[kbchavez]

my 2.5 yo DS who has shown almost zero interest in eating cheese as a snack up to now, has been begging for the little bags of round baby cheeses he saw at Whole Foods. I decided to buy it for him today to see if he would actually eat it. He LOVES them. The problem is, they are made from conventional pasteurized milk. I realize there are a lot worse foods out there, but I would really rather him eat raw cheese, or at least cheese that started out from high quality milk. I'm trying to brainstorm ways to create a reasonable facsimile of these cheeses to bring along as snacks. They are semi-soft cheeses (somewhere between a dry and a wet mozzarella) in little flat round shapes in red wax that opens up to reveal the cheese. I know I can't buy raw soft cheeses, so I wonder if I could make a soft cheese from raw milk (goat or cow) and then shape them into little balls and wrap them in cute little packages. Has anyone made anything like this? Or know of someone who sells quality mini-cheeses? TIA!

Kristen

 

[Taedareth]

Why can't you buy soft raw cheeses? Maybe Pleasant Valley Dairy sells them. At least I know they sell raw cheese, but I don't know what kinds.

 

[kbchavez]

it's illegal to sell raw cheese that hasn't been aged a minimum of a certain amount of time (maybe three months?). Only hard aged cheeses fit into this category. Though honestly, if Organic Pastures can sell raw kefir, then I don't understand why they can't sell soft cheeses.

 

[kbchavez]

also, I can't taste the babybel cheeses because I'm allergic to cow's milk, so I really don't know what to look for, taste-wise, as an alternative to these cheeses for DS. Any ideas?

 

[Pookietooth]

I really think it's the packaging that does it. My ds loved those too for awhile. The bright red, the way it's tiny and wrapped up, the unwrapping. Big time toddler appeal. Is there a way you could buy some raw cheese and cut it tiny, then wrap it up in parchment paper or something? I know the local farmer's market here has someone who sells bite-sized pieces of raw cheese that ds likes. He also likes the huge wheels of cheese (they look like giant babybels), but those are like $30 or something and there is no way he could eat them all before they got moldy.

 

[newcastlemama]

What if you found some block raw cheese, sliced a piece off and then used a cookie cutter to make it into shapes dc likes?

 

[freespirited]

Just a suggestion - my dd is a really picky cheese eater but she fell in love with Organic Pastures raw sharp cheddar cheese. She used to love Babybels and now she prefers this one. It is not mild tasting but she loves it and she is super picky about anything that tastes remotely unusual ("spicy" as she calls all unusual flavors). She particularly enjoys it melted in a corn tortilla. I put some on one and put it under the broiler just until it's slightly gooey but not totally melted. I think mothers of 2- and 3-yr olds need to share what worked for their kids since they tend to be so picky! G/L!

 

[quietserena]

Quote:

Originally Posted by newcastlemama What if you found some block raw cheese, sliced a piece off and then used a cookie cutter to make it into shapes dc likes?

this is such an awesome idea!

 

[aradia]

I think wrapping foods in parchment/wax paper and tied with ribbon/string or sealed with a sticker would be fun.

I also have a set of very small cookie cutters made by Fox Run that I bought at WFM. They are in the shapes of different tree leaves-we love 'em.

 

[kbchavez]

thanks everyone for all the great suggestions!

 

[Periwinkle]

BRILLIANT ideas!

:

My kids adore babybel too, and string-cheese in those individual wrappers.