B’MORE Yogurt, Please

 

My kids have never been big milk drinkers. In fact, they have never really enjoyed drinking their calories. When we first introduced food at six months, I could hear them breathing a sigh of relief that their formula days were now numbered. Since we switched to whole milk at around one year and said goodbye to the bottle, I have always worried about their calcium intake. I tried flavoring their milk with chocolate and strawberry syrup; I tried blending it with ice and oppositely, warming it in the microwave and adding cinnamon. Nothing could really coax them into drinking more than a few ounces.

However, they LOVE yogurt and always have. Organic, non-organic, Greek, flavored, unflavored, in tubes, in pouches and with a spoon, they scream for more. This has been especially helpful for subbing in extra calories, protein and of course, calcium.

I realized that while they disliked drinking milk, they would entertain an occasional shake or smoothie. That is when the perfect marriage of yogurt and straw, or drinkable yogurt began in our household.

In a perfect world, I would make them homemade smoothies everyday with fresh fruit and vegetables. And, I do try. But sometimes, it is nice to hand them a pre-made bottle on the go. No one has it all together, all the time!

This has been the perfect alternative.

These Icelandic yogurt shakes are made with milk from grass-fed cows. I try to stick to only organic animal products without any added hormones so that limits our yogurt selection a bit. They do have sugar but they are not overtly sweet, and they have a ton of protein. Similar to Greek yogurt, they have a nice tang to them, which my kids love. I am able to twist open an eight ounce bottle, stick a straw in it and hand it to them on the go. Bryce and Brody have decided that mango banana is their favorite, but vanilla and strawberry flavors are also quite popular in our house.

I buy on Fresh Direct but they are also sold at many health food stores and supermarket chains.

Now that the weather is nice, we will definitely be taking these on a lot of walks/happy hours in the park.