Jody's Best Tips for Powdered Milk

Now before you say "EWWW!" and cough and sputter, there is a place for powdered milk in your pantry. We don't drink or use much actual straight milk, like the bottled or jugged kind, however, we sometimes buy a teeny bit for recipes. We don't eat much cereal, but it's nice to have "real" milk on occasion. Sometimes we stock up on shelf stable milk which is a wondrous invention (first started using that when I lived in the bush in Alaska with Tiki and Alan) if you ask me (and The Ranger likes it too!). And of course, there's always good ol' powdered milk which is something our parents introduced to us at an early age. We shared so much milk with our calico mother cat, Patches, and all her litters of kittens, that Dad decided it would be cheaper for the kids and the cats to learn to appreciate powdered milk. Took some getting used to.

I haven't been to the store in a couple of weeks and although we have food in the pantry, it's just me right now, so I'm not into cooking big meals. I might eat an egg. Or some sugar snap peas with hummus. But today was Sunday and I had more time and it seemed like everything I was interested in making or trying involved at least a little milk. It's so nice to keep the powdered stuff on hand in the pantry just for this purpose. I'm not suggesting you drink it straight, but that's fine too if you tolerate it well. I am suggesting two tips to help the medicine go down.

TIP #1: BLEND your milk! Whether the directions call for warm water (but not boiling) or cold water (I've seen both directions depending on the brand name), I suggest you mix it in the blender. It's fast, it mixes really well, and then you're not scraping the sticky milk blobs from the side of a pitcher or whisking your little heart out only to see lots of froth and still more blobs. It's totally worth having to wash all the blender parts IMHO. I like to use the "milkshake" setting on our blender and then I pour it into a pitcher and put it in the fridge.

TIP #2: Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. I know. Can't hurt. Might help. It smells good. And if someone ends up having to drink some straight, well, there's a little something there to improve the experience.

So yeah, just blend it up with vanilla, let it chill for a couple of hours and you're in business. I made pancakes from scratch after church and spread my home canned plum jam on top. Beautiful, tangy, and delicious!

Do you have any cool tips regarding powdered milk?