I have been a skim milk drinker since the age of 9 months. My mom likes to tell this story of how I was allergic to formula as a baby, so the doctor switched me to whole milk. Well, then she says I had gotten so fat by the time I was nine months old that they switched me to skim milk and I've been drinking it ever since. I know - cow's milk for an infant?! Most of you probably know that here in the 21st century, the rule of pediatric thumb is once a kid hits a year old, they can have cow's milk either of the whole or 2% variety because they need fat for brain development.

Fast forward to adult hood, where one day, I found myself out of skim so I innocently reached for the 2% and ... oh my gosh! It's thick, creamy and delicious. Skim milk really is colored water! I tried to go back, erasing from my mind the creamy goodness of milk with fat, but I just couldn't do it. So for the past few years, I've been a 2% girl but I always feel a little guilty about the 40 extra calories and 5 grams of artery clogging fat I'm consuming with each cup. This is why when on a recent trip to Publix, the following carton immediately jumped out at me: Fat Free Milk with the taste of 2% Milk from a carton called Simply Smart and manufactured by Hood. The website says they use a process called ultra-filtration which removes some of the liquid that makes fat free milk look and taste watery.

I let the milk chill in the fridge for like an hour and then poured myself a big glass. It definitely looks like 2% milk - no blue tinge at all and it looks thicker as it's poured. And, drum roll please ... it really does tastes like 2% milk! It's creamy and yummy and I honestly couldn't tell any difference at all.

Besides tasting like 2% milk, Simply Smart Fat Free Milk also provides all the same nutritional value of skim milk: 90 calories a cup, no fat, 10 grams of protein and 13 grams of total carbohydrate which includes 12 grams of sugar and no fiber. There is also 35% of the RDA for calcium, 25% for vitamin D and 10% vitamin A.

I paid $2.89 for a half gallon (it was actually $3.89 but there was a coupon machine dispensing $1 off coupons). Like most dairy companies these days, Hood has taken the cue to only purchase milk produced with no artificial growth hormones. Price wise, especially with my coupon, I think this was more than worth it. I will, without a doubt, be purchasing this product again. Faux 2% milk - what will they think of next?!

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