Jessica Merchant's Blog, page 30

A Week In The Life, Vol 7.

My loves!

Ooomph this was a week!

Doesn’t everyone fill out valentine’s in halloween PJs?!

Hello, welcome to the infirmary! This was the sickest week we’ve ever had in my ten years of parenting.

The kids were better by Tuesday-ish, but I kept them home just to be sure until the end of the week. We watched all the mighty ducks, little giants, rookie of the year, the sandlot – basically every 90s sports movie you can think of.

She looooves picking out her outfits!

My heart!

Eddie surprised us with these flowers on Valentine’s day.

She was made for this holiday.

Love love love going into their parties! I missed Jordan’s with everyone sick but still got to Max & Emilia’s.

And then it was a hockey tournament weekend!

Watching his big bro.

Multiple games fri, sat & sun!

She insisted on wearing this to the rink and who am I to say no! It was Valentine’s Day after all. And we went out to eat after!

Fave hockey player!

In between games, Emilia made a candy salad. She LOVES gummy candy and we rarely have it. I bought everything for her to makes this (she did it last year too) but everyone got sick. So we made it a day late!

Doesn’t really do it for me, but she adores it.

More hockey! Made it to the finals!

A nice little soft pretzel breakfast at 9am at the ice rink.

And they won the tournament!

I love this pic of Max with his arms up.

He was SO happy. It was a good ending to an icky week!

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What To Eat This Week: 2/16/25.

Hello, another new week!

What’s on your menu this week?!

What To Eat This Week

Roasted chickpeas with tomatoes and peppers

Everyday taco salad

Filet with mascarpone risotto

Mediterranean stuffed sweet potatoes

Spinach artichoke pasta skillet

Buffalo chicken chopped salad

Chickpea pasta salad

Apple oatmeal breakfast cookies

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Currently Crushing On.

Happy weekend!

This week on the blog, I launched my salted pistachio cookie butter with ground up! I also shared this spinach artichoke penne skillet, filet with mascarpone risotto and dark chocolate raspberry puff pasty tarts.

And HUGE NEWS!! You can get a personalized signed copy of Easy Everyday right here!

My winter favorites and February favorites are right here.

You can find all my favorites in my amazon store front and LTK shop!

There’s a new menu for the week and a new peek inside our everyday life.

You can finally order a copy of my next book, Easy Everyday. I would be so thrilled if you ordered today!

xo

WHAT I’M LOVING THIS WEEK

The cutest heart cut out cookies.

Air fryer salmon bites. So crispy.

Making this italian sub pasta salad.

Double chocolate olive oil cookies! Yes please.

I need marry me chicken soup!

Brown butter layer cake! OMG.

Cutest pavlovas with lemon curd.

Italian wedding soup that looks amazing.

Homemade velveeta mac!

Classic gumbo to make this weekend.

Craving this thai broccoli salad.

Chocolate crepes! How fun!

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Dark Chocolate Raspberry Puff Pastry Tarts.

These raspberry puff pastry tarts are easy, fun and delicious! Mini and bite-sized, they are filled with raspberries and dark chocolate, then baked until flaky and golden and so wonderful. They are adorable too!

Happy heart day!!

These adorable little tarts are buttery and flaky, filled with tart raspberries and melty dark chocolate. Perfect to treat yourself or your loved ones this weekend!

I will forever use puff pastry for all the things. It might be my favorite store-bought ingredient (even before a rotisserie chicken!). I love how incredible it tastes, how easy it is to use and how it is super versatile. 

Sweet? Savory? Both? 

It works for everything! 

This is how I make the tarts!

The tarts you see here have been cut into rounds with a large biscuit or cookie cutter. Then I fold them into little rustic galettes. But you could also use the entire sheet to make one giant puff pastry tart and then slice it into squares. 

Personally, I love crust too much and want my own mini galette. So here we are!

I like to use frozen raspberries for multiple reasons. One, the price. Obviously. Two, the ease and accessibility during the season. And three, they are great and fresh and you don’t have to pick through every single one. 

For chocolate, a high quality chocolate over 70% is my number one choice. I simply chop it up! Chop it up and sprinkle it right on top of the berries.

