Summer Muesli w/ Soaked Oats & Chia Seeds

Summer Muesli, one of my favorite things to eat.  It’s so delicious and easy to make.  We make big batches of it and enjoy it all day long.  It makes a wonderful breakfast, snack or lunch. 

Skip the processed packaged cereal and try a bowl of this instead. 

Summer Muesli w/ Soaked Oats & Chia Seeds

Scrumptious cold cereal you can feel good about eating.

***Note: 24 hours Advance Preparation Required***

Equipment: Large Mason Jar (1 qt.) or Glass Bowl w/ Lid, Large Colander, Large Bowl

·      2 cups gluten free rolled oats (I use Bob’s Red Mill GF Rolled Oats)

·      2 tablespoons chia seeds

·      2 ½ cups warm filtered water, just enough to cover oats

·      2 tablespoons fresh organic lemon juice, unfiltered organic apple cider vinegar, whey, or kefir (my preference is lemon juice)

·      1 organic peach, peeled (optional), diced

·      1 organic nectarine, diced

·      1 cup berries (optional)

24 hours Before Making Summer Muesli:

1.     Place oats and chia seeds in a large Mason jar or large bowl w/ lid.  Cover with 2 ½ cups warm filtered water (warmer than room temperature) and lemon juice/apple cider vinegar/whey/kefir.  Cover with lid or clear wrap if you do not have a lid.  Leave out on counter for 24 hours. 

Oats and Chia Seeds soaking in a large CorningWare dish

Making Summer Muesli:

1.     Strain soaked oats and chia seed mixture through large colander.

2.    Place oats and chia seed mixture in large bowl.

3.    Prep fruit – wash and dice.

4.    Add fruit to the oats and chia seed mixture.  Gently stir to combine.

5.     Serve immediately or store covered in the refrigerator for later. 

6.    Optional, serve with suggested toppings (see below).

Summer Muesli topped w/ Raw Milk & Raw Clover Honey

Yield: About 6 servings.

Optional Toppings

·      ½ cup soaked sunflower seeds or soaked nuts/“crispy nuts”

·      Raw milk, raw cream or non-dairy milk

·      Raw honey or organic maple syrup grade B

·      Dried fruit

Notes: Use seasonal fruit that you enjoy, or use what you have on hand.

Storage: Store in the refrigerator, keeps for several days.

Nursing Mom or Pregnant? This makes a great meal/snack for you, it's simple to prepare and requires no cooking.  It's full of protein and readily available nutrients (due to soaking the oats and chia seeds) and helps boost milk supply.  


This post is part of Fat Tuesday @ Real Food Forager, Traditional Tuesdays Blog Hop @ Real Food Whole Health Blog Carnival Hop, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday @ Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free, Domestically Divine Tuesday: Homemaking Linkup @ Far Above Rubies, Real Food Wednesday @ Kelly the Kitchen Kop, What's Cooking Wednesday @ The King's Court IV, Foodie Wednesday @ Daily Organized Chaos, Pennywise Platter Thursday @ The Nourishing Gourmet, Wellness Weekend @ Diet, Dessert and Dogs, Living Well Blog Hop @ Jo's Health Corner, Whole Health Weekend link-up @ Nourishing Treasures, and Seasonal Sunday @ Real Sustenance.

Summer Sangria

Enjoy a glass of this Summer Sangria at the end of a hot summer day.  It’s so refreshing and full of summer fruit. 

Summer Sangria

Fresh, sweet and delicious.

Equipment: Large Pitcher or Large Measuring Cup (8 cup), Small Saucepan, Fine Mesh Strainer, Juicer (optional) or Blender

• 1 bottle organic white wine, chilled


• 1 ½ cups fresh organic watermelon juice*


• 1 cup sparkling water, filtered water or mineral water


• ½ cup lemon verbena simple syrup, recipe follows


• 1 organic lemon, thinly sliced


• 1 organic peach, peeled, thinly sliced


• 1 organic nectarine, thinly sliced


• 1 cup organic green grapes


• 15 lemon verbena leaves


• Crushed ice

1.     In a large pitcher or large measuring cup, combine organic white wine, watermelon juice, sparkling water and lemon verbena simple syrup. 

2.    Add sliced lemons, sliced peaches, sliced nectarines, grapes and lemon verbena leaves.  Gently stir to combine.

3.    Fill glasses with crushed ice and pour the sangria over the top.  Serve immediately. 

Yield:  Makes about 9 cups. 

Lemon Verbena Simple Syrup

• 1 cup honey or unrefined sweetener


• 1 cup filtered water


• 2 tablespoons lemon verbena leaves

1.     In a small saucepan, combine honey, water and lemon verbena.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes. 

2.    Remove pan from heat.  Cool for about 20 minutes.

3.     Strain through fine mesh strainer. 

Yield: Makes about ½ cup Simple Syrup. 

