After my 2^nd child was born I decided that my family needed to become healthier.  This meant gradual changes on a few levels.   In addition to trying to go “green” around the house by replacing light bulbs with energy saving ones, recycling and using eco-friendly cleaning products, we made changes to our health, like deciding to exercise more and drink more milk.

The decision to incorporate more milk into our diet came after my husband and I took a series of healthy living classes. The classes were taught by very well-informed nutritionists, so I was very eager to learn from them. They were really a launching pad for my drive to serve more nutritious and healthy meals to my family, but they also inspired me to rework many of my mom's traditional Mexican recipes into healthier ones. One of our classes was focused solely on quick and easy ways to keep our families healthy.  I was really surprised to learn that young children should really only drink milk or water, no juice.   When I learned more about the lack of nutrients and high amounts of sugars found in juice we made the decision to only give our children milk and water.  I have 4 kids under the age of 8, so organic milk is a staple in our house.  We do allow them to have orange juice and the occasional glass of organic 100% fruit juice, but we try to focus on giving them organic milk at each meal and at snack time.

I found it really refreshing that even cutting edge healthy living classes recommended milk for keeping kids healthy.  The funny thing is that one day I mentioned to my mom about the classes I was taking and their recommendation to give kids only milk and water.  She laughed and said it doesn’t take a genius to know this fact!   I am glad that we are such big milk family, especially considering that my kids LOVE it!

Actually, the holidays are a great way to incorporate more milk into your child’s diet.   Think about all the junk that our families eat this time of year. It seems like between Halloween and Christmas so many unhealthy items can easily pile into our homes.   Instead of another serving of something unhealthy on our plate or your child’s plate, serve a glass milk.  Try making milk based holiday recipes that will provide nutritional value to your family, like arroz con leche made with brown rice. Sprinkle a little cinnamon on top and it's surely to be a favorite!

Milk contains so many more good for you nutrients than another cookie, slice of pie or piece candy can provide.   Milk will give you added calcium, which in turn helps give you strong bones, teeth, nails and hair.   Milk always helps me start day off on the right foot too, giving me that perfect boost of energy and at night a warm glass of milk helps me to relax and wind down from a busy day.  My favorite time to have a glass of milk is actually after a great workout, especially after a long run!  Did you know that after a workout muscle tends to break down and that the protein found in milk is a great tool to help your muscles rebuild after physical activity?  Funny, I actually crave my glass of milk on my runs!

To learn more about the benefits of milk Link to The Master of the Glass Half Full on Facebook and on Twitter.

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor’s Board and Latina Mom Bloggers.

One of my favorite things to do when the weather is chilly outside is to make hot cocoa for myself and my kids.   We make it with milk, of course!  We sit at the kitchen counter and sip our hot chocolate, usually not much is said because we are all enjoying our drink.  Sometimes we take our hot chocolate and drink it outside in the backyard.  The kids climb into the play structure and drink it up there while I sit on the patio and watch them.  Really, it seems like for a little while as we enjoy our drinks that things are calm and quiet.  With four small kids in our home, it tends to be a bit noisy around here! I don’t know if drinking hot chocolate with their family will become part of my children’s favorite childhood moments, but they do bring me a little peace and quiet!

However, I think that great childhood memories can come from very simple moments.  One of my favorite memories from my childhood is centered around milk and takes place in México, in the very small town where my parents were born. My parents made sure that we visited as often as we could, so we took many road trips in my childhood from our home in Chicago to this small town in México. I loved seeing all of my relatives, but my favorite person to visit was my grandma, mi abuelita.  She is pictured in this photo, the woman on the left side in the blue turtleneck, with of my favorite tías on the right.

I used to sit on mi abuelita’s porch with a cup of warm milk in my hands, in the late evening, and she would have her cup of coffee (with a lot of milk) – un café con leche.   She would sip her coffee and I would drink my warm milk. Sometimes mi mama would add a dash of canela to my warm milk – yum!  There were many evenings when we had the best conversations and others when we just sat, not talking too much, just enjoying our warm drinks.

