Gift Review: Hot Dots Jr.

Another great gift my daughter received for Christmas was the Hot Dots Jr. Card and Pen set.  I ordered them from Toys to Grown On Website.  I got her the complete set, with 4 sets of cards, and she absolutely loves them.  The number and alphabet cards are still a bit hard for her, (recommended for ages 3-7), but she has mastered the shapes and colors.

You simply read the directions on the card, find the answer and press the corresponding black circle with the dog pen.  The dog responds by telling you if you are correct or incorrect in various ways (barking, "that's great", vibrating). They now also make other pens! It's really amazing how the cards work.

They are fun, a great "calm down" activity, and educational! I hope to get her some of the other sets of cards as she gets older.  These would also be great for the classroom (if I decide to go back there one day :) )

Hot Dots cards are made by Educational Insights.  They make some really great educational games and toys great for home and the classroom! Check out their website for other great products!

Recipe of the week: Pan-Roasted Chicken with Lemon-garlic green beans

I actually didn't find this one on Pinterest...but it showed up there a few days after I did a google search for it! I had some green beans to use up and didn't want to make my usual olive oil and garlic green beans so I decided to look for something else.  I used this recipe from Real Simple, with a few modifications based on the reviews.

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 lemons, 1 thinly sliced, 1 juiced (I only used one lemon)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 pound trimmed green beans
• 8 small red potatoes, quartered
• 4 chicken breasts (bones left in, with skin, about 3 1/4 pounds) (I used 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cause that was what I had)
• 
  
•  

Check out the link above for what to do with these things! I also added a little Rosemary to mine cause I like that with my potatoes! But after very little work, this is how it turned out! 

 I thought it was a bit to lemony, but my husband liked it.  I would probably just use a little lemon juice in the mix to toss the green beans and chicken and not put the lemons on the bottom of the pan.  The green beans also got a little soggy from all the juice.  But overall, easy to make, and pretty good.