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It's no surprise that when fresh, pre-packaged spinach returned to our grocer's shelves, it's only a buck for a huge bag! My hubby bought 2 bags but we just had a dish with spinach in it for dinner, plus leftovers! I doubt I'll use it before it spoils and it's only 2 bucks, but I don't want to see it go it waste! What's the best way to freeze fresh spinach?
Answer
OK....I never would have blanched spinach but I read several people here saying they do it. So I am changing my post since I am not an expert...just speaking of my own experience. Personally, I think spinach cooks so fast when you throw it in a dish that no blanching is needed, but for $2 I would say, toss it in the freezer as it!
You will never be able to use it as fresh after you freeze it but it goes great in anything. Add the whole bag to a soup and freeze the soup, make a quiche/fritatta dish where you beat 8 eggs, add a little milk or cream, add a cup or two of shreaded cheese, some chopped ham maybe, and all the spinach. Bake it in a pie tin with no crust @ 350 F for about 25 minutes. It'll puff way up and then settle back down. You can then cut it in wedges and freeze the wedges for a fast breakfast or lunch.
Or toss the spinach into a pot of pasta sauce and then freeze it.
Or eat it mixed with salad greens uncooked. My kids won't eat regular lettuce unless there is spinach mixed in.
If you just freeze it as is, you can also use it in any cooked dish later on.
OK....I never would have blanched spinach but I read several people here saying they do it. So I am changing my post since I am not an expert...just speaking of my own experience. Personally, I think spinach cooks so fast when you throw it in a dish that no blanching is needed, but for $2 I would say, toss it in the freezer as it!
You will never be able to use it as fresh after you freeze it but it goes great in anything. Add the whole bag to a soup and freeze the soup, make a quiche/fritatta dish where you beat 8 eggs, add a little milk or cream, add a cup or two of shreaded cheese, some chopped ham maybe, and all the spinach. Bake it in a pie tin with no crust @ 350 F for about 25 minutes. It'll puff way up and then settle back down. You can then cut it in wedges and freeze the wedges for a fast breakfast or lunch.
Or toss the spinach into a pot of pasta sauce and then freeze it.
Or eat it mixed with salad greens uncooked. My kids won't eat regular lettuce unless there is spinach mixed in.
If you just freeze it as is, you can also use it in any cooked dish later on.
How do you get your child to conform to mealtimes?
scarlet_sa
My son is 2 and is used to grazing. He dictates when he is hungry, so we end up making meals for him anytime and wherever. It would be a great stress release if he wasn't picking off of plates or having us make meals late at night. My main question: Is it too barbaric to make him wait to the next meal/snack if he decides not to eat? I'm trying to think of the best strategy to get him to be nutritionally fulfilled and get him in the swing of breakfast/lunch/dinner times...
Answer
I promise that he will outgrow this eventually. He's still very young and growing very quickly, so he needs to eat often. Plus, he has a small tummy, so he can't always eat a large amount at one time. I'd rather have him decide when he's hungry and when he's not so that he can follow his body's cues.
That being said, you don't have to prepare a whole meal for him whenever he's hungry. Serve each meal at the normal mealtime, and try to keep him from snacking for at least 60 minutes before the meal. If he complains that he's truly starving, you can offer a light snack (a box of raisins, a banana, some blueberries, a bit of cheese, etc.) to tide him over.
My middle child was a definite grazer, and it took her probably until age 3 before she really settled into eating full meals at mealtimes. We just learned to go with it as best we could. At dinner, we learned that if we just left her food on the table, she'd often come back to it right as we were starting to clear the dishes. So, we'd go ahead and let her eat -- she was still eating the same food, just later than the rest of us. She's now 5, and she eats perfectly fine at meals, but she still tends to nibble throughout the day whenever she can, and she's the tallest and thinnest of my three kids. I think it's just her nature, and I'd really rather have her continue to follow her body's cues.
All of my children tended to have 3 meals and 3 snacks a day as toddlers --
breakfast around 7:30
snack around 9-10:00
lunch around 12:00
snack around 2-3:00
dinner at 6pm
small snack right before bed at 8pm (banana, slice of cheese, a couple crackers, etc.)
By age 3, they didn't need the nighttime snack anymore, but still had a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack. My oldest daughter is in 1st grade, and they're still allowed to nibble something from their lunch bag during their morning recess, so she still often eats 2 snacks per day as well.
As for nutrition, try to look at your son's diet over the course of several days, not just a single day. Our pediatrician told us that at one point, and it really makes sense for toddlers. I know there were days that my kids maybe wouldn't eat a single vegetable, but they'd make up for it by wolfing down multiple servings of veggies at a single meal on another day. As long as you continue to offer a variety of healthy foods for meals and snacks, it all balances out.
I promise that he will outgrow this eventually. He's still very young and growing very quickly, so he needs to eat often. Plus, he has a small tummy, so he can't always eat a large amount at one time. I'd rather have him decide when he's hungry and when he's not so that he can follow his body's cues.
That being said, you don't have to prepare a whole meal for him whenever he's hungry. Serve each meal at the normal mealtime, and try to keep him from snacking for at least 60 minutes before the meal. If he complains that he's truly starving, you can offer a light snack (a box of raisins, a banana, some blueberries, a bit of cheese, etc.) to tide him over.
My middle child was a definite grazer, and it took her probably until age 3 before she really settled into eating full meals at mealtimes. We just learned to go with it as best we could. At dinner, we learned that if we just left her food on the table, she'd often come back to it right as we were starting to clear the dishes. So, we'd go ahead and let her eat -- she was still eating the same food, just later than the rest of us. She's now 5, and she eats perfectly fine at meals, but she still tends to nibble throughout the day whenever she can, and she's the tallest and thinnest of my three kids. I think it's just her nature, and I'd really rather have her continue to follow her body's cues.
All of my children tended to have 3 meals and 3 snacks a day as toddlers --
breakfast around 7:30
snack around 9-10:00
lunch around 12:00
snack around 2-3:00
dinner at 6pm
small snack right before bed at 8pm (banana, slice of cheese, a couple crackers, etc.)
By age 3, they didn't need the nighttime snack anymore, but still had a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack. My oldest daughter is in 1st grade, and they're still allowed to nibble something from their lunch bag during their morning recess, so she still often eats 2 snacks per day as well.
As for nutrition, try to look at your son's diet over the course of several days, not just a single day. Our pediatrician told us that at one point, and it really makes sense for toddlers. I know there were days that my kids maybe wouldn't eat a single vegetable, but they'd make up for it by wolfing down multiple servings of veggies at a single meal on another day. As long as you continue to offer a variety of healthy foods for meals and snacks, it all balances out.
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Title Post: How do you freeze fresh spinach?
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Rating: 97% based on 9832 ratings. 4,6 user reviews.
Author: Unknown
Thanks For Coming To My Blog
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