This is messy, it’s not super pretty. But it tastes fantastic and is the ultimate fruity chocolate dessert. One that looks fancy but doesn’t take much time at all.  (more…)

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Get a Signed Copy of Easy Everyday!

I’m so excited to tell you that I’ve teamed up with one of my favorite local bookshops, Penguin Books, to bring you signed copies of Easy Everyday!

We have done this for my past books and it’s been wonderful. It’s the best way for you guys to get a signed copy for yourself or to use as a gift – and a great way to guarantee personalization! In the past, people have order multiples to be signed to use as gifts throughout the year too.

You can get a signed copy if you order through Penguin Bookshop RIGHT HERE.

It is packed with over 100 fantastic recipes, from breakfast to dinner to snacks to treats to mocktails and more. We have simple and flavorful dishes for every time time of day, some entertaining snacks, another one (!) of my signature sauces & dressings chapters (the fridge essentials that elevate everything!), so many tips for how I get meals prepped and ready for the week along with a lot of our family favorites. Along with so much more.

Easy Everyday will officially be out on April 15th of this year. It will be here before you know it!

Inside, you will find:Over 100+ effortless recipes for everyday life.An assortment of all sorts of recipes, many of them meatless and vegetarian.My 10-minute meal prep strategy for EVERY recipe.My pantry and fridge essentials, aka the recipes I can’t live without. They change the game for easy meals.My tips and tricks for how to get a meal on the table for your family, consistently and in an enjoyable way, without stress!Low-maintenance, uncomplicated dishes!All my usual ramblings and of course, photos for everything. Woohoo!

Only two more months until release day!

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Mascarpone Risotto with Seared Filet Mignon.

This mascarpone risotto is a fancy and fun meal to make at home. The ingredients and flavors are simple yet decadent, pleasing to everyone. This is a classic comfort food dish, but one that can really elevate a meal at home too!

Dinner is served!

This creamy mascarpone risotto is topped with fresh herbs and served with tender filet mignon with a crunchy crust. It’s decadent and special and fancy and feels perfect for Valentine’s Day, even if you’re just making it for yourself! 

I love a meal like this – one that is fairly simple yet tastes amazing. One that is similar to something you would order during a nice dinner out. In fact, it probably will even taste better at home when you make it. 

Those are the best kind!

So, yes, of course risotto is a little bit high maintenance. But it’s almost like roasting a chicken. Once you’ve done it successfully a time or two, it is SO easy. It’s like second nature. 

Put on some good music.

Open some white wine, because you need it anyway. 

And stir stir stir!

This is an easy, classic risotto with lots of parmesan and super creamy mascarpone cheese. It might just be my favorite one yet because it is soooo ridiculously creamy. Melty, creamy and a great neutral dish to pair with some many things. 

Up first: our favorite seared filet. This is Max’s favorite meal right now. Eddie loves filet, but we don’t have it very often. So serving it alongside this creamy rice makes for an amazing meal. 

My keys to making a perfect filet: a cast iron skillet, lots of kosher salt and pepper and a little bit of butter. 

That is all you need! 

I usually also include some sort of roasted veggie with this. Like my favorite roasted broccoli or asparagus or green beans. Or even a house salad before. 

We love meals like this at home because they are unexpected and make a regular ordinary day dinner feel fabulous. A great one to make to feel loved, even by yourself! (more…)

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Tuesday Things.

1. I’m totally still writing 2024 if I need to write the date.

2. This chile relleno soup sounds so incredible.

3. Super exciting news: today I’m launching pistachio cookie butter with ground up! It’s SO good.

4. How to be more confident.

5. My favorite super bowl commercial was the nike women one! What about you?

6. TV things!! I watched Apple Cider Vinegar and feel like it’s 6 hours of my life I won’t get back. However I did watch You’re Cordially Invited and it was so cute. And Kinda Pregnant was funny!

7. 5 things nobody needs in their kitchens after 40. Ha! So true.

8. I got stuck in a tiktok rabbit hole and ended up buying the dyson air straight with some gift cards. I am in love.

9. And thanks to that, starting in on my february favorites right here!

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Introducing My Salted Pistachio Cookie Butter!

Oh my gosh, you guys!

I am so, so, so excited to tell you about this. 

