6 Great Ways to Use Extra Milk

Overflowing with milk?  I sure am!

Milk is still one of the most nutritious foods for the money, whether you purchase it at the grocery or have your own fresh source of milk at home!

Here are just a few nutritional facts from the National Dairy Council:

• Calcium: Builds healthy bones and teeth; maintains bone mass
• Protein: Serves as a source of energy; builds/repairs muscle tissue
• Potassium: Helps maintain a healthy blood pressure
• Phosphorus: Helps strengthen bones and generate energy
• Vitamin D: Helps maintain bones
• Vitamin B12: Maintains healthy red blood cells and nerve tissue
• Vitamin A: Maintains the immune system; helps maintain normal vision and skin
• Riboflavin (B2): Converts food into energy
• Niacin: Metabolizes sugars and fatty acids

In other words, milk packs quite a punch when it comes to nutrition—and you don’t have to drink a gallon to reap the benefits, the National Dairy Council says. In fact, the council says that just one 8-ounce glass of milk provides the same amount of vitamin D you’d get from 3.5 ounces of cooked salmon, as much calcium as 2 1/4 cups of broccoli, as much potassium as a small banana, as much vitamin A as two baby carrots and as much phosphorus as a cup of kidney beans! (source Oprah.com)

Now that we have dairy goats, I find that some days I have far more milk than I know what to do with.  Talk about overflowing with blessing!

Here are a few ideas for those who find themselves in the same situation as I do or just want to take advantage of this great and economical food source!

Smoothies

I love smoothies and so do my children!  They are so forgiving and flexible.  I rarely make the same smoothie twice, primarily because I use whatever I have on hand.  Use what you have!

 

Berry Smoothies

2 cups of milk

2 cups of frozen strawberries

2 cups of frozen raspberries

1/4 cup and 2 tbsp. of sugar

2 cups of ice cubes

Put everything but the ice in the blender, put on the lid and process until smooth.  Add ice, return lid and process.  (allrecipes.com)

 

Kelly’s Very Simple Smoothie

1 cup milk

1 cup juice (orange or apple)

1 banana

2 cups of frozen fruit, whatever I have around (mulberries work great, I have a lot of those around the house right now!)

If I have flax seed oil around, I’ll throw a couple of tablespoons in!

Put everything in the blender, put on lid and process.

Pancakes/Waffles

Pancakes and waffles are adored in our family!  I love their flexibility (do I say that a lot?) because I can use what’s in season and what I have on hand.  Buttermilk (or sour  milk) makes pancakes taste even better, in my opinion.

Another great thing about making extra pancakes or waffles to use up a milk surplus is that they freeze great!  Make sure they are completely cool, flash freeze them single layer on a cookie sheet and then stack them into a gallon zip lock bag and freeze.  I love having these around to make a quick meal!

How to Make Buttermilk:

4 cups of milk

2/3 cup of cultured buttermilk

***

Heat milk in medium saucepan over medium high heat until it reaches 85 degrees.  Then put the milk into a glass container along with the cultured buttermilk.  Stir well with a metal utensil.  Then cover your container and let it sit at room temperature for 12 hours.  Store milk in an airtight container in the refrigerator for one to two weeks. (Revised from “Home Dairy”)

 

How to Sour Milk:

If you don’t have the time or energy to make buttermilk, then sour milk will work just as well.

Bring milk to room temperature.  Add 1 tablespoon of either lemon juice or vinegar per 1 cup of milk.  Let it set for a few minutes until the milk begins to curdle a bit.  Then it’s ready.

 

Buttermilk Pancakes:

2 cups flour

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

2 eggs

2 1/4 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup butter, melted

***

Preheat and lightly grease a large skillet or griddle.

Mix the flour, salt and baking soda together in a bowl.  Add the egg, buttermilk and butter, stir together but keep it lumpy.  The batter should look thick, spongy and puffy.

Drop 1/3 cup of batter onto the cooking surface, spreading lightly with the bottom of the cup.  Cook until lightly browned on each side, 1-2 minutes per side.

(allrecipes.com)

Yogurt

Making yogurt is new to me but let me tell you, I totally love it.  This from a “not-so-crazy-about-yogurt” kind of person!  It’s easy to make and it uses up a decent amount of extra milk!

As of late, I’ve been eating my yogurt with mulberries and homemade granola sprinkled on top…yummo!

How to Make Yogurt:

4 cups of milk, whole, low-fat or skim milk

3 tablespoons live yogurt

***

Start by turning your crockpot on low to heat up.

For thicker yogurt, add 4 tablespoons powdered dry milk or 1 tablespoon of unflavored gelatin.

If you are using a thickening agent, whisk the dried milk or gelatin into the milk until combined.  Warm the milk gently in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until it almost reaches the boiling point, right around 180 degrees.

Remove the milk from the heat and allow to cool to 110-115 degrees.  Using a metal spoon, stir in the yogurt, mix well.

Transfer the mixture into mason or glass jars.  Place the jars into the crock pot, close the lid and turn the crock pot OFF.  After unplugging the crock pot, wrapping a towel around it can maintain the temperature to insure proper set-up.  I always make sure I’m home during this process to keep an eye on the cooker.

Do not open the lid for 6 hours, otherwise your temperature will drop.  The yogurt should set up within that time.  Then store yogurt in air-tight container in the frig for a week.

(Recipe modified from “Home Dairy”)

Soup

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE soups.  They aren’t just for the fall and winter time, they are delicious all year round.  Here are milk-using recipes for Cream of Broccoli, Cream of Tomato and Cream of Asparagus…delicious, cheap and nutritious.

 

Biscuits

This recipe is from “The Pioneer Woman Cooks”, we love it.  Biscuits can be used for breakfast and/or make breakfast sandwiches (to freeze maybe?), for snack with peanut butter, butter, jelly or honey and even for dinner with roast or as a topping for chicken pot pie. Biscuits are so versatile!

Buttermilk Biscuits

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/3 cup shortening

1/3 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

1 1/4 buttermilk (or sour milk)

***

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.  Stir together.  Add the shortening and butter pieces.

With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the shortening and butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs.

Pour in the buttermilk and mix gently with a fork until just combines.  The biscuit dough will be sticky, not overly dry or crumbly.

Lightly flour a clean surface.  Turn the dough out of the bowl and roll to a 1/3-3/4 inch thickness, depending on how thick you’d like your biscuits to be.  Cut rounds with a biscuit cutter and place them in a baking dish or on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 11-14  minutes, until golden brown.  Do not under bake or the biscuits will be doughy.

Ice Cream

You’ve heard me talking about our ice cream maker lately and let me tell you, that’s a great way to use up milk!  It seems that ice cream makers come with their own recipes, depending upon what kind of maker you purchase.  I won’t list specific recipes for that reason, but I highly recommend making homemade ice cream!  It’s a fun and bonding experience for the entire family!

What ideas do YOU have?  How do you use up extra and/or sale milk?