Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Empty Nest Cooking

Now that there are just the two of us living under this roof, I like to play with our favorite recipes and cook them in smaller batches.  Yes, there are times when I make the full recipe and then freeze half for another meal, but when it's cold out and I'm cooking something in the oven, I have the added benefit of extra heat in the house. 

Here is a favorite veggie dish, this recipe makes 6-8 servings:

SPINACH CASSEROLE

Preheat oven to 350F, grease 9 inch casserole dish.

2- 10 oz. boxes frozen, chopped spinach - defrosted, drained
1 cup small curd cottage cheese
1/3 cup sour cream
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Squeeze extra moisture out of spinach, place in mixing bowl.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Blend thoroughly, turn into greased casserole dish, smooth top. Optional:  Sprinkle fresh ground black pepper on top.   Bake about 45 - 50 minutes until firm & puffy.


Here's Spinach Casserole for 2-4.



Preheat oven 350F, grease 7 inch dish (I used a small pie plate).


I defrosted the spinach in the square microwave dish,
didn't have time to let it defrost 'on its own.'

1 - 10 ounce box of frozen spinach, defrosted, drain excess water
1/3 to 1/2 cup small curd cottage cheese
1 or 2 heaping tablespoons sour cream
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon flour
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper

Squeeze extra moisture out of spinach,



place in mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients. 



Blend thoroughly,



turn into greased casserole dish,



smooth top.



Optional: Sprinkle fresh ground black pepper on top.  



Bake about 40 minutes until firm & puffy.




This recipe is very user friendly, there will be no one to check up on you if you use 10 or 20 ounces of frozen spinach from a bag or *GASP!*  if you use fresh spinach, cooked, drained and allowed to cool. 

Have fun with your food.


*

11 comments:

HolleyGarden said...

Looks good! I've finally learned how to cook for "just two", and now find it hard to cook for a crowd!

Betty Lou said...

Looks yummy-------I still don't know how to cook for two, but at least we have leftovers for another meal. I will try this recipe.

Joy@aVintageGreen said...

I think I could manage this one, glad you divided the casserole into a 'smaller' recipe.

Denise :) said...

Joy, this looks so yummy! I've had a bit of a challenge paring down Todd's favorite recipes into manageable empty nester portions! Thanks for sharing this one! :)

Terra said...

Yum, we love spinach at our house.

Shana Cheeks said...

Love the spinach recipe. I am going to give it a try this weekend!

Bumble Lush Garden said...

That looks delicious! I have a bunch of spinach from the farmers' market, this gives me a good idea. Thanks for commenting on my post. I'd love to read more about your attempts to eat local foods, if you do it. IT's something I just started myself, and some things are easier to find than others. :)

Sue Catmint said...

I hope you accept appreciative one word comments: Yum!

Content in a Cottage said...

I'm going to make the big version so there will be leftovers. Thanks. This looks very good and very easy. My kind of recipe!

Sandi@ Rose Chintz Cottage said...

Looks good. Thank you for visiting and leaving your helpful comment. Now if I could just find my way back to the old interface, I could probably fix it. How I wish they would leave things alone! I'm so weary of all the changes they are making! Enjoy your weekend.

Blessings,
Sandi

Barbara said...

Took a while I found to cook in smaller quantities. Got round some of it by freezing half. Used to it now though after 15 years.