Spinach Bites

It's official, Ziva's sick. We're on survival mode over here spending many hours cuddled up on the couch watching cartoons. It's tough because Anya is my usual cuddle bug and she's not happy about Ziva taking up residence in my lap. As always, the hardest thing to share is Mommy. And Mommy gets quickly fed up with being pulled in two different directions. Sigh.

Thank God for nap time!

Oh, and I'm so glad I made Spinach Bites 4 days ago so that we have plenty to pull out of the freezer now that Mommy doesn't feel like cooking. Yay!!!

I made these as toddler food for the girls, but they could certainly be used as an appetizer or snack. They're quite delicious and remind me very much of a yummy melty spinach & artichoke dip minus the artichokes.

Here's the fabulous cast of characters:

Box of frozen spinach (thawed), Panko bread crumbs, shredded cheese (whatever kind you like, I used Mozzarella), 3 eggs, 1/4 cup of butter, minced onion flakes, garlic salt, and pepper.



First, drain your spinach.



Then put it in a bowl. At this point Hubs, who HATES spinach, wandered into the kitchen to see what I was making and nearly... well.. he wasn't impressed. But I reminded him that this was for the girls, and then he returned to whatever he was doing.



Next, eggs. Ugh... now it's looking really... appetizing. Thank goodness it will only get better from here!



Then 1 tablespoon of onion. I suppose you could also use fresh minced onion, but it would be more work... and if you're like me more tears.



Then 1 teaspoon of garlic salt.

I think this is one of my best action shots yet!



Then 1/2 a teaspoon of pepper.

Ooooh, lookie those flying specks of pepper!



Next you'll want to melt your butter. I just toss mine in the microwave for a few seconds.



While the butter is melting you can put in 1/2 cup of Panko.

Panko is my new obsession. Thank you Food Network! Seems like everyone on there is using now a days, and now I understand why. Although in this particular recipe it doesn't make a huge difference because they just soak up all the liquid, so just use whatever bread crumbs you have around the house.



Mix Mix Mix!



Now that your butter is all melted you can pour it in.



Mmmmm.... cheese.....



And here's what it looks like after it's all mixed in. After this you'll want to put it in your fridge for at least an hour or until it "sets"... whatever that means when it comes to spinach & eggs...



Then you form it into balls and place them on a cookie sheet. At this point you could also flash freeze them and then toss them in a ziploc bag for future use.





And here's what they look like after 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven!







And here's my girls enjoying them for a quick and healthy part of a balanced lunch!






Spinach Bites

Box of frozen spinach (thawed)
3 eggs
1/2 cup of Panko (or any other) bread crumbs
1 T minced onion flakes
1 t garlic salt
1/2 t black pepper
1/4 c butter, melted
1 c shredded cheese (any kind, but I used Mozzarella)

Drain spinach. Combine spinach with eggs, onion, garlic salt, pepper, and bread crumbs. Add melted butter and cheese, combine. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Form into balls and place on lined cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.