How I Used a Bulk Sized Bag of Spinach From Costco

There is something in me that will always be up for a challenge. I absolutely hate wasting food and I love finding interesting ways to use up the food we have. Enter my new found love for Costco and shopping in bulk.

Shopping in bulk is absolutely perfect for our family of 6. At Costco, we find the best deals on items we go through large amounts on anyways. When I saw this enormous bag of spinach I actually laughed. It is a lot of spinach.

Spinach was on my list, but did I need this much? I put myself up to the challenge of using the entire bag before it went bad.

Fresh spinach is incredibly nutrient-rich. It is great in so many ways, but the key to using a bag and not letting any go to waste is to prep it to stay fresh right away.

I am sure there are a ton of fancy lettuce containers you can purchase, but you can just use a paper towel to collect moisture in the bag.

I typically empty my entire bag and pat dry with paper towel, then use a fresh zipper bag and add a folded up paper towel. This keeps the spinach fresh twice as long. If you see any spinach that is getting spoiled, remove it immediately.

Of course, there are a million ways you can use your spinach. I wanted to get creative this week and try some fun recipes using spinach, sneaking some veggies into our diet.  The challenge was on, and this is what we made using the 2lb bag of spinach from Costco.

Smoothies

Our family loves a good smoothie. Last winter we grabbed one of the individual cup size blenders and the kids spent a Saturday morning figuring out their favorite recipes.

Here we fit ½ cup of spinach, ½ a banana, ice, almond milk, and a few strawberries. These make great on the go breakfasts or even late-night snacks.

Salads

I was able to prep 6 large salads for us to eat with some leftover rotisserie chicken. One afternoon I threw some fresh strawberries on and then drizzled with some poppy seed dressing. You can certainly get creative and enjoy with your favorite salad fixings and dressing.

Sandwiches

Packing lunch around here is an assembly line. My husband and I personally LOVE spinach on a hearty deli sandwich. Pile up the spinach high on just about any cold sandwich, our favorite is definitely with turkey.

Cheese and Spinach Muffins

Maybe they should be called biscuits? I knew I could add spinach to just about anything and help bring more nutrients. I made these when my children were babies all the time and still make them now to serve with soup and casseroles.

You can find the recipe here: https://www.myfussyeater.com/spinach-cheese-savoury-lunchbox-muffins/

Hulk Muffins

I told my kids that if they ate these they would get big and strong. The recipe I used here I have made before, this time I added chocolate chips which in my opinion made them incredible.

These muffins are packed with spinach, but yet you can’t taste it at all. The kids gobbled them up the same day I made them.

You can find the recipe here :
https://www.superhealthykids.com/recipes/sweet-spinach-muffins/

Egg Quiche

Eggs and spinach are best friends. They go together fantastic. I threw together this quiche in about 10 minutes and had it for lunch myself and served it for breakfast the following morning.

Here is the recipe I used: https://www.lemontreedwelling.com/crustless-quiche-lorraine/ Add spinach to any favorite egg recipe.

After all of these recipes were made, I still had about ¼ of my bag of spinach left. What do you do with leftover spinach if you do not want it to go bad? You freeze it!

To freeze your spinach simply keep it in the bag and toss it in the freezer. You can pull out frozen spinach to use in any of the baked recipes, and adds to smoothies just fine. We will have no problem using up what is left.

If you’re going to pick up this bag of spinach on your next Costco trip, make sure you have a plan for how you’re going to use it up. At a whopping $4.99 I think I stretched my pennies really well, and the challenge was a huge success.