Last week when Carson was sick, the only thing I could get him to drink was milk with chocolate malt Ovaltine. It’s yummy deliciousness kept my boy nourished with it’s vitamins! and minerals!
Now that he is well, he spends hours each day demanding “more Ovaltine, please” which sadly is spoken at ear piercing volumes and without the “please” part. To do list for tomorrow: Begin weaning process from Ovaltine.
With all this Ovaltine consumption happening in our home, Tate and I got to talking about drinking it as a kid. Actually, I drank it as a kid, but Tate swears that he did not ever have Ovaltine until just last week when I bought it for Carson. Let me repeat, he did not ever have Ovaltine until JUST LAST WEEK. Just. Last. Week.
I informed Tate that this was just not possible. Not having Ovaltine as a child is downright blasphemous and dare I say it, un-American. I did have the utmost respect for my Mother-in-law prior to learning this information, but now I am starting to wonder just what kind of a Mother deprives their child of the rich chocolately goodness that is Ovaltine. Yes it has lots of sugar, I know, but it also has vitamins! and minerals! And it’s delicious.
Help Tate and I settle our dispute. EVERYONE has had Ovaltine, am I right? Please tell me that you’ve had it and that you’ve given it to your children. Also, send any Ovaltine weaning tips my way.
Hate to side with Tate, but I’d never even heard of it until A Christmas Story. I made my mother buy it, tried it once, declared it disgusting, and have never had it again.
Warrior said it was totally disgusting the one time he tried it. But he’s French, from the land of NesQuik (formerly known as Quik). Came here when he was six.
Couldn’t believe my mom gave us that stuff, and that we liked it.
I have to side with you on this one — AMERICANS drink Ovaltine. LOL
We used to sneak it and eat it dry off a spoon. Now that’s disgusting.
My mom did the whole Hershey’s chocolate syrup into the milk thing. My husband grew up on Nesquik. We have both tried the other’s chocolate milk, but refuse to switch over. But let’s just pretend that I’ve had Ovaltine…I mean my god, who hasn’t?! (Just cuz I like to play the devil’s advocate when it comes to husbands)
I think I need to start packing for Canada… I have *never* had Ovaltine in my entire life.
Never had it–only a vague idea of what it is. But you convinced me–I’ll get some and try it.
As for weaning…I’m thinking of trying to wean my kid from nursing by giving him marshmallows, or whatever the hell else he wants, instead. Would that be bad?
For probably the first time in Tate’s life…he isn’t yankin’ your chain. I too don’t remember ever having Ovaltine growing up. The Barbarella would buy the powder Nesquick stuff. I feel like my childhood is forever tarnished since I missed out on such goodness!
I hate to say it but I’m a Nesquik fan.
I never had it either1 I knew what it was, but my mother never bought it. I think I remember commercials for it…
I’ve never had it, and neither has my son. Are we weird? HAHAH!
As far as I can remember, I have never had ovaltine. I think my mom actually made us fear it. I thought that of yogurt as well, which turned out to be true. So yeah, no ovaltine for I.
I never had it until I was out of the house… BUT I have had it. My kids haven’t yet had it. I was raised on Nesquick!
I’m with Football Fanatic–whenever I hear “Ovaltine” all I can think of is The Christmas Story and his super secret decoder ring.
Never had it. Neither have my boyz.
Maybe it’s a regional thing??
Well we got the Ovaltine because there was no way IN HELL we were gonna get the sugarey goodness that is Nesquik.
But now that Nesquik is reformulated? Ugh. May have to go back to Ovaltine
Regional? I don’t know — Jennifer is from the Midwest (as far as I know) and I’m Cali born & raised.
Maybe it’s a moms against unfortified sugar thing?
Sorry to disappoint you… but I don’t believe I’ve ever had Ovaltine either. Heard all the commercials though…
We like Swiss Miss in our house!
Oh, and my mom used to really make chocolate milk with cocoa powder, milk, and sugar!
No ovaltine here, but Tate doesn’t read this, right? Because if he doesn’t, go ahead and tell him I was fed that sh*t in a bottle. =)
We had it in the house, but once the Nesquick showed up it sat on the shelf, alone. I think I considered it kind of weird and medicinal, so instead I chose the Nesquick.
