My Morning Müesli

I recently started working part-time in New York City.  While working part-time is nice (who doesn't want a day or two off during the week?), it also makes it a bit difficult to get into a 'regular' schedule.  So for now, I still eat dinner too late, go to bed past midnight, and have the occasional "2:30 feeling" when I'm at work.  To make the transition smoother, and my mornings less hectic, I've started preparing my breakfast the night before and eating it on the train in the morning.  It's true, not all breakfasts lend themselves so well to night-before preparations (soggy egg sandwich anyone?), but one breakfast certainly does, and that's Muesli.

Müesli, also called Bircher Müesli or Swiss Müesli, was developed in the 1900's by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner.  Basic Müesli is a mixture of soaked raw oats, yogurt, milk, citrus juice, honey, nuts, and fresh or dried fruit.  Of course, additions and subtractions are easy and endless.

On a typical night before work, I'll come into the kitchen and mix up some oats, yogurt, "milk," and dried and fresh fruit in a clean jam jar.  In the morning I give it a stir and then decide what other fresh fruit, nuts, and toppings I'm in the mood for.  It's simple, healthy, and totally worth the few inquisitive stares I get when I pull a glass jar and metal spoon out of my bag and start to eat Müesli on the train.

My Morning Müesli
I never measure any of this out but I did this morning just for you!  Below is my usual recipe, but feel free to use your favorite fruits and nuts.  I like to change mine up every so often because too much of the same gets boring!
Serves 1

Ingredients
1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not the quick kind)
generous 1/4 cup milk of choice, I use almond or soy
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
a squeeze or 2 fresh lemon or orange juice (optional)
1/2 tablespoon ground flaxseed
1 tablespoon dried cranberries
1- 2 dried apricots
6 red grapes, halved
1/2 a medium apple, small dice or shredded
7 almonds, roasted and chopped
honey, for drizzling

Variations and Additions: cinnamon, maple syrup, roasted cashews, macadamia nuts, raisins, dried cherries, dried figs, dried coconut, fresh blueberries, banana, peaches, fruit compote, jam or preserves...

Preparation
The night before: Mix all ingredients together in the vessel you intend to eat out of in the morning.  Since I'm not the biggest mixer (I like toppings!), I usually only mix the oats, milk, yogurt, citrus juice, flaxseed, dried fruit, and maybe one fresh fruit in the night before. Then in the morning I add my other ingredients on the top to create some textural variation (i.e. crunchy nuts, crisp apple, chewy dried fruit, jammy jam...).  Experiment to find what you like best.