A smoothie, pancake & pot pie for you to L.O.V.E.

pinks & cozy carbs for a Valentine's themed week

Let’s talk about Valentine’s Day…. as parents to a 9 month old, in a pandemic, after having spent almost a year sitting right next to each other, in 30 degree weather… SO romantic! Just missing the bear skin rug. Who feels me?

I’ve got quite the week of recipes for you! Shades of pink, fruits & veggies to keep you healthy and some carbs to keep you cozy! But most importantly, recipes that can double as special enough for you and your lover (roommate, co-puke cleaner, whatever you’re calling each other these days) but also you can give these to your minis. Got friends in the same boat? As always, I love when you share the love with your friends…

What’s up for this week:

1. Beet & Berry Smoothies

2. Lemon & Almond Pancakes

3. Individual Chicken Pot Pies

4. A new appliance obsession, the easiest Vday dessert & a Trader Joes instant dinner 

For breakfast in bed this Sunday, there’s a bright pink smoothie and a Lemon & Almond Pancake recipe. Both recipes have that good-for-you thing going on and they come together quickly. Got babies? Cut the pancakes into little bites and let them eat them while watching Fantasia. I make this smoothie a little thicker, for Dean,  then pour it into these awesome reusable pouches or swirl it into some yogurt. I’ll link to those pouches here. 

And for dinner, the cutest individual chicken pot pies that have lots of vegetables in the filling and use store bought puff pastry and a rotisserie chicken… you can do this! If you’re hell bent on making your own crust, drop me a note in the comments and I’ll give you the rundown on the best homemade crust. Using pre-made puff gives you a few extra seconds to cut out little hearts from the scraps and decorate your pies… <3 Similar to the enchiladas last week, I gave my son a scoop of this filling that I pulsed quick in my mini food processor. Which again, I can't say enough good things about if you have a baby who still can't chew. Keep that little thing on your counter and scoop whatever you're cooking into it for a quick whirl.

Things I’m Loving:

My new Air Fryer. I never thought I’d be writing a love letter to an air fryer. I’m not an extra appliance person. Usually my mantra is “If you can do it on the stove…” I was WRONG. A client sent me a Black & Decker Air Fryer for a recipe development job. The first thing I did was cut up some broccoli, toss it in a little bit of olive oil, salt & garlic powder. Stuck it in there. WOW the crispiest broccoli so fast. Then I cut a slice of sourdough into strips (to dip in soup) gave those the same dressing treatment and stuck them in the air fryer… again! WOW. Finally I did the skin on, bone in chicken thighs that I had marinating in garlic, lemon zest, oregano and salt overnight. It was probably the best chicken thigh I have ever made. Simultaneously juicy and perfectly crispy all over. I was totally blown away. This thing takes up way too much of my very minimal counter space, but I’m in love. I would absolutely love to hear from you all that have an air fryer, what your favorite thing to make in it is and do you want more air fryer recipes… tell me in the comments!

Raspberry Fool. Heavy Cream, Raspberries & Sugar. That’s it!. The simplest dessert! Sprinkle a little sugar over some raspberries and mash them up well with a fork, set that aside. Whip some heavy cream until it’s thick and fluffy (you can do this in a blender fyi). Fold the saucy raspberries into the whipped cream. But don't fold too much so you keep those gorgeous streaks of hot pink. Divide this into ramekins or pretty glasses. Either serve it right away or you can make it 2-3 hours ahead of time. There’s lots of good ideas for toppings here. Crushed up vanilla cookies, more raspberries, chocolate shavings… I purposefully didn't give you a recipe here. Because you’re all GOOD COOKS and you can totally intuit this one. It’s a lot of dairy, but I totally gave Dean a few licks of this one out of my bowl. 

Trader Joes Frozen Japanese Style Fried Rice. QUICKEST DINNER ALERT! I discovered this stuff at the beginning of quarantine and now there’s never a time that a bag can't be found in my freezer. I keep it there for the nights when I absolutely can't deal with cooking but don’t want to spend the money or questionable ingredients involved in take out. Here’s what I do: I chop any vegetable I can find in my fridge (broccoli, mushrooms, carrots etc) into very small pieces. Heat a big skillet, put down some oil and cook the veggies. I push the cooked veggies to the side of the pan, make a hole in the middle and crack two eggs in there, put a dash of soy sauce and scramble them up. Then I pour the bag or half the bag of fried rice in there, cook it up and done. It’s DELICIOUS. If you are a trader joe's shopper you have to add this to your cart. 

In the first newsletter I mentioned that eventually I’ll be making the recipes for paying subscribers only. That’s still my plan. I’m keeping the recipes for everyone for the next few weeks so you can all get a good taste of what you’ll be getting if you decide to subscribe. And to everyone who has subscribed, THANK YOU! The support is awesome and it makes it possible for me to bring you really great content every week! My biggest hope is that something you read here helps you feed your family just that much more easily. Thanks for following along.

XO Olivia

…and now to the good stuff.

Beet & Berries Smoothie

Serves 2

For Baby: You could simply use less water at first, blend until smooth, take a scoop of that out and stir it into some more yogurt. Then proceed on with making your smoothie the right consistency.

• 1 banana

• Big handful of frozen berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)

• 1 small  beet, peeled and thinly sliced

• A few thin slices of ginger

• A scoop of yogurt or canned coconut milk

• A few ice cubes

• A splash of water

Optional add-ins: ground flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, collagen powder, the list goes on…

1. Combine everything in a high speed blender. Blend on high until smooth and creamy

Lemon & Almond Pancakes

Makes 6- ish pancakes 

Mini Mouths: simply cut the finished pancakes into small enough pieces for your baby. 

