Message in a Bottle – Milk • Foodie Explorers

A pint of milk in a glass bottle has a healthy message for both adults and children

I came across a delightful brand of dairy milk produced by Wee Isle Dairy on Isle of Gigha (a family run business based at Tarbert Farm) a dairy farm near the north of the island.

The concept of a glass bottle of milk with the cream on top evoked many childhood memories of my first-year milk project at secondary school – compiling letters to the milk marketing board and a visit to a dairy farm.

Milk packs a nutritional punch with high-quality protein. Have you considered that milk is one of the most underrated of many foods? Here are a few nutritional facts – milk has a very low-calorie content (only 65 calories per 100ml) low-fat content (only 4 % even in full cream milk) and low carbohydrate (sugar) content at 4%, it is the perfect natural drink for both adults and children. Milk also needs no prior preparation before consumption. It is used as the basis in a number of recipes (milkshakes, desserts or even just poured over your breakfast porridge).

Children’s requirement for milk is so important in the current climate. Calcium is an essential vitamin for young children and milk can offer over half of a child’s daily requirement. The value of this food can give strong bones, good teeth and clear skin.

We have become complacent about our expectations of a ‘pint of milk’ – the journey it takes before it reaches our doorstep or supermarket shelves. Children can learn how this happens by reading a delightful book that has recently been published by Scallywagpress called Milly Cow Gives Milk – written by Deborah Chancellor and illustrated by Julia Groves.

The story tells the journey of a child who follows a day in the life of Milly the cow, as she munches grass with her friends, drinks gallons of water, makes cow pats in the field, and visits the milking parlour with her farmer. A great visual book to explain the process of where milk comes from.

Adults and children can benefit from drinking milk and using milk in our busy everyday lives. Incorporating milk in simple recipes such as milkshakes –

Milkshake Recipe

Ingredients

15 ml runny honey
5 ml lemon juice
150 ml full cream milk
50 ml natural yoghurt.

Method

Add to the blender with the above ingredients

Strawberry milkshake, add 200g strawberries
Banana milkshake, add 1 medium banana
Raspberry milkshake, add 200g raspberries (use frozen if you wish).

Blend your choice of ingredients until smooth.

Optional – add a few ice cubes. Serve. Delicious, healthy and refreshing whether you are an adult or a child.

Wee Isle Milk is available through food outlets in Scotland and Milly Cow gives milk is available from all good bookshops and from www.hive.co.uk and www.scallywagpress.com

LET’S CONNECT!