I’ve collaborated with Ground Up to make my own SALTED PISTACHIO COOKIE BUTTER. And I can’t even explain how delicious this is!

Think buttery, nutty pistachios in shortbread with a touch of flaky salt and a ribbon of melty chocolate.

Holy cow, it is phenomenal. 

Before we go any further, you can get your own jar here! 

This pistachio cookie butter is inspired by my favorite chocolate chip pistachio cookies. It’s packed with so much flavor and good-for-you ingredients. It’s the snack that I’ve always wanted. 

Ground Up is such an incredible company and I feel so honored to work with them. Their mission is to spread good, and they do this by providing job skills training to women overcoming adversity. They help them get back on their feet after hardships and I think this is such an incredibly important mission that we don’t see enough of. 

Not only do they do incredible work, they also make incredible nut butters with the best of the best ingredients. All of their nut butters are hand-crafted. 

Their nut butters are also free of: 

PeanutsDairy GlutenRefined sugar Palm oil 

The texture of my pistachio cookie butter is FABULOUS. It’s wildly creamy and a little bit crunchy. I can almost describe the “crunch” as a CRISP. The mouth feel is incredible and the flavor is also great. Think pistachios, coconut oil, cocoa butter, honey, cacoa nibs… oh my yum. 

It’s not too sweet.

It spreads like a dream. 

I want to put it on (and in) all the things. 

I’ve made so many delicious recipes using this that I will be sharing with you over on instagram! Think breakfast cookies, overnight oats and even the viral dubai chocolate bar (a chocolate bar made with pistachio butter and toasted, shredded phyllo filling)! 

For now, you can find this salted pistachio cookie butter over at Ground Up. It’s limited edition, so get your hands on a few jars! xo

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Spinach Artichoke Pasta Skillet.

This spinach artichoke pasta skillet is such a fabulous side dish! It’s creamy, cheesy, indulgent and takes barely any time at all. All the classic flavors of your favorite dip mixed with penne pasta! Yum!

This is going to make everyone love you.

This is the perfect little pasta skillet to make for yourself, your favorite ones, your friends – anyone! It’s indulgent and decadent and tastes SPECIAL, making any entree you serve it with feel extra fancy too. Penne pasta is mixed in with baby spinach, chopped artichoke hearts, a creamy cheese sauce and tons of parmesan. 

And the best part is that it is not difficult! 

P.S. can we take a moment to laugh about the classic spinach wilt? 

It’s wild!

This week I’m sharing all sorts of special treats that you can make for Valentine’s day. And this one is right up there. 

But how is this a treat, you may ask? 

Well, half the time I’d rather have a big pile of cheesy pasta as a treat. Instead of chocolate or cookies. 

I am who I am! 

A few years ago I shared a chicken spinach artichoke skillet lasagna. That is still such a delicious weeknight meal option. But this one… this one is almost like a spinach artichoke mac and cheese. It’s so creamy and cheesy. Absolutely LOADED with artichoke hearts and wilted spinach, tons of fresh garlic and cheese.

It’s a little pasta dream! 

There’s a few key specifics to how I make this. I use fresh baby spinach instead of frozen. Reserved starchy pasta water will help thicken the sauce. 

Also, I like to use artichokes that are marinated. Usually in olive oil. But if you use these, you have to make sure to drain them super well and gently pat them dry. Another option is to use the artichoke hearts in brine, which is also good! Again, just make sure to drain them well. You don’t want to add something that is super wet to your pasta skillet. (more…)

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A Week In The Life, Vol 6.

Another week is in the books.

Time is going way too fast!

Look at that Monday morning sunrise! Right out the kitchen window.

We spent some play time with baby cousin Mary!!

Max had a few basketball games this week.

It’s really fun to watch him play now.

On their way to cheer on Max!

I went to sign some books and stopped for coffee.

The best.

She spends all Max’s sports time running around with friends and loves it!

This one legged legging thing… is a thing. Apparently.

Emilia made this for me. Everything she loves.

The outfits she puts together are everything.

Hockey weekend!

An early game on the books, which was good because Max got sick later in the day. :(

She really sleeps like this.

She was losing it without Max today and couldn’t take that she couldn’t play with him.

And we finished off the night with just popcorn and the super bowl!!

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