How do I cook 4 lbs of fresh spinach for use later? I hate to see this go to waste.?

Well spinach well keep for a long time actually. I bought some that reduced for quick sale. It was at least 2 weeks before it started wilting.

I like spinach in omlets-with bacon or sausage is good.

Chop it up and add to lasagna-spaghetti sauce-mac and cheese-if the pack lunches add a few leaves in sandwiches or wraps. Or slice it up and add to macaroni salad or cloleslaw.

Mix it with some onions chopped small, bacon chopped small, cream cheese and maybe even a bit of parmesan and use that to stuff chickenbreasts, thin steaks, or even chops.

Anyway to cook it you can steam, blanch, or saute it. Put it in a collander and let the liquid run off. Freeze the liquid in ice cube trays and add these to sauces and soups. Freeze the spinach in ice cubes trays as well. Then you have 1 oz servings. These are the perfect size to add to omlets and so on.

Also when you thaw it there will be a lot of good nutrient rich "spinach juice" save that as well.

For my money there is no way to make cooked spinach enjoyable. It can be tolerated but never enjoyed. The fresh spinach salad was your best choice.

Regardless, you can save it. Boil some salted water and blanch the fresh spinach for 40 seconds. Pull it out with a spider or dump in colander. Run cold water over it to stop the cooking. Drain and then dry the spinach between lint free towels. Divide into portions and freeze for later use.

When the time comes, thaw the spinach and finish cooking. You can saute it with bacon and onion, steam it, cream it, or boil it. Spinach can be combined with a little goat cheese (feta is a fine choice for this) and used as a stuffing for stuffed pork chops or ravioli. Use it as a filler in meatballs (you'll probably need an extra egg or cheese as a binder.) Good luck with gettin the boys to enjoy spinach.

My mother taught me how to do that. You get a big pot of boiling water w/ salt, and you cook the spinach for less than a minute. It's an easy mistake to cook it too long. She said that she "blanches" it, just dips it in the hot water. You cook it just long enough for it to wilt a bit. Then, you drain it, put it in sandwich bags, and freeze it in the freezer. It will taste great later on. Your boys will love it. Garden spinach is so much better than store bought spinach. After spinach cooks, you have a whole lot less than before. Good luck.

Sojourn is right about the way to freeze it. As for cooking, do you like lasagna with salmon and spinach? It's really good. Or just some plain spinach with cream.

I would blanch it, then freeze it.

I recipe that my family enjoys, (9 year old and 12 year old), is Italian Wedding soup.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mamas-Italian-Wedding...

It's really easy to make. I attached the link just in case you want to make the meatballs from scratch.

I use frozen meatballs, cooked pasta, spinach, and chicken broth. The kids eat it all up every time I cook it.

Just cut it up and put it in freezer bags...

EDIT: Blanching is good and necessary for longer term storage but you lose vitamins and minerals in the pot-liquor when you drain it.

i like to put spinach in my mariinara sauce for spaghetti. it wilts down and you dont taste it. you get all the nutrients it has and no one will know. plus spaghetti sauce keeps well in the freezer