June is National Dairy Month, the perfect month to celebrate dairy’s goodness.

This special month celebration started in 1937 and continues today.  Not only do dairy foods taste great, but they are good for our health and our budgets. Did you know you can get nine essential nutrients in an 8-ounce glass of milk for only 25 cents a glass?  That’s nourishment on a budget.

At the heart of these more than 3,000 dairy farms in Minnesota, are the dairy farm families that work hard each and every day to ensure each glass of milk is nutritious, safe and wholesome for families like yours and mine. How can you benefit from dairy’s goodness?

Make milk your mealtime beverage. Milk is the number one food source of three of the four nutrients the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans identified as lacking in the American diet — calcium, vitamin D and potassium.

Mix it with milk. Boost your calcium by whipping up a milk-based fruit smoothie or making soups and hot cereals with milk instead of water.

Top your salad or sandwich with cheese. With more than 300 American varieties to choose from and the nutrient package it provides — including calcium for strong bones and high-quality protein for healthy muscles — cheese fits into almost any eating plan such as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, and diabetic, gluten-free and low-lactose diets.

Go Greek to power up with protein. Greek yogurt is versatile and can be used any time of the day in any meal.

And did you know that milk is the number one most requested item by food bank clients, yet is one of the least available items?  It’s hard to donate perishable items to the local food bank, but there is now a way.

You can donate to the Great American Milk Drive, the first program to deliver gallons of milk to families who need it the most, by going to www.milklife.com/give or by texting “Milk” to 27722.  Each and every dollar collected goes towards the purchase and delivery of milk to hungry families in the donor’s local community.

Milk comes from family farms in our local community.  Let’s raise our milk glass and toast to June Dairy Month and share milk’s goodness with families in need by donating to the Great American Milk Drive.

 

Rainbow Fruit and Cheese Kabobs

Source: dairymakessense.com

Serves 6

All you need

•6 (8-inch or longer) skewers

•6 ounces Monterey cheese, cut into 18 cubes

•½ cup strawberry halves

•½ cup ¾-inch-cubed cantaloupe

•½ cup ¾-inch-cubed pineapple

•1 kiwifruit, peeled and cut into 6 pieces

•¼ cup blueberries

•6 purple grapes

 

All you do

1. To make a rainbow for each “kabob,” thread onto a skewer a piece of cheese, a strawberry half, a cantaloupe cube, a pineapple cube, another piece of cheese, a piece of kiwi, 2 blueberries, a grape and another piece of cheese. Repeat pattern with remaining straws.

Nutritional Facts Per Serving: 135 calories, 9 g fat, 25 mg cholesterol, 135 mg sodium, 8 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 7 g protein

 Blog: http://JenHaugenRD.wordpress.com