cutting down on cow's milk

So far, I seem to be meeting my 6 cup a day goal for water!
Our family has always consumed large amounts of dairy every day. While I don't think that we will or even should cut it out entirely, I would definitely like to cut down.
We used to buy about 4 bags (equal to approx. 4 gallons) of milk each week! I probably drank more than anyone else in our family. We have been going through maybe one bag a week now. We have all been drinking more water recently. When I want a glass of milk, I am now making myself drink a glass of water first and then if I still want the milk then I will have some. Usually, I don't end up drinking the milk.
Also, I made some rice milk a few days ago and the kids seem to like it, especially Ethan. It is much cheaper than cow's milk and if I started making it with brown rice it would be quite healthy as well. I would highly recommend making your own, if you plan to drink rice milk. Canola oil is one of the first ingredients in commercial rice milk. When you make your own you would obviously eliminate that and you also have control over the other ingredients that go in it. I found a variety of recipes with quite a range over how much rice you should put in. I ended up doing this:

RICE MILK
1 cup cooked rice
4 cups pure water
approx 1 tsp vanilla
approx 1 tbsp brown sugar

Blend together for 1-2 minutes. I have a Vitamix (a high speed blender) and do not need to strain it, but if you have a regular blender you may need to strain it before you drink it.

Another area that really has been helping is eating less cold cereal. We have always eaten cereal for breakfast, so this is a really hard one to get away from. I have found some oatmeal recipes that I have been trying, my favourites are ones that I can prepare the night before, so I don't have to cook anything in the morning! I will add those recipes this week hopefully. When we have oatmeal, we don't need milk. When we have cereal, the boys seem to want rice milk now. So we have cut down to about a quarter of the cow's milk consumption that we used to have!
Now to do something about the cheese and yogurt!

water, water, water

Background: I grew up in a house where water was something you showered in. My dad drank coffee and tea, my mom drank Pepsi and milk, my sister drank Pepsi and I drank milk.
Now: My husband works for Culligan, the water company, so water has quite a bit more of an important role in our lives.

My goal for January is to drink at least 6 cups of water a day. I'm finding it a little easier than I expected. I used to have a hard time getting one glass down.
We always hear that we should drink more water, but why? Here are some reasons:
to prevent Rheumatoid Joint Pain and Arthritis
to prevent a high level of Cholesterol
to prevent Brain Damage
to prevent Osteoporosis
to prevent Cancer
for skin health
to help elimination of body wastes and toxins
to help in maintaining the body Ph balance in order to prevent and cure disease
to lose weight
for eye health
to reduce water retention
to transport of oxygen to cells
to maintain muscle tone
to regulate body temperature
For more detailed info on these benefits click here.

We also only drink water purified through Reverse Osmosis (RO)- we started that long before Perry started working for Culligan (in case you were wondering!) You may be surprised to know that most bottled water(like the ones that say spring water) actually have more contaminants in them than tap water. The purity of water is measured by TDS (Total Dissolved Solids). Pure water comes in under 10ppm, acceptable water under 50ppm, our tap water is about 130ppm and many bottled waters are 200-300+ppm. RO water is pure (under 10ppm), the only purer form is distilled water, but many people feel that it has an odd taste. The other concern that I have with tap water and this includes bathing water is chlorine. We are planning on installing a de-chlorination system in our house very soon.
When Dr. Oz was asked, "Should I use a water filter in my shower?" his response was:
"Drinking water isn't the only water that should be free of toxins. You should also shower and especially bathe with toxin-free H2O. Instead of squirting yourself with Evian, remove chlorine by adding a charcoal filter to your shower or bath. Chlorine - which isn't just found in swimming pools but also in tap water - dries out the hair (as well as the skin). It's especially important if you take 10-minute showers or baths rather than a quick rinse. The problem isn't the straight chorine but what it turns into - stronger toxins called trichloromethanes. These can irritate your skin and eyes, but may also cause other health problems in higher concentrations." He has also strongly warned parents not to bathe their children in chlorinated water. Oh, and I thought a 10 minute shower was a quick rinse (I prefer a good 20 minute shower)!
Lots and lots of healthy pure water is my goal for January.