June is Dairy Month Giveaway!

Celebrate June Dairy Month with dairy farmers all across the Midwest!  Making sure milk is wholesome and nutritious for your whole family is their #1 priority.  June Dairy Month started in 1937, as a promotion to help distribute extra milk when cows started on pasture in the warm summer months.  Today, its rich history continues, with communities, companies and people from all over the country observing June Dairy Month in a variety of ways.

Milk and other dairy products are great sources of vitamins and minerals. For years, we’ve heard milk “does a body good,” but research shows that many people don’t fully understand the whole story of the nutritional value found in dairy.

It goes beyond just calcium for strong bones – each serving of dairy provides 8 other essential nutrients, including:

• Vitamin D: Vitamin D (“The Sunshine Vitamin”) promotes calcium absorption and helps strengthen bones. Milk is one of the few dietary sources of vitamin D and just one 8-ounce glass provides 25% of your recommended daily value.
• Protein: Protein builds and repairs muscle tissue while giving you a boost of energy! The protein in milk, cheese and yogurt builds and repairs muscle tissue and can help you feel full.
• Potassium: Did you know that milk and yogurt contain as much potassium as a banana? Potassium regulates the body’s fluid balance and helps maintain normal blood pressure.
• Vitamin B12: Milk and yogurt are also excellent sources of B12, which helps maintain healthy red blood cells and nerve tissue.

There are so many great recipes that you can use with dairy products.  One of my favorite things to have in summer is milkshakes, but we have limited freezer space and so often don’t have ice cream on hand.  I found a recipe on the Dairy Makes Sense website for a Chocolate Banarama Milk Mixer that I just had to try.  Instead of using the chocolate pudding it calls for though I used white chocolate pudding.  This is a delicious way to get the taste of a milkshake without using ice cream.

White Chocolate Banarama Milk Mixer

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 cups fat-free milk
• 1 package (4 ounces) white chocolate instant pudding & pie filling
• 1 medium banana, cut into chunks
• 5 to 6 ice cubes

Servings: 4
Prep and Cooking Time: 5 minutes

Preparation:

Place ingredients in a blender. Cover and blend 1 minute or until smooth. Pour into glasses. Serve immediately.

Three daily servings of dairy (including low-fat/fat-free milk, cheese or yogurt) deliver exceptional nutrition (for an awesome value) and can contribute to your family’s plan for a healthy diet and lifestyle.

 I have a giveaway bundle that the Midwest Dairy Council would like to share with you to help make incorporating dairy into your diet not only tasty, but fun! The giveaway includes:

o   One Cuisinart hand blender (valued at $55.00)
o   Dairy Makes Sense recipe cards with new tasty recipes to try out with your family
o   Dairy Makes Sense apron
o   Hot pad
o   Cheese knife
o   Grocery pad
o   Refrigerator magnet

 To enter the giveaway leave a comment below letting me know how you like to incorporate dairy in your diet.  You can enter daily.  For information about more of dairy’s nutritional benefits (and delicious, nutritious recipes), please visit the newly updated http://www.dairymakessense.com.

Open to US Residents ages 18+, ends July 6, 2010 at 11:59 PM CST. Winner will be notified by email and have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. By entering this giveaway you are stating that you have read my **Privacy/Rules statements and agree to them.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the product mentioned above for free for review purposes from Fleishman-Hillard on behalf of Midwest Dairy Council for facilitating my honest opinion in the writing of this post.

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