So last week I was blessed with a large box of spinach. Well, I ordered Spinach, but when I got home and opened the box I discovered a large amount of rainbow swiss chard! That was ok by me and it worked great. But what did I do with all that spinach?

I started with the basic, cook it and freeze it. I filled this huge pot up three times! I ended up with 6 small bags of frozen swiss chard. We don’t typically eat frozen spinach, but it works great for adding to dishes as I need them.

Next I moved on to a tried and true recipe: spinach balls. These were a big hit last year, so I made two batches of them this year.

Spinach Balls

2 cups chopped cooked spinach
3 cups bread crumbs (I make my own)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 t celery seed
6 eggs
3/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 t black pepper
2 drops Tabasco
1 t dried sage
1/4 t crushed rosemary
1/4 t nutmeg
2 t Braggs amino acids

In a large bowl mix together ingredients. Chill for one hour. Shape into 1″ balls. Freeze on a cookie sheet. When frozen place in freezer bags.
Bake in 350 oven for 25 minutes. (I’ve also put them in a crock pot on high for 2 hours.) They taste yummy with spaghetti sauce.

Although this made a lot of spinach balls, it only used up 4 cups of cooked spinach. So off to make a spinach loaf. I haven’t tried this one yet, but here is the recipe I used.

Spinach Loaf

1/2 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T olive oil
2 cups chopped spinach
2 eggs
2 t lemon juice
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1 T grated Parmesan

In large skillet, saute the onions and garlic in oil. Add spinach. Cook about 8 minutes. Allow mixture to cool slightly and add eggs, lemon juice and nuts. Mix well and spread in loaf pan. Freeze.
When ready to bake, cover and bake 45 minutes at 350. Uncover and sprinkle with cheeses and bake 5-10 minutes.

I only made one of these because I haven’t tested it yet, so we’ll see what the family thinks when I pull it out of the freezer.

This years favorite spinach recipe goes to the Hot Pockets!

Spinach Hot Pockets

First make a batch of pizza dough or buy the refrigerator dough from the store.

Then mix together 2 cups cooked spinach, cream of mushroom soup, and 1 pound browned ground beef in a skillet.

Roll out pizza dough. I used a sandwich looking thing to make my pockets, but you can simply cut squares of dough, fill with one scoop of filling, and fold over. Wet the edges of the dough to help it stick together better.

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes until dough is golden brown. Then let cool, place in freezer bags, and freeze. These can simply be reheated in a microwave or toaster oven. My husband loves to take these to work with him.

And that was the end of the spinach (swiss chard).