As I got older I graduated from my glass of warm milk to a cup of coffee, like mi abuelita - this was a big deal!  As she aged, our those conversations moved into longer periods of silence.  To this day if I have warm milk or a café con leche the way mi abuelita made it, I remember those evenings.  I miss her.  I wish that I could have seen her more often and enjoyed those evenings even more. Nothing really remarkable happened during those moments with her on her porch, but I get incredibly nostalgic when I think about them...simple moments, warm memories.  Just like the ones I have now with my kids and our hot cocoa breaks...

It's probably the Thanksgiving season, but I am feeling pretty grateful for so much goodness in my life, past and present.

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor’s Board and Latina Mom Bloggers.  You can learn more about this campaign with The Master of the Glass Half Full on Facebook or follow El Maestro on Twitter.

For the past few weeks we have been sharing the #positivismo campaign. It’s been fun to blog about why we love milk as part of a healthy lifestyle….AND we’ve been continuously motivated by the Master of the Glass Half Full. His daily dose of wit and positivity makes us laugh and inspires us to find happiness in little things. The Latina Mom Bloggers who are part of this campaign have also inspired me. They are a group of very talented Latinas! So please join us me, the Latina Mom Bloggers, the Positivity Ambassadors and The Master of the Glass Half Full for a Twitter Party on November 16th from 9-10:30 pm ET (6-7:30 pm PT).

Porque? The conversation and PRIZES of course! The discussion will focus on how to incorporate milk into your family’s healthy diet, tips for leading a more positive life AND the Master of the Glass Half Full will be there with his words of wisdom! I would love to hear from you too! How have you incorporated milk into your family’s healthy diet? What are your favorite milk based recipes? With the holidays just around the corner, I hope to learn about some cool new recipes too!

WHEN: Wednesday, November 16th, 2011, at 6-7:30 pm PT or 9-10:30 pm EST

WHERE: Twitter hashtag #Positivismo

FOLLOW: @vidacoco (that’s me), @maestropositivo a.k.a. El Maestro del Vaso Medio Lleno (The Master of the Glass Half Full), @SassyScorpYM, @Eva_Smith, @michellerivera5, @daytrippingmom, @unknownmami, @shesnachomama, @darielacruz, @nibblesnfeasts, @yvonneinla, @spousesprite, @presleyspantry, @colombianaenCA, @mamanoticias, @LatinaMomBlogs, @JollyMom, @Eva_Smith

RSVP: You must RSVP at LatinaMomBloggers.com. Click HERE to RSVP. Gracias!

PRIZES: And, yes, the prizes, check them out! Which one would you like?

• Oster Classic Beehive Blender with a Six Month’s Supply of Milk
• Two (2) Six Month’s Supply of Milk
• Tree of Life Yoga Kit with a Six Month’s Supply of Milk
• NOOKColor & skin with a Six Month’s Supply of Milk

OFFICIAL RULES: Make sure to read the Official Rules at Latina Mom Bloggers.

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor’s Board and Latina Mom Bloggers.

I look forward to you joining us on November 16^th!

“La leche, corre!” That’s what my mom used to say to me when we heard the milk man was making his way down the street in our small town in Mexico. I grew up in Chicago, but many summer vacations were spent in El Tepozan, the small town where my parents were born. This town had a few tiny store-front grocery stores that carried the basic necessities, but once a week the milkman would drive through town – we knew he was around because his truck played this certain music and he'd announce his presence on his loudspeaker.  When we would hear him my mom would make me rush outside the house, so we could signal him to stop. My mom would make sure that we would stock up on milk!

This memory always make me smile…living in Chicago and getting your milk at the grocery store just didn’t seem as cool as this method, waving down the milkman in Mexico! Years later, when I lived in the college dorms, when my parents would drop by for a visit, my mom would always bring me milk in a little cooler, for me to keep in the mini-fridge in my dorm!

