Uncle John's Notes, Part 2

Part 2 of Uncle John's guest post, in which frugality is the mother of (muesli) invention....

"I don’t know quite how it happened, but it’s true that I had been known for gluing my Cheerios together with the baby cereal Pablim (from the Latin “pabulum,” meaning foodstuff – just ask Aunt Janie!), so I wouldn’t have to fish around the bowl for the last few Cheerios floating around on the milk. I probably like the taste too! Seemed a good idea to me! Worked good for me! Don’t know why nobody else ever seemed to like it!

So, what to do about that expensive Familia? Well, if nobody liked me mixing Pablim with my Cheerios, how about if I matured my breakfast formula and took it upscale with some fancy gourmet Familia? Toss out the Pablim and IN with the Familia! And keep the Cheerios, of course.

Guess what! I sold it! My parents bought it! Extend the Familia by mixing it and stretching it with Cheerios! You know, kind of like a Hamburger Helper, but for breakfast cereal!
Cool! So here is:

Muesli Recipe #2:
Familia and Cheerios! With milk. And raisins. Quick, easy, and simple. Layer of Cheerios, thin layer of Familia, another layer of Cheerios, and then some raisins to top it off. Add milk, let is sit a couple of minutes while pouring a glass of milk and a glass of orange juice. Then stir lightly and enjoy!

Finally, Mom knew I wouldn’t be eating Cheerios and Pablim all the way through high school! Wow, was she ever happy! That’s a nice thing about Moms: they can be so happy over even those little things!

So anyway, my Dad’s comment about all that grain being shipped to Switzerland and back still stayed with me. Not that it really worried me or anything, but it was always there lurking in the back of my mind.

By the time I got out of the Navy and started graduate school, there I was trying to live off the GI Bill and go to school. Aunt Max and I didn’t have much money, so we got part-time jobs and worked our way through school. Watching all our pennies while we studied. And guess what? NO budget for fancy Familia. Just plain Cheerios. After all, a married guy just isn’t allowed to mix Pablim in his Cheerios, you know. Tough times.

Oh, but thank goodness for hippies and health food! We stumbled onto a health food store in Boulder, Colorado, that had big barrels of various grains for sale at reasonable prices. So I tried my hand at making my own muesli from scratch. I tried and tried and tried, but I never got close to Familia. Yeah, I know, I left out the sugar and, of course the pricey stuff like almonds and honey. But nobody else had to eat my mix (nobody would eat it!), so I was free to continue the experiment for years, even though true success successfully eluded my efforts.

Muesli Recipe #3:
Make your own muesli from scratch! Check the labels of products like Familia and any other cereal mixes you like. See also products listed below. You’ll make better progress than I ever did if you skip all my weird experiments in Boulder. I can’t remember what was in ‘em anyway, so you’re saved!

Anyway, years and year later, here we are in the backwaters of New Jersey, just a block away from the Great Swamp, and guess what I see turn up in our little local grocery store?

Made-in- … ah, err, … Oops! Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself! Some other stuff turned up before the big one …"

Check back tomorrow for the conclusion!