Spinach is delicious!!

Spinach is a great vegetable.  It's loaded with vits A, C, E, B12, B6, and K.  It also has a high iron and calcium content.  Definitely a food that I would consider a "super food".  I try to use it in a lot of different meals around our house.  I'll use it instead of lettuce on a sandwich, I'll throw it into lasagna or my homemade spaghetti sauce, I'll put it in soups, etc.  I'm always looking for new ways to use it and I figured some of you might be too!

In case you are part of a CSA or are getting spinach from your local farmer's market, or if you just love spinach as much as I do, here are a few recipes I thought I'd share.

Holy moly, This Green Monster smoothie has become the BIGGEST hit at our house.  I've had it for breakfast every morning this week and SYT absolutely adores it in his sippy cup (diluted with some water).  It's incredibly healthy (I don't even add the honey as I think it's plenty sweet without it and none of us need the extra sugar), it's easy for babies to drink, and it's quite filling.  Spencer has decided that he is completely not interested in drinking at all (like literally, we are currently counting how many sips of water he takes a day and he won't even put a milk sippy cup to his lips), so the fact that he will drink this is awesome.  I know he can't have more than 4 oz a day of juice, but at least I know he is getting something seriously healthy when I give him this and, because I dilute it for him, he ends up taking 8 oz of something throughout the day which is better than the days of trying to get only one oz into him!  I would definitely urge everyone to try this- it's seriously that good!

This lemon and herb pasta salad recipe from Rachel Ray was one of the side dishes we served at Spencer's birthday party and quite a few of the guests asked for the recipe.  It is so good, really easy (it's Rachel Ray, so you know it's not going to be too time consuming), and perfect for summertime menus!  Instead of adding the arugula, I add spinach.  I think it adds a better flavor and is more nutritious.  I also make it the night before as I think it needs time for the flavors to meld together and add the eggs right before serving b/c they break apart so easily and they're much prettier when they stay together.

Have you tried either of the recipes above?  Do you have any other favorite recipes I need to try that have spinach as an ingredient?  Any tips for getting Spencer to drink anything besides the green monster smoothie?

Have a delicious Friday!!