About

We're meeting my parents this holiday weekend for a camping trip on Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick Canada. We won't be doing any backpacking or hiking high summits but there are miles of ocean side trails to explore, cliffs and rocky shorelines, birds, whales and waves - sounds good to me.

This cereal is the breakfast we're bringing along for the road, though it could work just as well at camp. We've got our bowls and sporks and yes, we will be eating cereal with soymilk in the car. The kids are old enough now to manage that (I hope).

Muesli, has always been a challenge for the gluten-free contingent in our household (Damien). Oats, unless processed in designated facilities, are contaminated with gluten. There are now gluten-free oats available but for this recipe I used rice flakes. They have a very unique crunchy texture that rolled oats don't have unless they are baked. You could substitute toasted rolled oats for the rice flakes if you aren't able to find them or don't have gluten issues.

I'd like to give my sister-in-law credit for this recipe. She prepared this for us on our last visit to their house and we literally gobbled up the stuff. I've adapted it somewhat but the original is still on a recipe card in her handwriting - thanks B!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts - almonds, walnuts or pecans
• 3 cups rice flakes
• 2/3 cup dried apple or unsulfured apricots, chopped
• 2/3 cup dried strawberries

Preparation

Toast the seeds and nuts on a baking sheet in a 350F oven till lightly browned. Total time about 10 minutes, stirred every 2-3 minutes. Cool.

Mix everything together and store.

Notes

The original recipe called for buckwheat, rice and millet flakes. I've never found buckwheat and millet flakes but I like the rice flakes.

Substitute any dried fruits you like.