Turn your Pumpkins into Delicious Foods

⭐️ VIDEO LOCATED AT END OF BLOG ⭐️

Happy Fall time!! One of my favorite times of the year here in New England. I love the energy that comes with this season. Not only do we get to snuggle up with cozy sweaters and hot beverages but we get to indulge in all the seasonal foods and traditions that come this time of year.

I have always loved pumpkin flavored goods and goodies. Whether it be pumpkin spice coffee and lattes or pumpkin pie oat ice cream and pies. There is just something about pumpkin that I cannot get enough of! Funny enough however, I had never taken the time to actually use fresh pumpkin in my baking…I always relied on canned pumpkin.

Well NOT ANYMORE! I can honestly say after my first experience taking a single pumpkin and creating multiple dishes from it I will use fresh pumpkin whenever I can from here on out!

The process is very enjoyable and I love being able to use a pumpkin as a home décor item and then turn it into dinner and dessert!! Just another way we can repurpose things in our life to maximize their potential and reduce waste!

I used jumbo pumpkins for everything in my video. All the dishes were phenomenal and from one pumpkin I was able to create so much!! But apparently sugar pumpkins are the most commonly used in recipes (I will try those next time and see which I prefer)

Let us go over the process shall we?

I took my jumbo pumpkin and cut it in half. I preheated my oven to 325° F. Then I cleared and scraped out all the insides and separated the seeds. I put the seeds in an envelope because I plan to plant them next year in the gardens we will be creating.

From here, I baked one half of the pumpkin (see image below) in the oven at 325 ° Fahrenheit for about 40 minutes until the entire pumpkin was soft and I could cut into it with a spoon or knife like butter. Note: Set timer for 30 minutes. Be aware that it could take longer depending on oven and size of your pumpkin so, you will have to cut into the pumpkin as stated above ⬆️ to see if it is truly done. (See video for visual)

I then removed the skin and cut the roasted pumpkin into chunks. I decided to puree my roasted pumpkin in a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor you can roll up your sleeves and do it by hand!

I also set some plain roasted pumpkin aside and stuffed my dogs kong with it. Kai loves pumpkin!

I used my puree and made pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie custards, pumpkin muffins and pumpkin soup. ♥️

As for the other half of my pumpkin that was not roasted; I diced it up into cubes and cut off the outer skin . I tossed all of the cubed pumpkin with some olive oil and sea salt and pepper and then cooked it with garlic and onions. I used this delicious combo in a mouth watering wholesome pumpkin chili.