• 1 cup almond flour

• 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• Pinch of salt

• 2 eggs

• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup, plus more for serving

• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• ½ teaspoon almond extract (no biggie if you don’t have, use vanilla)

• Zest of 1 lemon

• Oil or oil spray for the pan (I use avocado oil spray)

1. Heat a non stick skillet over medium low heat while you make the batter. 

2. In a large bowl, stir together the almond flour, regular flour, baking powder and salt. 

3. Add the eggs, maple syrup, melted butter, almond extract and lemon zest to the bowl. Stir to combine well. If your batter is a little too thick, simply add a tablespoon of water. 

4. Grease your skillet with a little oil and dollop 3 or 4 tablespoons of the batter into the skillet per pancake. Cook on each side for about 1-2 minutes until golden brown. Transfer to a plate and repeat until you’ve used up all your batter.  

Individual Chicken Pot Pies

Makes 4

Do it ahead! The filling can be made up to a day in advance and warmed up a little before filling and baking the pot pies. You can also cut out the pastry lids in advance, line them with parchment paper in between, wrap them in plastic and store in the freezer. 

On the subject of store bought puff pastry: there are a few brands out there. You can buy any brand and it will be fine. Some are 1 big sheet, some are two sheets. Either way, dust with a little flour once it is defrosted, and roll it out just a little bigger than it already is. Then you cut your pieces from there. If you have any questions about different brands, leave it in the comment and I will be more than willing to elaborate for you! 

Mini Mouths: For little babies, you could put a scoop of the finished filling into the mini food processor and pulse that. If your toddler can handle a pot pie in its original form, great! 

• 1 (14-17 ounce) package of store-bought puff pastry

• 1 rotisserie chicken

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (half a stick)

• 2-3 leeks, trimmed, halved, rinsed and sliced (see notes if this is confusing)

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 carrots, peeled and diced into small pieces

• About 3-5 ounces (whatever size the package at your store is) shiitake mushrooms, chopped

• 1 medium sized yukon gold potato, peeled and diced into small cubes

• ¼ cup flour, plus more for rolling

• 1 cup white wine

• 2 cups chicken stock or a combo of chicken stock and water

• ½ cup of heavy cream, milk or creme fraiche

• 1 heaping cup frozen peas

• 1 tablespoon salt, maybe more

• A few sprigs of tarragon, leaves stripped and chopped (this could be replaced with dill or thyme)

• 1 egg, beaten in a bowl

Equipment needed:

• Bowls or Big Mugs or Mini Baking Dishes - most cereal/soup bowls are oven safe. Feel free to mix and match the sizes here depending on who’s eating. The vessel should fit about 2 cups. 

• Rolling pin

• Pastry brush or clean paint brush

1. Take the puff pastry out of the freezer and let it come to room temp on the counter while you prepare the filling. 

2. Heat your oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment or foil. 

3. Shred all the meat off your rotisserie chicken, into small pieces. DO NOT THROW THE BONES AWAY. They make excellent chicken stock. If you do not have the time now, put them in a ziploc bag and keep them in the freezer for when you have time. I like to take the chicken skin and put it with the bones for stock, I think it gets gummy in the pot pie filling. Set the shredded meat aside. *If you need tips on how to make chicken stock ask me in the comments, I love talking about stock. 

4. Heat the butter over medium heat in a dutch oven or a high sided skillet. Once melted add the leeks, carrots and garlic. Sauté, stirring often, for about 5 minutes until everything is soft and starting to caramelize slightly.  Add the mushrooms and the potato, stir and cook everything for another 5 minutes. 

5. Add the flour to the pan and stir coating all the vegetables. Cook, stirring constantly, for  about 3 minutes, just to cook off the raw flour taste a little. 

6. Pour in the wine and scrape any bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken stock and stir until you have a smooth consistency and there are no lumps of flour. Add the peas and salt and simmer the filling for 8-10 minutes, stirring often. You’ll know its ready when the sauce is thickened and the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. If your sauce gets too thick at any point just add a little water. At this point you want to taste the filling for salt. Stir in the chopped tarragon. 

7. Flour a work surface and unfold the puff pastry. Roll it out to just a little bigger than it already is, using flour as necessary. Lay your bowl upside down on the pastry and using a knife, cut around the bowl leaving a 1” overhang. Remove your bowl, lift the pastry circle out and set aside. Continue with all your bowls. You can cut a little heart out of the pastry scraps with scissors if you’d like to decorate your pies. If you’re not quite ready to bake, store the pastry lids in the freezer with a little parchment between them. 

8. Divide the filling amongst the bowls. Brush a little beaten egg on the rim of each bowl- this helps the pastry to stick. Lay a lid over each bowl and crimp the edges as desired. Brush the lid with the beaten egg (add the heart cut out now) and make a slash or two in the middle of the lid with a knife. This is to let steam escape. 

9. Transfer the pot pies to the lined baking sheet and bake until the pastry is golden brown and puffed up, about 20 minutes. 

Notes:

Leeks: leeks are grown in sand so they need to be cleaned well. Best way is to trim off the end and the tops where it starts to turn very dark green. Then cut your remaining leek down the middle lengthwise. And you run each half under water, using your thumb to allow water to run in between all the layers. This ensures all the dirt and sand is gone. Then you dry it off a little and slice it up.