Creamy Spinach and Garlic Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Like most people, I spent some time the other day coloring eggs. It was fun, my toddler Mimi had a blast, but boy-oh-boy is it challenging to color eggs with a toddler. She wanted to drink the dye, dump the dye, smash the eggs, eat the eggs...... Goodness, I kept saying, "What was I thinking????" over and over. haha 

By the way, I didn't use the natural egg coloring method that I mentioned the other day. It's still a great idea, but I didn't want to part with my spices. Plus, we're having car troubles so I can't really get to the store for beets and such. What I did with these eggs is I took 1 cup of water, mixed in 1 teaspoon of white vinegar, and then added several drops of food coloring (which I never use and needed a purpose in life). Ta-da! That easy! :)

And dinner was amazing. I made creamy spinach, which is just spinach with béchamel sauce and Parmesan cheese. Next time, I will increase the sauce a bit and I might add breadcrumbs toasted with butter and mixed in with Parmesan and then top the spinach mixture and bake it. We also had garlic/cheese mashed potatoes, which are definitely my favorite potatoes now (although the kale potatoes I made in the past are still great, hmmmm, I'm not sure which are my fav now). 

Creamy Spinach

Serving Size = 2

• Bechamel Recipe - Click Here - I quartered the recipe (1/2 cup milk and so on), but next time I will make 3/4 or 1 cup (when I cut the recipe down that much, I still use 1 bay leaf and a pinch or 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg)
• 1 box of frozen spinach, thawed (I have no idea how big the box was, I threw it away before checking. Just get 1 box big enough for two people, or get two boxes if you're worried and only thaw 1. If you need the second, it's quick and easy to thaw.
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (to taste)

1. Make the béchamel, then add the thawed (and well drained, squeeze out the excess water with a dish towel) spinach. Mix well so that everything is heated and combined, remove from heat and add the Parmesan, mix and serve.

Garlic Cheese Mashed Potatoes
Serving Size = 3

• 5 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3 small cloves of garlic (or 2 if you don't want it too strong)
• Salt/Pepper to taste
• Sharp cheddar cheese to taste (maybe 1/2 cup??)
• Milk

1. Take the cubed potatoes and place them into a medium saucepan, add some salt, the garlic (smashed, not chopped) and boil until fork tender. 
2. Drain, smash (leave the garlic) and add enough milk to achieve the consistency you like. Then add the cheddar cheese and salt/pepper. I think the key to great potatoes is checking the seasoning well.