Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

                                  

Quality milk begins with caring for our animals everyday on the dairy farm. One of my daily chores is to feed and care for the baby calves. Every heifer calf that we raise is important to the future of our milking herd.   I'm thankful for each new calf that is born on our farm and for the opportunity to live and work on a dairy farm. 

Chocolate Milk-A Healthy Choice

Chocolate milk has been a favorite healthy choice for a very long time.  I can remember enjoying chocolate milk when I was in elementary school  fifty years ago. Choices then were limited to whole white or chocolate milk.  In the last five years, the dairy industry has responded to nutrition concerns about flavored milk by developing reduced or fat-free milk and reduced the added sugar. In fact, the amount of added sugar in flavored milk has declined by thirty percent.  All milk has 12 grams of natural sugar straight from the cow.  Fat-free chocolate milk has 22 grams of total sugar, that's twelve grams from naturally-occurring lactose and 10 grams of added sugar.

Flavored milk is a healthy choice because it contains the same nine essential nutrients just like white milk.  The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans listed four nutrients of concern for adults and children: calcium,vitamin D, potassium and dietary fiber. White and chocolate milk contain three of these: calcium,vitamin D and potassium.  Low consumption of these nutrients can affect not only health in childhood but in the future.  Here's a few facts about  flavored milk:

• kids who drink flavored milk meet more of their nutrient needs
• kids who drink flavored milk do not consume more added sugar,fat or calories
• kids who drink flavored milk  are not heavier than non-milk drinkers

• studies have shown when chocolate milk is removed from the menu, kids drink less milk and get fewer nutrients

Bessie, the Midwest Dairy Cow, invites you to find more  information about flavored milk and dairy nutrition at http://www.dairymakessense.com/.  I just love hanging around with Bessie, how about you?

How to Make How Now Brown Cow Pudding in Eight Easy Steps

As the harvest continues in the  Arkansas rice fields in September, we'll enjoy cooking with rice and celebrating the harvest with our east Arkansas farmer friends.   For a midweek treat for your family, you may want to try this Kids in the Kitchen recipe from  the USA Rice Federation.

How Now Brown Cow
Chocolate Rice Pudding

2 1/2 cups milk
2 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Combine milk,rice,sugar and chocolate chips in 2-to3-quart saucepan.
2. Place saucepan on burner and turn to medium heat.
3. Cook,stirring often,until pudding is thick and creamy, about 20 minutes.
4. Turn burner off.
5. Remove saucepan from heat and place on hot pad.
6. Stir in vanilla.
7. Spoon into serving dishes; cool 10 minutes.
8. Serve warm or cold

Makes: 6 servings

Have a dairy good week!

Dairy Builds Bone for Healthy Aging

As I anticipate a visit to the doctor for my yearly check-up, I'm thinking about my healthy and unhealthy habits that I will be quizzed about,confess to and take responsibiity for my actions or lack of action.  As a Baby Boomer born in the mid fifties, I really wasn't thinking I would get old some day.  Guess what --I'm aging!  The first time the doctor used the phrase,"at your age", I realized that I was transitioning into my era of healthy aging.

Healthy bones are needed for healthy aging.  Do you ever think about how important your bones are? Bones give support, allow movement, protect your heart, lungs and brain from injury and store vital minerals.  Calcium and Vitamin D  are needed for strong bones.  According to the National Institute of Health, calcium is one of the nutrients most likely to be lacking in the American diet and has been singled out as a major public health concern.   Calcium deficiency can lead to osteoporosis.  Osteoporosis weakens bones and may result in fracture of the spine,hip or wrist.  Although osteoporosis is considered a woman's disease, it can also affect men. 

Bone health begins in early childhood.  Healthy nutritonal choices begin  in early childhood  and have a huge impact on healthy aging.  The strength of our bones depends on their size and density which depends in part on the amount of calcium, phosphorus and other minerals bones contain. Our bones have been continuously changing since childhood,reaching peak bone mass around age thirty.  The higher your peak bone mass is at age thirty, the less likely you will develop osteoporosis as you age.  Including calcium rich dairy foods such as milk,yogurt and cheese in your daily diet can reduce the risk of osteoporosis.You can find helpful nutrition information at  http://www.nationaldairycouncil.org/.

It's never too late to evaluate your health habits and strive for improvements. Osteoporosis prevention includes:

• Adequate amounts of calcium
• Adequate amounts of vitamin D
• Regular weight bearing exercise such as walking,jogging,running, or stair climbing.

Recommended calcium intakes and other information about bone health can be found at the National Institue of Health website: http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Bone/Bone_Health/Nutrition.
Healthy habits help us keep the bones we have.   What are you doing for bone health "at your age"?

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

  A cool  weather front moved in to Northwest Arkansas today and it is a welcome relief to dairy cows and dairy farmers. I'm not going to miss summer one bit (at least not until we have twenty four inches of snow).   I am thankful for the  cooler weather so  our cows will be more comfortable, will eat more and produce more milk!

Daily Care Provides Quality Milk

After feeding baby calves this morning, I went back to look at each calf that has been born since the beginning of September.  We have added twenty to our group so far and about eighty more to be born! Although we will have calves born through the year, we usually have a group of heifers to calve in the fall.  We will have a total of thirty heifers this fall.  Adding heifers to the milking herd is important to the future of our farm.  It's one of my daily jobs to feed and monitor the health of each calf when brought to the calf hutch area.  For the first eight weeks, each calf is raised in an individual hutch, fed milk and grain twice a day and monitored closely for any illness.

 

While I was checking calves, Casey was in the pasture checking on the cows and heifers that will be calving today and in the next two weeks.  Next to the calves in hutches is a group of babies that we weaned last week.  As I looked at each group, I  thought about this full cycle of growth and development of our dairy cattle.   Everyday on the farm we are taking care of our animals  through every phase of their growth by providing nutritious food, appropriate medical care and comfortable surroundings.  Caring for our animals is how we provide quality milk!

Celebrating Arkansas Rice Month on the Dairy Farm

Arkansas farmers have faced extreme weather conditions in every season this year.  Although our crops and animals have been stressed with the extreme drought and heat, we are thankful that fall is evidenced by the cooler weather and harvest time. While we are beginning to harvest our hay and corn silage crop in Northwest Arkansas, our farmer friends on the east side of the state are beginning rice harvesting.  Here are a few Arkansas rice facts:

• Arkansas ranks #1 in rice production in the United States.
• Rice is planted on 1.3 million acres in Arkansas.
• The Arkansas rice industry contributes one billion dollars to our state's economy.
• Managed rice fields and natural wetlands provide wintering habitat for migratory and wintering waterfowl.

Last week Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe declared September as Arkansas Rice Month. I'm celebrating the rice harvest  and supporting Arkansas rice farmers by trying a few new rice recipes this month.  I found Taco Ricos in a recipe booklet produced by USA Rice Federation.

Taco Ricos
1 lb lean ground beef or turkey
1 16 oz. jar prepared chunky salsa
11/2 cups precooked rice, uncooked
11/2 cups water
1 11oz. can corn,drained
1 cup (4oz.) shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
18 flour or corn tortillas,warmed

Brown beef or turkey in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; drain fat and liquid, if necessary. Stir in salsa,rice,water,corn. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low,cover and simmer 5 minutes or until rice is tender and no liquid remains. Spoon 1/3 cup mixture in each tortilla, top with about 1 tbsp. cheese; roll up and serve.

You can find other recipes and great information about rice at http://www.usarice.com/. Do you have a favorite rice recipe  for Arkansas Rice Month?