I have always considered myself quite a nice person. I like food of all shapes, flavours and colours. From every country and continent. I don’t discriminate, I am an equal opportunity eater. It’s only the doctors who say I’m intolerant. And certain foods who refuse to tolerate me. They certainly refuse to recognise and respect my right to eat them without major physical discomfort and distress.


Gluten and lactose are not my friends.


Despite the negative attitudes surrounding me from many of those I love best, (cakes, ice cream, hot toast) I decided to become a chef. Not always easy when you live in a bread and milk filled world. I like to think that this has helped me become a better person as I embrace my differences and refuse to let the gluten get me down. I believe InTolerance. I am the InTolerant Chef.

Food should not be about what you can’t eat, but what you can and what you enjoy eating. This blog is about my journey of cooking and eating and discovery. It’s not a definitive guide to allergy awareness nor do my intolerances make me an expert. Your body is your responsibility, not mine. I only know what works for me.


I can tell you this..... No glutens were harmed in the making of this website.

October 15, 2010

Gluten Free Muesli



I don't think I get enough fibre.

A lot of gluten free breads and products contain little fibre and lots of high GI carbs with no whole grains or chewy bits. I know that fibre is pretty essential for all sort of health reasons, and as I head towards 40 I should probably start to pay attention to these kinds of things.



We eat very well overall, I don't like pre- packaged stuff, we eat lots of 'real' foods and a have a very varied diet. I'm supposed to eat low GI and of course, gluten and lactose free are a given. One of the other problems we face in my household is that we are carnivores. Flesh eating, canine teeth bearing, carnivores. A large percentage of our dinner plate has a slab of meat on it. That's fine, I looove my veggies too, and we have a big garden of our own, but I need to keep a balance, and I think I need to boost my fibre intake.

According to Wikkipedia, some of the functions and benefits of dietary fibre include:

'Adds bulk to your diet, making you feel full faster, May reduce appetite,
Attracts water and turns to gel during digestion, trapping carbohydrates and slowing absorption of glucose, Lowers variance in blood sugar levels
Lowers total and LDL cholesterol, Reduces risk of heart disease
Regulates blood sugar, May reduce onset risk or symptoms of metabolic syndrome and diabetes
Speeds the passage of foods through the digestive system, Facilitates regularity
Adds bulk to the stool ,Alleviates constipation
Balances intestinal pH and stimulates intestinal fermentation production of short-chain fatty acids, May reduce risk of colorectal cancer'

Hmmm, so it does seem rather important.














I can increase the amount of fibre we eat as a family at dinner, I grab a quick bite at work for lunch, but the meal that jumped out at me for change was breakfast. BigJ and the kiddies eat cereal every day, and we stock about 5 types at any given time, including oats and weetbix. My usual morning fix is a small tin of tuna, 4 rice crackers, and a tablespoon of mayo. That's an OK meal, and I get my dose of omega 3's, but I think I can do better.

I need something that's tasty, easy, tasty, quick to bolt down in a hurry, and that tastes really good.

Of course, being gluten and dairy free, I can't eat regular cereal, the ones at the supermarket did not look appealing and the ones I tasted weren't nice at all! A friend has been on a successful mega health and exercise kick lately and gave me the recipe he's been using from his trainer. It seemed to tick all the boxes regarding InTolerances, flavour and fibre, so I stole some from his cupboard when he wasn't looking.... I mean got a small sample to try at home, and decided to give it a go.
Now, you know I can't just follow the recipe for something like this, I felt it needed just a little 'bling'. The original called for whole sunflower seeds, and crushed linseeds, I decided to go with LSA mix instead, as it's easy to find in the supermarket and just a lot less hassle. I also like almonds.The cocoa nibs and cranberries are mine too- hey a bit of luxury never hurts, and you need something to look forward to in the morning!




50g lecithin
200g linseeds coarsely ground
500g rice bran
300g pepita
300g sunflower seeds
600g walnuts pieces
200g coconut chips
50g cocoa nibs
100g dried cranberries- I know that they're sweetened, but that's all they had

Mix all of the ingredients together gently, bear in mind that the smaller particles will filter down to the bottom of the bowl. Store in an airtight container.

Serve your muslei with your milk-like beverage of choice, I like Zymil lactose free milk, and chew, and chew, and chew your way to better health.


As you can see, this made a lot of muesli, which is good as it cost me $34 dollars to make- not including cocoa nibs. I did some experimenting with serving size, and discovered that a 50gram scoop is plenty for a fibre full breakfast. That's about 40 serves at 85cents a serve. That put it in perspective for me, 85c is really not much money, and incidentally half the price of my tin of tuna.



One more piece of advice Readers, I like to brush my teeth AFTER I eat breakfast, but some people like my Dad, for some reason I cannott fathom, brush theirs BEFORE breakfast. If you like this muslei, please follow my sensible example or you will be picking little bits out of your teeth for ages. I know, sounds attractive doesn't it, but the same can happen with pesto, or pasley, or spinach or many other worth while things - so don't let that deter you, just take precautions and check your smile before you leave the house!

So Readers, what do you usually have for breakfast, and do you brush before, or after?

20 comments:

  1. Looks delicous - İ eat fetta cheese, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, bread(we moved and the local bakery makes a flat bread out of corn meal-so İ am buying that for myself)honey or jam and sometimes that hard helva. İf we have a day when we arent leaving early İ will make eggs.

