Muesli Fusion Review & Giveaway

It's been a fun week, because I have another giveaway for you!

If you've never tried muesli before, let me fill you in: it's basically a combination of all of my favorite healthy foods! Oats, dried fruit, nuts, and seeds. Does it get any better? (Well, maybe if you add peanut butter...)

I was recently contacted by a company called Muesli Fusion to try out a few of their different varieties, so naturally, I jumped on board right away. I think I actually squealed with delight when I opened the box.

Here are the individual labels:

Classic Swiss

Athlete Fuel

An-Ox (Anti-Oxidant)

See how simple the ingredients are? "No junk. Just food."

I decided to try out the Athlete Fuel first. It was the cashews that hooked me ;)  When you look at the serving size, 1/3 of a cup seems so tiny for 160 calories. But compared to my regular oatmeal, it's only a smidge higher. And it does bulk up (just like oatmeal) when you soak it or cook it. You can eat muesli cold or hot. I like to eat it cold, soaked in milk.

Right out of the bag

Equal parts milk and muesli

After 2 hours in the refrigerator

If my bananas weren't black and mushy, I bet they would have tasted great sliced on top of the muesli! But as it was, I really loved this combo. Because of all the nuts and seeds, it had some good crunch; and the dried fruit gives it a nice sweetness. I didn't add any sweetener, but I bet maple syrup would be great in it as well.

The next day, I tried the An-Ox muesli, prepared the same way. Unfortunately, I found it kind of bland. It was the first time I'd tried goji berries, and I didn't think they had much flavor. I definitely liked the Athlete Fuel better.

On the back of the Classic Swiss muesli, there is a recipe for Hearty Muesli Bars. I actually had all the ingredients on hand, so I made the bars. The directions said to allow to cool completely before cutting, but I was too impatient to wait, so my bar fell apart a little. Thankfully, I love messy food ;)

I was surprised that they were kind of salty--but I loved them! The flavor reminded me of those almond cookies you get at Chinese restaurants, and the texture was just how you would imagine it to be--chewy oats with crunchy nuts and sweet bits of dried fruit. There were only two tablespoons of honey in the recipe, and I didn't think they would taste very good because of the lack of sweetness, but I didn't feel that way at all when I ate the bar. I actually had to urge Jerry to take the rest to work, so I wouldn't keep picking at them all day.

There are many ways to eat muesli, so I'm going to keep experimenting. You can soak it in juice instead of milk, top it with fresh fruit, stir it into yogurt (I won't be trying that, since you know I hate yogurt!), cook it like you would oatmeal for a hot cereal, bake it into cookies or bars, like above... the possibilities are endless, really.

Muesli Fusion has very generously offered to give three bags of muesli to one lucky Runs for Cookies reader! To enter the random drawing, just leave a comment on this post telling me how you like to eat muesli, or, if you've never tried it, which variety sounds the best to you (you can see all the varieties here). I will choose a winner on Tuesday, 9/18 at 8:00 a.m. (winner will be announced that evening), and the winner will have 24 hours to e-mail me with their info. Good luck!  (DRAWING HAS NOW ENDED)

(In full disclosure, I was given three bags of Muesli Fusion to sample for free, but all opinions are my own).

You can check out Muesli Fusion on their website, Facebook, or Twitter.

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