The Great Milk Mustache

Milk - my husband and older kids loved it, lots of it, and it was whole milk! Whole milk is a wholesome product for younger kids, adding necessary calories for active bodies and lots of calcium and vitamin D for growth. However, older kids and adults may find that it also packs too much fat and too much cholesterol. Fat-free milk still has the calcium and vitamin D of whole milk, but it cuts fat and calories. The challenge is getting older milk drinkers to enjoy the taste of the lightened product.

The taste of whole milk is decidedly different from 2% or 1% and is not even close to the taste of skim milk, also known as fat-free milk. So, how to get milk drinkers to enjoy the lower fat version? This is where stealth comes in. Try adding just a little bit of lower fat milk to their whole milk. You may find that at first you can only add a tablespoon of lower fat milk to a glass. That's okay. This process may take some time! But, increasing the proportion of lower fat milk just a tablespoon at a time will soon have them sipping and enjoying the lower fat, less cholesterol version of a dairy product they enjoy.

Here's an example. Week one: add one tablespoon of 2% milk to each glass of whole milk. Week two: add two tablespoons of 2% milk to each glass. Week three: add three tablespoons to each glass.

If your family is present in the kitchen when you're pouring the milk, or if they regularly help themselves to milk straight from the refrigerator, you might consider adding some 2% milk to the container. If you buy a gallon of whole milk, pour out one cup and replace it with one cup of 2%. The following week, replace two cups, etc.

Soon, you'll have your family drinking 2% milk, and then you can follow the same technique to move them to 1% or skim milk. Soon, they'll be enjoying the vitamin benefits of milk without the extra calories and cholesterol!

Stealthy Cooking Tip:
Making changes slowly helps palates adjust!