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  2. Since it is autumn here, I've been opting for hot breakfasts - oatmeal with flax seeds and maple syrup, home-grown scrambled eggs or warm scones with honey. :)

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  3. I am hooked on those Callebaut cacao nibs! You've done a fantastic job - I really wasn't sure how you were going to end up with a high fibre gluten free muesli, but the end result is brilliant! I have a friend with coeliac, I'm going to see if I can make something similar for him..thanks for the inspiration!

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  4. Aren't veggies and fruit high in fiber as well? I know it looks like grains were higher, but that usually refers to raw / uncooked grains. When you cook them they'll go down in fiber naturally.

    I also eat meat. Twice a day, in the average. I don't care about fiber because I eat so many veggies and 1 or 2 pieces of fruit a day. Just have a nice salad or some roasted veggies with your steak, and you'll be perfectly fine! :)

    http://www.dietaryfiberfood.com/High-Fiber-Food.php

    I must admit I don't eat breakfast. I've hated breakfast as long as I can remember. (When I was a child, my Dad forced me to eat breakfast before school, and I had nausea until midday every single day.) When I wake up, I'm alsmost never hungry, and my stomach needs about 2 hours to unlock for food. Usually, I drink tea with almond milk (before it was regular milk) in the morning. Sometimes I manage a smoothie. But solid food feels very uncomfortable.

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  5. Great gluten free muesli mix. I have been looking for a good recipe for this. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. O yum!
    I actually don't have breakfast very often. Only if I have a very specific reason to - like I'm skipping lunch or something like that. If I do, its a bit of yogurt and fruit, or maybe a baked egg (I only eat egg whites though).

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  8. You've done it again Chef...., defied the odds and made a great cereal.., that's the one thing we gluten fragiles miss is a good hit of breakfast cereal from time to time. Like this one a lot.

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  9. Glad you liked it Readers!
    Sorry Simcha, your comment was repeated for some reason, don't know why, not that I don't want to hear from you!
    I love eggs too, just need the time to fix them.
    But Readers, not one has answered my question... to brush or not to brush- that is the question.

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  10. Hehe it's funny how you mention brushing teeth after or before you eat. I never understood why people do it before-because things like orange juice taste terrible after tooth brushing and you need to brush afterwards too!

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  11. oooh this looks wonderful! And where did you find those cocoa nibs???

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  12. Great post! I love making my own muesli. If eating GF, it is often difficult to get enough fibre. Yay for rice bran. Have you tried psyllium husk?

    I brush my teeth before or after or sometimes both. I mix things up :) I only brush before if my morning breath is particularly bad (too much info?) or if I'm working out before breakky.
    Heidi xo

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  13. Hello again Lovlies! These cocoa nibs are available at the Essential Ingredient and are really yummy! That little bit of chocolatey goodness without all the bad bits. What's not to love?
    I agree that things always taste funny after I've cleaned my teeth for a while, sometimes I forget and go to taste something at work, and get a shock, Ha ha!

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  14. pepitas are so good!
    i usually have brookfarm gf museli. it's the bomb. it has 16 ingredients. when i get a chance i am going to try to replicate it at home as it's quite exxy and i go thru tonnes of it.

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  15. Great combo of flavours! I love making homemade muesli, it's the only way to get it exactly right (I'm fussy!). :)

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  16. Oh I definitely brush after. This muesli looks scrumptious, by the way!

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  17. Ok- so this is sort of related, well at least in a similar food category!.. I was going to ask you if you knew of any healthy muesli bar recipes? I need something to have in place of breakfast, but most recipes i have found are sugar filled and I need a low G.I yummy alternative! Thought you might know. P.s I'd totally eat this muesli with orange juice.

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  18. I don't like pre-packaged food either and try to avoid it as much as possible. I have just started up a vege garden and got some chickens in the back yard which lay the most wonderful organic eggs.

    Your muesli looks delicious :)

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  19. Nice looking gf museli. I used to mix up my own concoction of different puffed grains, etc but havent done it for ages. I struggle with breakfast...finding something gf and dairy free is a challenge, particularly if you don't want to eat horrible gf bread or eggs every day. In winter I make porridge with some millet (called flaked millet but actually more like crumbs) or quinoa flakes. High protein as well as being gf. My current favourite is some gluten free corn flakes with a tablespoon of chia seeds and a handful of almonds, eaten with bonsoy soy milk. Seems to be a good, filling and nutrious combination for me.
    I brush my teeth as soon as I get out of bed - just a habit thing. I usually don't eat or drink for at least an hour or two after that so no issues about the taste.

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  20. We are so lucky in Canberra Australia as we have the best grain free bakery by one of our beloved marathon runners (now retired from running). Deek's Bakery makes bread and cakes using ground quinoa which is so great! For breakfast I was having poached eggs some mornings and others quinoa bread with fresh tomato and goat fetta - heavenly... now I have found the most amazing Japanese dish called Ocha-Zuke (rice (brown is best) in green tea with salmon (but I use Tasmanian ocean trout). This has to be the ultimate health food. Full of omega 3, seaweed and light and filling. Keeps me going at work all morning until at least 1.00pm. I used to make the occasional Japanese meal but now I eat a lot more and feel fantastic. I am gluten intolerant and need to keep the lactose down too.

    Definitely brush AFTER breakfast!

    I just found your blog and love your recipes thank you!

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