Which I ate straight from the can by the spoonful when my mother wasn’t looking, by the way, but come on, we didn’t even have sugar cereal, it was the only junk food I ever got. If we didn’t have the Nesquick, I am sure I would have been all over the Ovaltine.
We were a Quik household and still are. I’ve–wait for it–never even tasted Ovaltine. But I want to side with YOU. So NOW what?
I’ve never had it. We occasionally got Quik as a treat though.
I’ve never had it. Ever. We’ve had Quik as kids but that’s it…never even heard of Ovaltine until I was an adult in college when a friend drank it.
Never had Ovaltine until I was ~20 and went through a malted milkshake obsession (yummy! I still like it!). Grew up on Hershey’s choco syrup (from the can!), but only on vacation.
Uh oh, you’re losing this battle fast.
I didn’t know what Ovaltine was until I was in my teens. But then again, I probably don’t count cos I’m not American. I was brought up on Milo.
i, too have never had ovaltine, and am glad to be in the ranks of all these commenters. (:
regional? maybe- i’m from the south (tho’ my ‘rents from the north— no MID here)
best i remember, i did a lot of the nesquik also… vitamins? minerals??? my mom didn’t care bout that crap!!!
i know there were times we also did the syrup stuff in milk.
yeah. healthy household mine was.
i do remember the tagline you used, though on the commercial- “more ovaltine, please” so i guess even tho i remember the commercials, they had NO effect on me/my mom.
I love Ovaltine! We used to put it on vanilla ice cream when I was a kid and it was the best. When my kids were younger, I made a pitcher of it at a time because they drank so much of it.
I’ve never had Ovaltine. We used to do NesQuik. And that’s what my son has tried. Actually my husband gave him some a few weeks ago, and we quickly figured out that he’d drink more milk that way (he wasn’t getting much before). So now once in a while, he gets some mixed in his milk. I told my pediatrician that last week, and she thought that was a good idea to get him to drink more milk. See! It’s pediatrician approved.
Yes we have had the dreaded Ovaltine… My 9 year old was bribed to use a sippy cup with the rich chocolately goodness. Then we had to bribe her to use a cup with Pokemon. It’s an evil spiral, I tell you.
Nearly 25 years old. Never had it. Though I’m beginning my boycott of Nestle, and thus will be replacing Quick with Ovaltine in my Famous Family Hot Cocoa Recipe.
Speaking of which, keep us posted on your weaning process… Q has discovered the joy that is Mama McGlynn’s Famous Hot Cocoa and BEGS for it several times a day.
I’ll be the last to say…that I too have never had Ovaltine. I think my mother thought that anything that makes milk chocolatey is the work of the devil. We were barely lucky to get Hersheys syrup.
Hello, Auburn Gal here, crawling out from my bloggy rock to say…
nope. no Ovaltine for me. Nor for the Auburn kiddos yet either.
Stinkerbell likes some “strongbones” in her milk from time to time. And lemmetellya, it took me WEEKS to figure out that “strongbones” was actually Nesquick. It helped when she made me watch the commercial (by yanking me by the hand to the tv, saying “seeee! strongbones!”). My child has a bright future in advertising – writing ads or simply memorizing, either way, it’s a bright future!
If it will help you feel better, I’ll buy some Ovaltine instead of “strongbones” next time.
Even though I hang up on my husband in order to talk to you, I have to say I can’t support ya on this one.
I’ve never had Ovaltine. Never. As a kid, my mom gave me Quik instead. With the rabbit. She just loaded me full of sugars and thought, fuck the vitamins.
The boys have never had it either.
I’m so ashamed to have lost your respect.
Nope, never had it. I didn’t even know they still made it. I’ve only ever seen it on a christmas story.
We had Quik growing up, and now I use Hershey’s chocolate. But thanks, I might go buy some Quik.
And my husband is a freak, because he doesn’t like chocolate milk, and my children seem to be following him to freakdom.
Sorry Jenn. I’m not even sure what it is. Then again I’m not American, so maybe I have an excuse?
Errr–no, we never had it growing up. I’m not sure if I’ve ever had it, come to think of it. Maybe I’ll look for it when I’m at the grocery store!
