In Y2, Mrs Taylor has been investigating breakfast items and looking at how we can make healthier choices. She has made muesli with her class: a plant-based, cereal and fruit-filled alternative to the supermarket boxes. It is high in fibre and low in fat, sugar and salt and can be easily adapted for a very wide range of fruit, seeds and spices, to suit all tastes.

The skills that Y2 have used included basic hygiene and food safety, measuring and combining and chopping (with supervision). They have learnt about where cereal crops come from and also evaluated a range of ingredients using sensory vocabulary (it not just "nice" or "disgusting" but "sweet", "sour", "spicy" etc), as well as the final product. They have innovated the basic initial recipe to design and then made their own muesli.

This unit links to the Y2 Science Topic: How we grow and stay healthy..

Recipe

Ingredients

• 5 cups whole grain flakes
• 3 3/4 cups oat flakes or quick-cooking oats
• 3 tablespoons seeds (such as flaxseeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, chia seeds, or a mixture)
• Up to 5 cups mixed dried fruits (such as chopped apricots or dates, golden raisins, raisins, apples, coconut shavings, goji berries, or a mixture)
• 1 cup mixed nuts (such as Brazil nuts, walnuts, cashews, almonds, pecans, or a mixture), chopped (optional)
• Chunks of chocolate or dried banana chips (optional)
• Sprinkling of powdered cinnamon

Method

• Measure out all the ingredients and place in a bowl
• Stir all the ingredients together.
• Place the muesli in an airtight container, cover, and store at room temperature for up to a couple weeks.
• To serve, spoon into a bowl and add milk or yoghurt, and add fresh fruit and berries for extra texture, taste and nutrition.