This is me in 1987. I was about 3 years old (and I had some serious awesome fashion sense already. Plaid is timeless, classic.) If my family wanted to keep milk on the shelf, it was always either powdered milk, or condensed milk. I remember powdered milk very well. Let’s just say it tastes much better when you put like a tablespoon of milk in 2 cups of cereal. yuck!
Real, wholesome milk, could only be found in the refrigerated section. And we always did our grocery shopping last so we could get home before the milk warmed up. And forget taking milk on picnics or long road trips!
Do you remember this too? And have you seen the milk cartons on your grocery store shelf lately?
I have! And I wondered about that…is that real milk? Is it safe? What exactly is the milk sitting on the grocery store shelf?
I participated in a compensated educational seminar with The Motherhood and Milk Unleashed. I learned a lot about shelf-stable milk and I hope it answers some of your questions too.
First – shelf-stable milk is real milk, it is just ultra pasteurized and stored in a super special container. Refrigerated milk is pasteurized by being heated at 165 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-20 seconds. Ultra pasteurized milk is heated at 280 degrees F for 3 seconds! Then, stored in this nifty container (click to view larger):
I’ve seen Horizon organic milk cartons sold in packs on the store shelf. These are perfect to put in Lizzie’s school lunch because then I don’t have to worry about whether the ice pack kept it cold enough until lunch.
I also see me buying these in bulk and keeping them in my pantry. I only have so much room in my fridge and when we run out of milk, my kids are not happy. One time, I even decided to buy sweetened condensed milk as our “backup.” Real milk? Waaayyy better option. I know exactly where in my Kroger to find the Horizon milk cartons – in the organic section by the juices and next to the cereals. But if you don’t know where to find some, use the nifty “where to buy” page.
And I love that these are recyclable!! I am so glad they didn’t create a container that isn’t. (I am trying so hard to recycle everything we use)
Bye Bye powdered milk! You will not be missed in the least. I found some amazing and real milk to replace you with.
Shelf-stable milk freaks me out a little, but my kids don’t seem to mind it and it makes for a great lunch box drink!
i have to disagree with you on one thing in this article here as your mom… i picked out your outfits when you were this age … so 🙂 …….. yes you enjoyed wearing them very much. . and … i never bought sweetened cond. milk for you to drink… i used it in recipes………. and this is all we had back then. i think you said this in your article. oooo i used to mix it with real milk 1/2 and 1/2 and it made it go farther…. and taste better. and sometimes put it back into the milk container and you kids didn’t even know the difference. 🙂 mom
we do the horizon milks for shelf- stable. my parents used to get it for our lake house- we don’t hvae electricity out there!
it always amazes me these are shelf stable…LOVE LOVE APPRECIATE LOVE.
I have heard so much about this milk and I think I am going to give it a try this year, for my kids school lunches!
I like to keep some in the pantry for when I’m in a pinch. It’s saved a few recipes.
I spotted these on the shelf when my kids were little in chocolate milk form and I started buying them then!