What to do with sooo much milk?

[jolenegreen]

HI! I have a family of 6 and we get 14 gallons of milk a month thru WIC. I am pregnant with our 5th child and we will soon be getting at least 17 gallons soon. Not quite sure what to do with it as my 2 oldest dont drink it...they dont like it even if I mix it up with choc or strawberry syrup. My husband and One yr old are BOTH lactose intolerant...we get Lactaid for my one yr old thru wic but it makes him and my husband both very gassy and neither want it. Sooo...needless to say I have to buy Soy or Almond milk for them. The baby is only 5 months. I drink whole milk but Im the only one and there is no way I can keep up with all the milk. Im maxed out on the switches for cheese for milk and I make pudding and smoothies but have no idea how to use it up. I give my family what I can but they can only take so much too...lol.. I end up dumping most of it down te drain....I was thinking about donating it to our church but dont want to make it to obvious as I dont want it taken away either...any ideas?

[columbusmomma]

Can you freeze it?
I'm thinking a big batch of homemade icecream

[pjs]

make fresh mozzarella? yogurt? as pp said ice cream?

[mommy22boys]

I always use milk, sugar and food coloring for popsicles, it's simple and quick and really yummy! Maybe your 2 older ones would like it like this too.

[KristyDi]

If you're dumping it down the drain why don't you just not get it? Do they reduce your other benefits if you don't take it all or something?

Do you use yogurt in your smoothies? You can make yogurt with milk very easily. A friend of mine on WIC makes cheese with some of her milk. Mozzarella and ricotta are really easy but she can also make cheddar and is going to try Parmesan soon. You do need to buy the cultures, but as I understand it, they last a good while.

[Purple*Lotus]

Freeze it. When I worked at the shelter we had to always have a certain amount of milk out at all times, but we only shopped once a week. The only want to do that was to keep a lot in the freezer at all times. I have tasted whole and 2% previously frozen milk, and I was never able to taste a difference in it. You will just have to do the smell test since the expiration date wont be accurate.

[Magelet]

definitely try making yogurt. In addition to eating it as yogurt, or with smoothies, we eat a TON of yogurt as sauces, and you can also make a nice cheese out of it. We like it with salt and dill, or salt and cumin, or salt and cucumbers. You can put it in a cloth lined strainer, in the fridge for a day or two or three (or more) depending on how you want it, and you get a nice thick cream cheese like spread, or even cheese spread. (you can salt it before you drain it too). the drippings are whey, and have tons of protein, great for smoothies and stuff. mostly I like the yogurt cream/cheese better though.

you could also make buttermilk (really easy with a little cultured buttermilk from the store, just add 2 TBS buttermilk to a quart of milk, leave it in a warm place overnight.) and use that for ranch dressing and stuff (great to combine buttermilk and yogurt, for a thicker consistancy).

(also some lactose intolerant folks can handle yogurt. My DP actually cured his lactose intolerance by eating huge quantities of yogurt over a period of time, and continueing to eat lots of yogurt.)

Icecream sounds good too, particularly as it becomes summer.

[KatWrangler]

If you can't use the milk, then don't take it. Just because something is on your voucher, doesn't mean you have to get it.

[lil_stinkyfeet]

I just wouldn't take it.. We get a TON of tuna b/c I am breastfeeding but I just haven't been getting it b/c we are not using it.

[*Jessica*]

Originally Posted by KatWrangler

If you can't use the milk, then don't take it. Just because something is on your voucher, doesn't mean you have to get it.

Not necessarily. When I was on WIC I had to get everything that was on the voucher. If it had cheese and milk on it and I only needed the cheese I had to get the milk anyway. I have no idea how these things vary state to state, but she might have to get the milk if she wants to get the other items.

[Ellien C]

Not that you need anymore, but you can make cheese and yogurt out of milk. It's not that difficult. And actually very flexible. Like for cheese - do the next step sometime in the next 12-24 hours. Yogurt is less flexible, but it has at least a few hours where you can get to it.

[BetsyS]

Yogurt.

You can make milk based meals--cream of vegetable soup, potato soup, things with a white sauce (chicken pot pie, chicken tettrazini, many casseroles), macaroni and cheese. Desserts--pudding, flan, custard, rice pudding.

[KatWrangler]

Originally Posted by *Jessica*

Not necessarily. When I was on WIC I had to get everything that was on the voucher. If it had cheese and milk on it and I only needed the cheese I had to get the milk anyway. I have no idea how these things vary state to state, but she might have to get the milk if she wants to get the other items.

Interesting. I have not gotten things on the voucher without a problem. Both
in Missouri and in Kansas.

[elmh23]

A friend of mine is on WIC and gets a LOT of milk each month. When she HAD to get it, she'd trade it for something or just gift it to friends (mainly me.) Now they've changed the system here to cards instead of the printed voucher and she doesn't HAVE to get it, so she doesn't.

[kdtmom2be]

I'd say that if you HAVE to take it to get your other stuff, then the cheese option seems best to me. If your DH and one kid can't have milk, can they have cheese? Do the other two eat cheese? it freezes really well, especially if you can vaccuum pack it.

[KatWrangler]

Yesterday we picked up the wrong juice. It was too much of a hassle to run back and get the correct ones. So we left it off to WIC checks. No problem at all.

[MissE]

I'm in TX and we got the WIC Card, I never get the whole milk, only the 2% for DS (which is still 3 gallons a month) and I leave the extra 3 gallons of whole milk on the account. Nobody has ever said anything and even back when I had the vouchers (that was in NC) you didn't HAVE to buy what was on the check, you could just leave some of the stuff that you didn't eat. I rather not get it instead of dump it down the drain.

If you HAVE to get it anyway then I'd probably give it away but as unnoticed as possible.