Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Alternatives to Chocolate Milk


A while back my husband decided that it was his duty as our son's father to introduce him to the wonderful world of chocolate syrup. My husband has a strange affinity for the stuff. Personally, I find it bitter and gross. The husband likes to pour it on cereal and marshmallows and milk and bananas in a big bowl. If I ate like that I would be the size of a house.

So, back to the chocolate milk issue. In an effort to keep my son from spontaneously combusting, I allow him one cup of chocolate milk a day. If he asks for more, he is reminded that he only gets one cup a day. I think that is a rather generous set up, but for some reason the two year old fails to see it that way. It's probably because the concept of "once a day" is as conceivable as the fact that eating sand is not a good idea, and that if you get under your overly low Ikea bed your head will get stuck.

So, here is the idea (which I am sure is not overly novel in any place on earth), put frozen fruit in the milk to sweeten it up. This is where having a high powered blender comes in handy. This is yet another plug for my Blendtec Blender, a.k.a., my boyfriend. By the way, I have had this blender less than a year and I have already used it over 350 times! It has a counter on it, so I am rather sure on the usage. It has already surpassed what I expected to get out of it to make it worth the big price tag.

Blendtec TB-631-20 The Professional's Choice 1560-Watt Total Blender, Red

Today we threw in about two and a half strawberries and a full banana, some milk and blended it. It was a thicker than the usual milk, a little cooler from the frozen elements and rather tasty!

It doesn't take too much thought to realize that other fruit could have been used. You could also add some extracts like almond (if your kid isn't allergic to nuts), vanilla or raspberry. The combinations are endless. AND, if you allow the kids to choose and count the ingredients as they go into the blender carafe, you make it more fun for them. And, it might help them forget about the nasty sugar filled syrup.

So there you go, my kid ate a nice serving of fruit and some dairy and we were all happy. Well, all of us but the lonely rejected chocolate syrup, who I swear I heard crying in the fridge.

1 comment:

  1. You can also add flavored stevia drops like butterscotch.

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