MILK
- Try a refreshing glass of cold milk as a drink instead of soft drinks or fruit juice.
- Enjoy milkshakes or smoothies after school or when friends come around rather than having fizzy drinks. Blend milk with fresh fruit such as a banana or strawberries.
- Include meals that contain milk-based sauces such as meat or vegetable lasagne, macaroni cheese, cauliflower cheese, fish in parsley sauce, cannelloni and fish pie.
- Start the day with a bowl of wholegrain breakfast cereal with milk or a bowl of porridge made with milk. Add a spoonful of nuts or seeds and some fruit for a balanced meal with nutrients from all the four main food groups.
- Go old-school and put custard on the menu. Make it using skimmed, 1% fat or semi-skimmed milk and serve with fresh bananas or baked apples.
- For a retro pud enjoy a pot of rice pudding.
- For older teens, go coffee-shop style at home and make lattes or cappuccinos using semi-skimmed milk, rather than a regular coffee with a dash of milk. Or chill out with an iced coffee. Simply combine chilled coffee with semi-skimmed milk.
CHEESE
- Add a small chunk of cheese or individual portions of cheese to packed lunches.
- Enjoy cheese spread or cream cheese with wholegrain crackers or crispbreads and fruit for lunch or a snack.
- Top dishes such as spaghetti Bolognese or vegetable chilli with a sprinkle of grated cheese or add to cottage or shepherd’s pie then grill or bake until golden and melted.
- For a delicious weekend brunch for all the family, top toasted bagels or muffins with lean grilled bacon, baby spinach or tomatoes and cheese. Place under a hot grill until the cheese melts.
- Sprinkle grated cheese into salads.
- Use grated cheese as a filling for paninis, wraps, bagels, sandwiches or pittas, or use as a topping for jacket potatoes.
- Liven up grilled or baked chicken with a cheese and tomato filling. Before cooking, slice a chicken breast open lengthways and fill with a little grated cheese, a few fresh or sun-dried tomatoes or a spoonful of pesto and mixed herbs then grill or oven bake until cooked through.
- Add grated cheese to scrambled eggs or omelettes to give them a delicious cheesy taste.
YOGURT
- Make fruit smoothies or a smoothie bowl for breakfast using yogurt and fresh or frozen fruit such as bananas, mango or strawberries. Place all the ingredients in a blender, whiz for a few seconds and serve.
- Top fresh fruit salad with low-fat natural or fruit yogurt
- Simply enjoy a pot of low-fat fruit yogurt or fromage frais as a snack
- Make your own tzatziki from low-fat natural yogurt with chopped cucumber, crushed garlic to taste, a little lemon juice and black pepper. Serve with warm wholemeal pitta bread or vegetable crudités. It also makes a delicious topping for jacket potatoes or is a good side dish to go with meat or vegetable skewers.
- Create a creamy salad dressing by mixing fat-free plain yogurt with lemon juice and honey.
- Blend plain, unsweetened yogurt with mashed avocado and lemon juice for a delicious, creamy dip. Add chilli and garlic if you like.
- Serve cubes of mango or melon, apple slices, satsuma segments or strawberries with a bowl of plain, unsweetened yogurt for dipping into. For older children, thread the fruit onto skewers to make kebabs.