So you probably aren’t surprised that milk is a staple in our house! However, this was only the case after my 2^nd child was born and I decided that our family needed to become healthier. After college my milk consumption dropped and I started to drink a lot of juice, and years later, so did my kids. It was when my husband and I took a series of healthy cooking classes that I was really surprised to learn that some of the health choices we had been making until that point were really not that healthy at all. I realized that our kids (and us) were drinking way too much juice – WAY too much! The dietician that we worked with suggested that we replace their juice intake with more water and milk. Ah yes, milk!  

Here are my two oldest enjoying a glass of milk after school - check out the milk mustaches!

My kids enjoy milk by itself, but it's so easy to incorporate it into their daily diets.  Some of my family's favorite ways to do so are below:

• Making smoothies with milk and lots of fruit!
• Having whole grain pancakes, like those from kamut, are so much better when made with milk!
• The kids love making homemade pudding with milk.
• Try adding low-fat milk instead of water to oatmeal and hot cereal.
• Mac and cheese with low-fat cheese, a little milk and veggies like cauliflower and broccoli is a big hit around here.

To learn more about the benefits of milk Link to The Master of the Glass Half Full on Facebook and on Twitter. And remember to vote for the the“Little Masters” Facebook Photo Contest.  Vote HERE.

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor’s Board and Latina Mom Bloggers.

I love milk and I am certain I know why. Yes, it tastes good and it has many health benefits for myself and my family, but I’m convinced that my love of milk comes from spending many summers in México as a child and many winters in Chicago.

I lived in México until I was 5 years old and then went back to visit almost every summer until I was an adult. One of the most vivid memoires from my time trips was watching my aunt milk the family cows. She would wash her hands, grab her red bucket from the kitchen counter and always ask me if I wanted to go with her. I really enjoyed going with her to milk the cows. I liked this quite time with her and I felt great to be picked for such an important chore in the house. Milking the cows seemed to take forever and I swear my aunt would sweat a little bit - it was hard work after all! When we were done, we would head back to her kitchen. The moment the milk made its way into the house we had an instant party. Family members seemed to just pop into the kitchen for a glass! My tia would get to work right away – the milk usually ended up in a rice pudding that afternoon or in a delicious gelatina, yum! In the evenings the adults poured it liberally into their café con leche, of course.

Back in Chicago, my early memories of milk take place on cold Chicago evenings. I grew up with 4 kids in a small Southside apartment and I’m certain that we contributed significantly to the local economy with the amount of milk that our family consumed. I can recall so many evenings when the snow was on the ground and the temperature outside was bone chilling. Then my mamí would announce “aye, la leche!” when we were almost or completely out of milk and that was REALLY bad in our home. My brother always had cereal before going bed and my father needed it for his oatmeal first thing in the morning. My mamí would get dressed and walk to the local market in that bitter cold, just for milk. Many times I went with her. When I run out to the grocery store at 10:30 p.m. so that my kids won’t wake up to a milkless house I always think of my mamí and her late night milk runs, but I live in sunny southern California, thank goodness!

In college I had a small fridge in my dorm room – always with a small milk container, of course! Fast forward many years to my life now. I am mother to 4 young kids. In our home, milk is a staple part of our diet. For the most part, my kids only drink milk and water.

Given my appreciation for milk, I am very proud to announce my role as Positivity Ambassador. I have teamed up with the California Milk Processors Board and some amazing Latina Mom Bloggers to share with you the many benefits of making milk a part of a healthy lifestyle. Between now and Christmas I’ll be doing a series of posts on milk’s benefits, easy tips on incorporating milk into our busy lives and my favorite milk based recipes.  I will be sharing this information with you with help of the campaign’s fun (and fictional) mascot, The Master of the Glass Half Full, aka “El Maestro Del Vaso Medio Lleno.” Check out this video of The Master at work - he certainly has a passion for milk!

He is basically the world’s most passionate advocate for milk, so I like him already, but it’s his positive attitude and outlook on life that I truly love. No matter how much he drinks or pours, the Master’s glass of milk is always half full – always! What a great philosophy to live by, to see the positive in all things (I could use help in this area!).

To learn more about The Master of the Glass Half Full, follow his updates on Facebook and on Twitter.

Disclosure: This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor’s Board and Latina Mom Bloggers.