Mike Jutan's World: And... I FINALLY made my cereal, and it's gonna change the world

So they say it takes a while to get out of the Waterloo "Co-op Mode" once you've started your first post-University full-time job... and a grand 6 months later... I finaaaaaaaaaaaaally have gotten myself organized enough (and "out of Co-op mode" enough) to make two things I've been planning to make for (at least) the past 4 or 5 months...

1) My lunch!
2) My muesli "granola" cereal!

Finally!!!!!!!!

So yes, proud as I am, I figured I'd better post photos so my Mom actually believes me now that I've actually done it.

I'm using something to the effect of the famous Jutan Muesli recipe, but throwing in a few things of my own. I used the usual rolled oats, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, cashews and roasted almonds, but also got a "berry mix" which included raisins, cranberries, blueberries and cherries. I also dumped in 2 bags of dried bing cherries which is also awesome. I bought dried ranier cherries but they are gross, so I didn't add them to the cereal. Anyway it looks good eh?!

This cereal is going to make my entire life better!! And why, you might ask? Well... I'm going to have a small bowl for breakfast, at work. This will alleviate my hunger after the 30 min bike ride into work. Also, after 30 min of pretty fierce cardio (biking), I really need some energy to kickstart the rest of my day, and it's been ridiculous to just run right into morning meetings after a 30 min bikeride and without food (or enough food). Ok, great. It'll also be a good time to get my metabolism into overdrive, which is always good.

It will also stop me from overeating the tasty snacks that are at work every week, doughtnuts, muffins, danishes, they taste awesome, but they are really bad for me. So if I eat my cereal, it'll keep my excitement down for those tasty but unhealthy snacks. Ok that's two awesome benefits.

Three, I can now eat less at lunch. Since the oatmeal will carry me through the morning, I won't need as much lunch, so I'll eat less and that's good. It therefore automatically spreads my meals out across the day. And as yet another side benefit, I won't want to eat an entire lunch from the cafeteria, so if I do buy lunch, I'll save some for a snack in the afternoon. More commonly though, I'll be able to bring in a reasonably small lunch, and just eat that and be satisfied with it. Awesome.

I can have cereal again as a snack at around 4pm. This will keep me going since I tend to be at work until at least 6:30pm, sometimes 7:00pm or later. So this will keep me going so I am not starving by the end of the work day, and will keep my metabolism up for the bike ride home.

Finally, when I get home, I don't need to rush rush rush a quick dinner because I am really hungry. Instead, I'll spend more time, making a higher quality meal, making a bit more (so I can make my lunch for the next day at the same time)... and I'll eat better, have nice and balanced meals, AND become a better cook.

And all of this because I finally got off my "kiester", got my act together, and made the darn cereal FINALLY.

Oh yeah. And the cereal is going to make it so I can save enough money to go to South Africa this summer too. Since I won't be spending $6-$10 every day on lunch at work, I'll be saving approximately $180 per month. $180 * 5 months = $900, which is about 1/2 of my ticket to South Africa. Beautiful.

So if anyone tells you muesli can't change the world, tell them to read this. Thanks Mom and Dad for finally helping me get my head in gear and do this.