Not Your Mama's Powdered Milk!

Seriously, have you guys tried powdered milk lately?

When I was 5 years old my mom went back to work and us kids went to daycare. We hated daycare. For one reason only: they used powdered milk AND they MADE you drink it! Yes, we had to sit at those long tables until we had gulped down our entire *large* glass of milk. My worst experience there was one day, after having drank half the glass, I accidentally spilled my milk. The nice ladies at the daycare refilled my glass to the top and made me sit there until I had finished the whole glass. I cried and cried. The powdered milk was awful!!! It didn't taste like real milk in the slightest.

Upon our move back to Wisconsin (with no job in hand) we did a staple food shop hoping to last until we got food stamps (the soonest appointment was 3 weeks later!). Both my husband and myself grew up pretty poor, him a little bit poorer than I. His mom would go grocery shopping once a month and buy a few gallons of milk and then a bunch of powdered and canned milk to get through the rest of the month. So we did similar. Bought a few gallons of milk and then some powdered and canned milk more for cooking or an emergency... I was very hesitant about it given my past experiences with powdered milk. But my husband said that his mother would mix the powdered milk with the canned milk and it wasn't so bad.

Anyway, my little D has been going through the milk like crazy. We actually got in for a WIC appointment within a day. Through WIC we were able to get like 6 gallons of milk for the month. Which D has already gone through - plus 3 more. OK, B is also drinking some of the milk, but not much. So last night we were out of milk and I went to make mashed potatoes... I had to turn to the powdered milk. I had intended to run to the store after dinner, but by that time I was tired and here I had a quart of powdered milk that D could drink and a can of formula that B could use... so I talked my lazy butt out of going to the store.

I filled D's bottle halfway (so as not to waste too much) with the powdered milk mixture and handed it to him, fully expecting him to return crying within a few sips. He drank the whole thing down and asked for more. I was absolutely shocked. I figured he must not mind the awful taste.

Later, when all the kids were in bed and it was my time to sit down, relax and enjoy my nightly ritual of Oreos dunked in milk... damn!! Just the powdered milk. I figured it may be a little better than dunking them in water - because we all know that Oreos must be dunked and soggy to be enjoyed to the fullest. So, begrudgingly, I filled my mug halfway with the powdered milk mixture. Didn't notice any funky taste while dunking, so decided to take a sip after I had eaten my Oreos. It actually tasted like real milk! It didn't taste funky at all! I couldn't tell the difference between this glass of powdered milk and real, regular milk from a gallon!! I drank the rest of the mug of milk down and still tasted no difference. Can you believe it?!?! Can you? Because I just can't get over it! And the cost? Me and my husband did the math last night (ok, I let him do all the math and I just watched) $2.54 a gallon for the generic!