In Chet Day's Health Tip from January 12 I found the following recipe for muesli which in the US for too long has stood in the shadow of the much more heavily processed "health food" granola: ------------------------------ The Recipe Corner -------------------------- The information that follows was written by the late John Tobe in an article entitled "Energy Unlimited." I've left out most of the article in what I cite below, but if you want to read the complete text you can visit it at http:/chetday.com/museli.html What follows was taken from "Energy Unlimited" by John Tobe: This formula is based upon the early Bircher-Benner Muesli system. The first time that I tried Muesli my remark was, "If I've got to eat stuff like this to be healthy, then I don't want to be healthy!" Now if you were to go out tomorrow to one of the health food stores and buy some of the Bircher-Benner Muesli (it goes under various names) you'll say, "What in blazes was Tobe squawking about when he said it didn't taste good?" But hold it a jiffy! The package of Muesli that you buy is by no means anything like the original Bircher-Benner formula. In the first place, the Bircher-Benner original formula, like my 3-V cereal, was 100% alive. You can readily understand that if the Bircher-Benner Muesli that you buy in the store was 100% alive then they couldn't keep it on the shelves, simply because it would soon be crawling with various living organisms, especially at store temperatures of 70 and 80 degrees. Even under refrigeration it does not keep well enough. Now the ingredients contained in the store-bought Bircher-Benner Muesli are excellent but they are dead. In my 3-V cereal, as in the original Bircher-Benner Muesli, they are alive. Besides, most of these mueslis are imported and very expensive. The recipe I will give you will enable you to have a much, much better Muesli at a very low price. Ounce for ounce it will cost you even less than any packaged crummy cereal on the market. One of the big shortcomings that I found in the Bircher-Benner Muesli was the lack of chlorophyll. I have taken the trouble to dig deeply and study the merits of chlorophyll and they are tremendous... I should say, earthshattering. I pondered as to how to get this into a Muesli. I found the solution and that's why you find alfalfa herb [I use AIM BarleyGreen--Chet] in the formula. Buy the best ingredients that you can. None of them is expensive and if dried fruits are too expensive, buy fresh fruits that are cheaper. If dried peaches or dried apricots are too dear, use more raisins, use more dried apples or dried pears or dates or figs. I permit the use of a bit of milk, but not much milk is required if you will soak the 3-V cereal overnight. In fact, better still, you can soak a whole batch--enough to last a week--and keep it in the refrigerator. I don't think it will suffer any harm and by having it soaked, a lot of water will be absorbed and you will required very little milk. Better still, do without any milk. I say that again, better still, do without any milk! [Which is what I do--I don't use any milk these days, period--Chet] I have absolute and positive proof concerning the nutritive and the beneficial value of the 3-V cereal because thousands of people through the years have written or taken the trouble to tell me personally how much they have benefited from using it. I am not trying to sell you the cereal. I am giving you the formula. Follow it as closely as possible and use it daily and feed it to your family. Even if you have to persuade, coax, cajole or club your children into taking it, do it for a few days. After that they'll take it on their own and want or demand it. I would like to clarify two points. First, the original Bircher-Benner Muesli contained ground nuts. I deliberately omitted nuts because they go rancid very quickly. Second, I now use and recommend only whole grains--not ground or cracked. I find that by soaking the whole mixture together all of the seeds soften enough to allow grinding and chewing without any great effort. Even hard cereals like barley and rice will soften enough to make them chewable and digestible. Without boasting or exaggerating, it is the finest, the best balanced, the most nutritious assembled food in the whole world. Be sure no flaked, rolled grains... all whole grains. 3-V CEREAL Oats .................................10 parts Barley ...............................2 parts Wheat ..............................2 parts Rye ...................................2 parts Buckwheat .......................2 parts Millet .................................2 parts Sesame ............................1 part Flax ..................................1 part Alfalfa Herb, Powdered.....2 parts (AIM BarleyGreen is far superior) Dried Prunes ....................2 parts Dried Raisins.....................2 parts Dried Peaches .................1part Dried Apricots ...................2 parts DriedDates.......................1 part Dried Figs.........................1 part Total -- 15 Ingredients Cut fruit into small pieces. Thoroughly mix fruits and grains together. Don't cook or heat... just add water--spring or well water preferred... [I only use distilled water--Chet]... let soak overnight. Add milk, cold or warm (never hot), if desired. Eat 2 to 5 tablespoons every day or at least every other day. It is most advisable to soak the ingredients because I want to return the water that was originally in the food and this can only be done by allowing it to soak. I get best results and the most satisfying flavor by making enough to last me a week and keeping it in the refrigerator and then every day or every other day taking out the quantity that I want for that meal. Following this recipe alone will correct the condition... that is the lack of energy and will provide you with energy, all day and all night, if you want it. Isn't it tragic that most people in the world don't know this simple answer to a very difficult problem? Now one more point. The best energy food in the world can be knocked into a cocked hat if you drink a lot of booze and if you smoke a lot of cigarettes or cigars or smoke a pipe or take drugs. This food will work if you permit it to work, if you don't interfere with it. Best, Peter [log in to unmask]