My mom never gave us Ovaltine. Or Kool Aid, Mac ‘n Cheese, Spaghetti-O’s, or Tang! My husband pointed out that these fake food items add to our American collective experience, so I tried them all. There must be something about childhood memories and comfort food…as an adult I found all to be thoroughly disgusting
Trying to wean my preschooler off his only-when-sick diet of chocolate milk (made with Hershey’s syrup of course), oyster crackers, and M&M’s. He’s perfected the art of the fake cough.
No ovaltine here! Heck I still have never tried it. Neither has Bailey. hummm is that wrong I grew up a Nesquik or Hershey’s kid. who needs the good stuff like vitamins in your chocolate!
I’ve never had it either. I’m not entirely sure what it is, but it doesn’t sound appealing and the stupid commericials don’t help its cause any.
Never had it – not even sure you can buy it in Canada. Does it really have vitamins and minerals??
I too had not tasted the chocolaty goodness that is Ovaltine until I reached college and one of my roommates lived and breathed the stuff. She introduced me to it and I love it so much, I can’t have it in the house because I’m afraid I would drink it morning, noon and night.
My mother is English though. Could be that she never had it as a child either. She had, however, heard of the disgusting muck known as Malt-O-Meal. She served it up to my brother and I and neither one of us would touch the stuff. She insisted that we stay at the table until it was gone. We refused. She served it for lunch that day, dinner that night and breakfast the next morning. My father finally intervened and gave us bologna sandwiches and told my mother to toss the Malt-O-Meal. I don’t know why I suddenly thought of that. Perhaps the malt reminded me.
Ummmm, no Ovaltine here….seriously, I think it’s the name that has always turned me off. The closest thing we got to chocolate mils was the occasional squirt of Hershey’s syrup in our white milk…..Maybe I’m missing out. For some reason the name ovaltine jsut sounds like milk that smells and tastes like vitamins. I’ll have to give it a try….
Jess in Nebraska
My mom bought Instant Breakfast. And back then one of the flavors was EGGNOG!!!
My boys beg for Ovaltine and get it once in a blue moon, but mainly I stick to Instant Breakfast because that’s what my mom did and because it prevents them from shoveling 10 spoonfuls into a glass of milk.
Weaning tip: Don’t buy it! I’m a cold turkey sort of gal.
Finally someone to your rescue! Yes, I had Ovaltine as a kid. I remember my mom making hot chocolate with it. And I tried using Ovaltine with S.B. to get him to drink more milk (also tried Nesquik and the Hershey’s syrups). None of it has worked and I’ve stopped pushing it b/c I think it affects his behavior negatively anyway. Luckily the kid LOVES cheese and will now eat yogurt.
I am going to have to side with Tate as well. I’ve heard if it, but I’ve never drank Ovaltine – not even a sip.
I have never had ovaltine, although I remember the commercials from my childhood: More Ovaltine, please!
We were a Quik family. I don’t think I’d had (or even knew they still made) Ovaltine until I was a young adult. And I didn’t like it. Guess I don’t like vitamins with my sugar.
Just so you all know,i think all yoiu Ovaltine naysayers need to get your passports in order!!!
Actually, I’m shocked that I am in the minority here. Hanging my head in embarrassment.
Nope. Never tried it, not gonna.
I’m a Nesquick chick !
Gavin had Ovaltine as a child. I never tried it until high school (when I met Gav). He seduced me with the sweet malty-ness of it. But that’s another story. Ha ha.
In my house, it was Quik (without the added stuff they put in now).
As for weaning Carson, decrease the amount of Ovaltine you put in the milk until there is no ovaltine left.
Never had it. I just asked my husband if he had tried it and he has. When asked, he described it as “slimy chocolate milk.” Yeah. I’ll stick with my Nesquick, thankyouverymuch.
Nope. Never. Ever. and the commercials really bug me, so It’s not no my list of “must tries” for anytime soon!
I always wanted it, but never got it. My mommy was mean. Sorry.
We put about two drops of chocolate syrup in my nieces milk. Just enough to make it that brownish tint. It’s the only way she’ll drink it.
Nope, never had it, and no desire to.
The pro-Ovaltine peeps can spout about the vitamins, but the number one ingredient in Ovaltine is sugar. Not exactly a health food.