available of the grains. (Note: because Muesli is not normally sold in 1 pound packages, but much smaller packages, its one of those items that may seem less expensive until the price per pound is worked out.)

This Muesli is literally chock full of the most expensive of the ingredients. I priced mine out using a mixed berry option (sorry the photo is of Pecan Date) which is one of the priciest of the dried fruits came up with $2.78 per pound. Please, don’t pay more for the box when Muesli is a snap to mix up.

Best of all, customize your flavor profile: You can use any combination of fruits and nuts. Go tropical, go wild – put in whatever you like in whatever combination. Do use some restraint – dried fruits are very concentrated calories, and it is good to know that the almond is considered the powerhouse of the nuts, while walnuts are best avoided.

Given that, what flavors would you choose? Blueberry Pecan? Mango Macadamia? Or would you go for a mixture? Triple Berry Almond? A tropical blend? No longer are you limited to what a manufacturer decides is the easiest to sell…As a matter of fact, you can toast all the grains and divide them in half or thirds and flavor each how you’d like.

Because the Omega 3 fatty acids in the nuts help deliver nutrients through your body, I like to serve my Muesli with fresh fruit or a green smoothie, even though the Muesli already has a bit of dried fruit to help sweeten it.

Serve dry with milk, heat like an oatmeal, or make Over Night Muesli (Bircher’s) with milk or yogurt.

Let’s talk about how to save money/time on this recipe:

• Read {Strategies Applied} for additional tips as well as throughout the recipe for saving money/time and managing this recipe on a budget.
• Follow my Strategies – You’ll see them all explained on the upper left tab of every page and how I apply them, below.
• Don’t get discouraged if your prices don’t match mine! Keep shopping at the best prices and your fridge/freezer and pantry will be stocked with sales priced ingredients.
• Use a coupon matching site! One of my favorites in my area is Pocket Your Dollars, but every store has a group of enthusiastic Coupon Matchers. Do not discount the savings! I check their site every week, even if I don’t “need” to go to the store and often find bargains I can’t pass up.

Put Your own Spin on It:

• Serve this like oatmeal – heat it in the microwave or on the stove.
• Try soaking it overnight in milk or eating it just like cold cereal.
• Sprinkle over yogurt or in yogurt parfaits.
• Add in whatever other ingredients suit your fancy:  other nuts, pecans are wonderful, pumpkin seeds, etc.  Flavor it with cinnamon or other spices if you’d like.

Frugal’s Muesli made April 2012