Note: Use whatever fruit is in season.  Berries, plums and cherries would be lovely in this as well.  *If you don’t have a juicer to make the fresh watermelon juice, a blender will work just as well (it breaks down easily because of the high water content).  You can also remove the Sparkling Water and substitute with more fresh watermelon juice.  
Non-Alcoholic Version: Remove the White Wine and substitute with Sparkling Water. 

Tip: This is fabulous the next day too.  Make a batch up the day before if you'd like, the flavors really come together, it's even sweeter the next day.  

Please drink responsibly and do NOT drink and drive.  

This post is part of Mangia Mondays @ Delightfully Dowling, Melt in Your Mouth Monday @ Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms, Recipe Sharing Monday @ Jam Hands, Made By You Monday @ Skip To My Lou, Tuesdays At The Table @ All the Small Stuff, Tasty Tuesday @ Nap Time Creations, Good & Tasty Tuesday @ Stay At Home Babe, Turning the Table Thursday @ Around My Family Table, and Seasonal Sunday @ Real Sustenance.

Avocado & Nectarine Seaweed Wraps

These delicious seaweed (Nori) wraps make a perfect snack or appetizer.   The avocado and nectarine go great together.  They are easy to assemble and make a yummy vegan snack. 

Avocado & Nectarine Seaweed Wraps

Sweet Nectarines and Creamy Avocados = A Perfect Combination.

• 4 sheets toasted organic seaweed/Nori (See Resources)


• 1 organic avocado, cut in half, remove pit, cut into thin slices


• 1 organic nectarine, cut in half, remove pit, cut into thin slices


• Celtic sea salt (See Resources)

1. Prep avocado and nectarine.  Cut in half, remove pits, cut into thin slices or dice into small chunks, place in small bowl or on plate.  Season with Celtic sea salt.   

2. Stack Nori together, fold and break into 4 squares (use 1 sheet to make 4 squares).  


3. Keep Nori squares separate from avocado and nectarines until ready to eat.  Any moisture will soften the Nori. 


4. Option 1: Serving as an Appetizer – Mix avocado and nectarine pieces together in a small serving bowl.  Serve the Nori on a separate dish, this way they do not get soggy.  People can assemble their own wrap, adding a small amount of avocado-nectarine filling into the Nori square.  Roll or wrap up, eat right away.  Option 2: Eating Right Away - You can wrap up/roll the ingredients and eat it as is, but make sure you are eating it right away or the moisture from the avocado and nectarine will soften the Nori.  It still will taste fine if it gets soft, you just won’t have that crunch from the Nori anymore.

You can also leave the Nori sheet whole and roll it up.

Yield: 2 servings, this recipe can be doubled.  It is also easy to increase the ingredients for the amount of people you need to serve. 

Tip: Get creative, add whatever ingredients you would like to the Nori wrap.  

Blueberry Nectarine Tart

Thanks to all who emailed to say thanks for the Signal Hill photographs. It seems in showing some international readers our little corner of the world, I set off a wave of homesickness for those transplanted Newfoundlanders who also regularly read this blog from far off places. ;)

The remainder of the blueberries form our short berry picking session on Signal Hill made their way into this very simple tart which was enjoyed by myself and the neighbours. This one is also particularly good served with some good vanilla ice cream.

Sour Cream Pastry
2 ½ cups flour
1 cup very cold butter cut in small pieces
¾ cup sour cream
½ tsp salt

Using a food processor or a pastry blender cut cold butter into flour and salt until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Small pieces of butter should still be visible. Pour sour cream over the mixture and work in by tossing with a fork until dough begins to form. Use your hands as little as possible and work the dough as little as possible. Divide dough into 2 balls, flatten into 2 rounds, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rest for a minimum of 20 minutes. You can make your dough the previous day but make sure you take it out of the fridge for 10 minutes to warm slightly before rolling out.

Roll one of the dough rounds into a circle about 2 inches larger than the diameter of an 8 or 9 inch tart pan. You can freeze the other dough round for another time. Place the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan being very careful not to stretch the dough and leaving a little extra over the edge of the pan to allow for shrinkage as the crust bakes. Blind bake the crust for about 15 minutes before adding the filling. Blind baking is essential so that the bottom crust will not get soggy.

To blind bake a crust, simply place a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil over the dough and cover the bottom of the pie plate with baking weights. (Marbles, dry beans, peas, rice or barley work just as well as anything else.) Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 -15 minutes. Remove baking weights and parchment (or foil).Bake for an additional. Remove from oven and trim any excess crust from the pan with a sharp knife run around the top edge.

For the filling cut in slices:
3 small nectarines

Arrange the nectarine slices in a single layer on the blind baked crust. Do not overlap them and leave about a ½ inch between the slices.

Mix together

1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp corn starch

Add this mixture to

2 cups fresh blueberries (if using frozen, they MUST be thawed and at room temperature before using them in this recipe)
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
¼ tsp cinnamon

Toss together gently until well combined and spread evenly over the nectarine slices. Place the tart pan on a cookie sheet to catch any potential spills as the tart bakes.Bake at 375 degrees F for about 45-50 minutes or until the center of the tart is bubbling. Cool for a half hour before serving with good vanilla Ice cream.