Emergency milk?

Pitlanepiglet

Neither OH or I drink cows milk as we're both intolerant to it so we don't ever have anything other than soya in the house.

This leads to the situation where we offer someone a cup of tea or coffee and then realise that we don't have milk for them. I try to keep some 500ml cartons of UHT in but I know it's not to everyone's taste and it often means opening a carton for just one cup of tea.

I wondered what the best way is to deal withthis? Is powdered milk any good or is it nasty? (I haven't had cows milk for 22 years so I'm not the best judge! )

I wondered about freezing milk in an ice cube tray and then keeping the cubes in a bag until needed - a bit of a faff but a couple of pints frozen like that would probably last ages. If so, does all milk freeze or is semi/full better? Do you think I could just drop a cube of frozen milk into a cup of tea or will it curdle?

Any other thoughts?

LittleMissAspie

You could try those mini pots that you get in cafes but they don't last very long, I think you have to use them up in 6 months even though they are UHT.

Edit: Sorry just been looking and the shelf life is only 8 weeks, not much good then.

McKneff

I dont see anything wrong with your frozen cube idea, no it wouldnt curdle but it would cool the tea down,

Actually, I think its a damn good idea.

Try it out anyway, just buy a small carton to start with.

Pitlanepiglet

LittleMissAspie wrote: »

You could try those mini pots that you get in cafes but they don't last very long, I think you have to use them up in 6 months even though they are UHT.

Edit: Sorry just been looking and the shelf life is only 8 weeks, not much good then.

We've tried that but I tend to forget about them and then discover that they are really out of date (with lumps! :eek:) , plus I'm too [STRIKE]tight[/STRIKE] MSE to buy them and I always forget to purloin them from cafes!

Pitlanepiglet

McKneff wrote: »

I dont see anything wrong with your frozen cube idea, no it wouldnt curdle but it would cool the tea down,

Actually, I think its a damn good idea.

Try it out anyway, just buy a small carton to start with.

Ahh yes...hadn't really thought that through! How about, given that lots of people dilute their milk...if I froze full fat milk, I could add a couple of spoons of hot water to a couple of cubes to defrost them?

Alternatively a quick burst in the microwave on defrost would probably do the job OK?

Lily_The_Legend

Hi piglet! :hello:

Out of interest, what do you do when you go to other people's houses?

I drink soya milk, and it's ok going to my mum's as she drinks it too, but my mother-in-law does what you do for guests, she opens a big carton of soya milk for one cup of tea for me! Then she lets me take it home. It's so nice of her to think of me, but I feel bad that she's bought a whole carton just for one cup of tea!

I guess if I thought about it I could put some in a water bottle and take some with me when I go to other people's houses in future. Usually I just stick to cold drinks instead or black tea, which isn't very nice.

I've rambled on a bit there, sorry!

How about Coffeemate? I think you can use that in tea and coffee.

Gigervamp

Powdered milk is fine. You can either make up a pint of it or just add a couple of teaspoons to a cup of tea or coffee.

If you're making coffee, add the powdered milk along with the coffee and sugar, mix a little cold water in with it to make a paste, then top up with hot water. Doing it like this makes the coffee frothy like those instant cappucino's!

Churchmouse

I think your cube idea would work fine. I'd freeze semi-skimmed tbh, since i think that's widely acceptable to most people. I'd go with defrosting in the microwave, or even just on the counter top if you have advanced warning it will be needed. Don't be alarmed at the funny colour milk turns when it's frozen, it turns back to white on thawing. A pint of milk should do 15-20 cups of tea, so wouldn't take up too much room.

I've had to edit, I've finally read your username correctly Pitlanepiglet. You've always been Planetpiglet in my brain before :rotfl:Just shows the tricks the brain plays

Pitlanepiglet

Lily_The_Legend wrote: »

Hi piglet! :hello:

Out of interest, what do you do when you go to other people's houses?

Hi Lily, we both drink black coffee as I'm not keen on soya in hot drinks (I cook with it quite happily though). When I first came off dairy I used to use sachets of powdered goats milk that I bought from the health food shop. I've no idea if you can still get it. I used to mix a small amount with some cold water and put that in coffee. In the end I just got used to black coffee as it was an awful lot easier!

Gigervamp wrote: »

Powdered milk is fine. You can either make up a pint of it or just add a couple of teaspoons to a cup of tea or coffee.

Thanks Giger, I think I'll stick some in the cupboard as well.

Churchmouse wrote: »

Don't be alarmed at the funny colour milk turns when it's frozen, it turns back to white on thawing. A pint of milk should do 15-20 cups of tea, so wouldn't take up too much room.

Thanks for the warning and the quantities, this sounds like the best way to deal with this, I'll get a pint at some point and freeze it and then move the cubes to a bag to save space.

Pitlanepiglet

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

Hi Lily, we both drink black coffee as I'm not keen on soya in hot drinks (I cook with it quite happily though). When I first came off dairy I used to use sachets of powdered goats milk that I bought from the health food shop. I've no idea if you can still get it. I used to mix a small amount with some cold water and put that in coffee. In the end I just got used to black coffee as it was an awful lot easier!

Here you go....http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk/cgi-local/frameset/detail/471286_Allergycare_Spray_Dried_Goats_Milk__200g.html

Might be worth a try?

Churchmouse

Forgot to say, when I defrost a pint in its container I give it a good shake to mix the fat back in properly. Your cubes may have separated out, but a quick whisk and they'll be fine.