Be Inventive with Powdered Milk

You don't have to drink it straight to get powdered milk's impressive nutritional benefits.

Atablespoon of nonfat dry milk powder contains 94 milligrams of calcium. That's a third of the calcium contained in 8 ounces of fat-free milk—all for a mere 27 calories!

You can hardly find fault with that, except that powdered milk, when mixed with water, has the consistency (and some say the taste) of flour and water. So think of what you can sneak it in with, suggests Colleen Pierre, R.D.

Pierre promotes stirring a tablespoon of powdered milk into hot cereals prepared with water (like oatmeal or cream of wheat). She also suggests mixing it into hot cocoa or condensed cream soups. You can thicken casseroles with powdered dry milk. And here's the best tip—if you want to appeal to your and your children's sweet tooth, stir a tablespoon or two into homemade dough to pump up the calcium count of cookies.

Nobody will notice, but your skeleton will.