Since I was pregnant with my firstborn, I knew my kids would only have organic milk from the time they made the switch. There were too many studies out relating the antibiotics and hormones given to cows to the rapid growth of cancer, attention-disorders, and early puberty in today’s children.

Not only did I know that I would be sure to provide organic foods and milk, but I would try to provide as much DHA in their diet (and mine) as possible. DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid proven to support brain, heart and eye function. (You can read more about that here.)

Rewind back to the 1980′s and 90′s, my childhood. Chocolate milk was a favorite drink at snack times and after dinner. We stirred chocolate syrup into our plain white milk. And, if we were especially lucky, mom bought the chocolate milk in a carton! It was rich, thick, and not organic.

Of course I want to share the things I loved as a kid with my children. What I don’t want to share with my children is the bad part of those “wonderful” things I loved.

Chocolate milk is not a common item in our refrigerator, but Horizon Organic Milk is. So, you can imagine the excitement of my 8yo when she opened the fridge door to find Horizon Organic Chocolate Milk staring back at her. I poured a glass for each of us, as I explained we were testing it for my blog readers. Even the hub got in on the taste test.

We all agreed that this was really good, really light chocolate milk. You know that thick coating it can leave? Well the Horizon Chocolate Milk did not leave any of that, nor did it leave a tummyache from being overly rich. We all (except the baby) enjoyed every last drop.

How brilliant is Horizon for providing chocolate milk that is organic, but also has DHA? It certainly takes the guilt out of providing this little treat. Although chocolate milk is not a regularly occurring drink option in our home, I can say we’ll be buying Horizon Organic Chocolate Milk from now on when we do buy it.

Hurried Homemaker was not paid for this post. We were provided with coupons to purchase this product, but this is no way affects our opinion of this product/company.

Last night I grilled a flank steak to serve over salad. I was in an Asian-mood, but could not find a recipe that I really liked for a good salad dressing. I made this one up and it turned out delicious! (Use the Cuisinart I mentioned here to make it really easy!)

Note: I usually keep pickled and powdered ginger on hand since I do not buy fresh every week.

I may have mentioned before that I asolutely LOVE my Epicurious iPhone app. I generally pick 1-5 new recipes to try each week, make a shopping list in the app, and go. We have enjoyed almost every single recipe we have tried. I would really like to share one from this week that is now ranking in the ever-growing “top 10″.

The recipe below is from Epicurious (Bon Apetit|March 2010)

That’s right! $8 fed our family of 4, with leftovers … and it was delicious, even healthy.

Purchased:
$3.99 rotisserie chicken (on sale)
$0.99 2 packet saffron rice
$2.99 organic romaine lettuce

In pantry:
BBQ sauce
croutons
salad dressing

Total = $7.97 (plus tax)

The meal is simple. Cook the saffron rice according to directions. Pull apart chicken (remove skin) and warm with BBQ sauce over it. Serve spoonful of BBQ chicken over rice. Make simple salad.

Voilà! A simple, delicious dinner that takes about 20 minutes and $8 to make.

Enjoy!

Whether you cook a lot or not, couldn’t you use a few things in the kitchen to help move dinner along? Here are 3 gadgets that I couldn’t live without in my kitchen:

	A mandolin slicer, like this one by OXO, runs about $70. But let me tell you it is worth every penny. This perfect little gadget helps get those even slices of everything from cheese to eggplant. Use this little guy for the perfect onion rings or thin slices of veggies for lasagna. You’ll never go back to the cutting board and knife again!
	The Cuisinart hand blender is a tool that I didn’t think I needed, until I had one. There are 3 attachments: a blender, a chopper, and a whisk. I admittedly never use the whisk because I prefer to whisk by hand. But the other 2 attachments make the $60 price tag worth it! The blender attachment is perfect for sauces, dressings, and milkshakes. And I couldn’t make homemade salsa or guacamole without the chopper attachment!
	And who doesn’t already own a crock pot? Most people probably have one, but rarely use it. I have owned one since I got married, but must admit that I never really used it until about a year ago. I figured out some great recipes that I could use it for and now I try lots of new ideas out too. I use my crock pot almost once a week now! I will be sharing some great crock pot recipes for you to try.

Are there some kitchen tools/gadgets that you can’t live without? Which ones?