Friday, August 14, 2009

How Much Breastmilk Does It Take To Make A Pound Of Cheese?

It all started because my Mom and I went to the movie today. I'd planned and had been very much looking forward to this outing since the middle of last week and it was even better than I'd anticipated! We saw Julie & Julia which I found truly delightful! As a general rule, I do not see most chick flicks, but though there were only two men in the whole theatre today, I do not place this movie wholly in that category. I really, really liked it and where many movies I choose leave me feeling sad or contemplative or confused this one just left me feeling pleasant and happy. I realized that this was the first time in my whole life I've ever gone to a movie just me and my mom. So that was great. Also great was the fact that I got a large popcorn (not a bag either...an actual cardboard bucket) all to myself and an Icee. I cannot tell you the last time I had popcorn at a movie...but I can tell you the last time I had an Icee at one, because it was the only time I've ever had an Icee at a movie...and it was at the old dollar cinema when we first moved here. I also snuck in some Craisinets. Popcorn, Icee, Craisinets...a trifecta of happy snacking. :) Thank. You. Mom.
ANYWAY- I was at the movie through a feeding, so Josh gave Frazier a bottle. He was asleep when I got home so, still happy from my outing, I peruse the grocery circulars and reorganize my coupons and wash some bottles. And Frazier was still asleep. Well, having missed a nursing session, I was uncomfortably, um, full. Fearing he would wake any moment hungry, I was hesitant to pump. I didn't want to wake him, but something had to be done so I decide to google some info on how quickly breastmilk replenishes itself. There's always been some there when he wanted to nurse, but this is about all I knew. Turns out it depends and I went ahead and pumped anyway. He's still asleep. We'll see when he gets up what's there...and if there isn't enough I'll just give him one of the bottles I pumped.
But I said all that to say...on the search page for "how quickly does breastmilk replenish" was the question "How much breastmilk does it take to make a pound of cheese?" Tell me this doesn't intrigue you. So I click on it. And the search escalated from there. I found quite a bit of (sketchy) information on a place in France called Le Petit Singly which supposedly makes cheese out of human breastmilk. I could neither confirm nor dispel this story in the limited time I spent researching...nor will I attempt to do so. Then that search led to me reading articles about PETA's suggestion that Ben and Jerry's use human milk in their ice cream...which I'd heard about before, but still found amusing to research. See also this article at treehugger. While I had marvelled at the fact that breastmilk was, in color and consistency at least, pretty much just like cow's milk (why this intrigues me, I do not know) making other dairy products out of it had never occurred to me. And I pride myself on being one who thinks outside the box. :( So I decided to share.
The end.

*Oh- and as to how much breastmilk it would take to make a pound of cheese? The answer I found was-- if you assume it would be much like making cheese from goat's milk...it'd take close to a gallon. FYI.

3 comments:

  1. I remember wondering if I took some breast milk and put it in a little container and shook it could I make butter like my sister's kindergarteners...but that sorta creeped me out for some reason. I would probably be allergic to that, too. What is the deal with the Ben and Jerry reports....strange.

    Hey, I enjoyed the movie, too. Glad you were able to see it on the big screen and with your Mom.

    I remember watching Julia on PBS and she dropped a meatloaf and just picked it up and threw it in the pan. She was just sorta clunky in the kitchen compared with Food Channel divas of today, but you just knew whatever she made would be great. (I want some of that "booff".) When I came home I had the urge to put on my pearls.

    (....wish I could have been a fly on the wall watching Josh being Super Daddy.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have a friend who would make yogurt for her kids out of her breastmilk once they started on solids! Not a bad idea, they get probiotics and good milk!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are too funny...this was very interesting and enlightening! Thanks! And, I'm very intrigued by the yogurt comment above, ha.

    ReplyDelete