Does anyone else out there struggle in drinking milk?I've never loved milk by any stretch, which is ironic considering the fact that my dad could just attach a long straw to a cow and have it follow him around - he loves the stuff - but I found it tolerable, and even pleasant when accompanied by oreos or chocolate chip cookies...until I married Jason.
Jason has always found the idea of milk disturbing. I mean, it's breast milk from a farm animal. That, and typically, adults of all species, including humans, generally build a lactose intolerance. Adult cats won't go near the stuff. And I don't know ANYONE who wants to be within a mile of a lactose-intolerant adult after they've eaten ice cream or drunk a glass of milk...at least not downwind, if you catch my drift.
Now, I LOVE CHEESE, in almost any form. (Not a big fan of cottage cheese or queso fresco, but pretty much anything else, including pasteurized processed Velveeta "cheese", is fair game.) I also happen to have a weakness for ice cream...particularly chocolate ice cream with a peanut butter ribbon swirl. Mmmmm, sweet AND salty............................................but back to the topic at hand. Butter, people, ROCKS, and I put heavy cream in anything that will hold it...and I DO realize that all of these things start with cow's milk (or sheep's milk or goat's milk or buffalo milk or...well, best to stop there).
But a couple months ago, I was at Whole Foods 
Market and jealously eyeing the Danish butter when something else caught my attention. To my GREAT DISMAY, Whole Foods was marketing something that grossed me out to within an inch of my life. Ready for this one?
Market and jealously eyeing the Danish butter when something else caught my attention. To my GREAT DISMAY, Whole Foods was marketing something that grossed me out to within an inch of my life. Ready for this one?Cow Colostrum.
I kid you not. Someone, somewhere, has decided that Cow Colostrum is good eats...or good to drink. Whatever. Either way, people...I've had two kids. I had to pump just to get anything to give to Tyler, who never learned to latch. He got (pumped) breastmilk for a month, and then my supply ran out overnight. But I remember that first time I pumped, and wound up with exactly 1 1/2 ounces of COLOSTRUM. It was nasty yellowish stuff and carried with it the most uniquely funky smell...and here I was at Whole Foods staring at it again. It had seperated and required shaking to redistribute it's "pure goodness", and it had a horribly yellow-gray tinge to it.
Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmm. (Uh...what?)
That one experience served as a reminder to me that I might as well be breastfed directly by the cow, since that's what I'm drinking. It's just so far removed from the cow, thanks to a plastic jug and marketing expertise, that we don't really relate it to nursing. We drink cow breast milk. My dad may as well have been nursed at a cow udder these last 60-some years. 
I might as well eat an oreo and then turn my head to suck on a cow teat.
I might as well eat an oreo and then turn my head to suck on a cow teat.For some reason I find this incredibly disturbing. I suppose that if and when I'm able to raise my own cow, milk my own cow, and make my own butter and cheese and whatnot, it won't be so bad...and yes, I do hope to do those things, and not all that far into the future, Lord willing.
However, for now, though I still must occasionally cook with cow's milk, we've switched to soy milk. My father finds that repugnant. I think it's just a little thicker, a little sweeter, a little more golden-colored, and contains a lot more protein, and it's GREAT on cereal. It doesn't do much for me where cookies are concerned, but I'm not eating (too many) cookies these days, anyway. And Mikayla and I both suffer from lactose intolerance (me mildly, her miserably), so we're cutting down on cramping and contributing to greenhouse gases. (Maybe we're not; I just read The Omnivore's Dilemma, but more on that a few posts from now.)
Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone can relate to my grossed-out-edness. Does anyone else struggle when offered a tall, frosty glass of cow's milk? Anyone else cringe at the thought of being breastfed indirectly by the teat of a cow? Or am I the only one?
Your thoughts, please...
3 comments:
You're the only one.
No really, I do like milk, but the flavor definitely differs between brands--in a big way for sure! I absolutely abhor Viva brand milk--gross, but I will drink any other brand as long as it's really cold. Don't give me slightly cooled down milk--gross. Although there was this weird period in high school where I really liked to zap some milk in the microwave and drink it super hot--nothing in it. Gross huh?
I think the fact is that when you come down to it, if you think about a lot of what you eat--especially if you eat ANY meat--it makes me a bit sick.
I do have to say that colostrum from a cow is totally disgusting and way over the edge.
Speaking on this issue--did you hear last year that PETA wanted to force Ben & Jerry's to use human milk in their ice cream? I meant to blog on it, but didn't get around to it. Now that is gross to me.
I never knew that most adults, let alone most adult SPECIES, suffer from lactose intolerance. I'm guessing that would explain my little out of no where "lactose" problem I started getting 2-3 years back. I have to drink 1% milk if I want to drink any milk because the other percents completely mess me up, not to mention they are gross and too thick, I feel like I'm drinking melted ice cream. I used to LOVE cheese (queso, Velveeta), until my lactose started to get the best of me and every time I would eat some nachos, I'd break out instantly and the only reason I know it was because of the cheese because it was only after I ate the cheese not to mention when I went to the spa to get my a face peel they told me it looked like some sort of allergic reaction so no more cheese, ice cream (can't handle that either, not even Sherbets) or any dairy for that matter. The only thing I can now handle is low-fat yogurt occasionally and milk every now and then. My lactose gets so bad sometimes that I even get really nauseous right after having some ice cream or anything dairy, I used to be in love with ice cream. So I just avoid dairy as much as I can, I guess it's for the better.. dairy isn't all that great for you anyway. Cow Colostrum is just gross. Well in a country that substitutes cow tongue as food, somehow, I find myself not being that surprised. I love your Enya songs by the way.
I love milk. It's not my beverage of choice unless I'm having dessert, but I can't live without my cereal.
From my research, milk and yogurt appear to be two products with naturally high amounts of calcium, a vitamin that is integral to our overall health, especially for women. Back in the day, these products were the best options. Where as now-a-days, companys have fortified all kinds of products with equal amounts of calcium... orange juice, cereal, soy milk..etc. But our parents were raised on milk, we were all raised on milk, and so the tradition continues.
And I think cows became the natural resource because they were already an animal being farmed for meat in mass quantities. I mean, how many goat farms have you heard of? Not to mention they probably put out more milk than most other animals.
And to your disgusted hubby I say, we're a species that devours all kinds of crap that goes against the laws of nature. Proof? Look no further than heart disease, cancer, liver disease, etc. And we're also a species that love to indulge our senses with different foods, no matter where they came from. If it tastes good, no one bats an eye how it got on their plate. I mean, how does giving snails a fancy name somehow make it a delectable item on the menu?
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