A Delicious Lawn Ornament

It's quite interesting that our first though of pumpkin is no longer as food but as a decorative lawn ornament for the fall. Pumpkins are actually one of the most popular crops produced in the United States, 1.5 billion pounds are produced each year! And I would venture to assume only a small percentage are consumed and a large portion are through away, or hopefully composted.

We have come to think of the canned pumpkin as the real pumpkin food. But as my boys and I found out over the weekend, a sweet (sugar) pie pumpkin can become several wonderful treats with a little bit of time! (I do believe that all types of pumpkins can be used but pie pumpkins will be the sweetest...however I would advise not to use your month old jack-o-lantern after Halloween)

With organic pumpkin costing about $2.00 a can, making your own pumpkin puree is a very frugal way to make pumpkin bars, pumpkin butter, pumpkin bars, pumpkin soup, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin seeds. From our $3.00 larger pie pumpkin purchased at the local farmers market we got about 6 cups of pumpkin puree and 1.5 cups pumpkin seeds.

Pie Pumpkins can come in all sizes. I found the store's pumpkins to be smaller, and much larger pumpkins at the local farmers market. The pumpkins at the farmers market were also less expensive and I was able to ask the farmer when the pumpkin was picked to insure the most nutrients from a fresh picked pumpkin.

Frugal Tip: Instead of purchasing carving pumpkins for Halloween this year purchase Pie Pumpkins. Leave them whole and decorate the outside with craft supplies or non-toxic washable paint or decorating kits. Then the pumpkins can be cooked after Halloween giving you free pumpkin puree for your Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. (wash off paint before cooking) Freeze Pumpkin Puree in 2 cup portions for delayed use.

Here is a how we took a whole pie pumpkin and made puree and sweet toasted seeds!

1. Purchase a Pie/ Sugar Pumpkin

2. Cut it in half with a serrated knife (use your muscles)

3. Scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff (SAVE)

4. Place cut side down on a large baking dish or roasting pan

5. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on the size of your pumpkin

6. While pumpkin is baking remove the seeds from the slop and place in a bowl of pure water and 1 tbsp sea salt to soak for 6 hours or over night.

7. After pumpkin is soft remove from oven and let cool.

8. Scoop pumpkin out of skin and mash with a fork, blend with a beater or puree in food processor or blender.

9. Puree is ready to use! However, for a thicker consistency, like you find in the can... let the puree drain overnight. Just place puree in a cheese cloth and let it drain through a colander into a bowl. I found this to be a useful step. I got about 1.5 cups of water from letting it sit about 12 hours ( 4 hours on the counter and then in the fridge).

Finished Puree

So far we have made Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream and Pumpkin Bars and I have a lot left. We plan to make Pumpkin Butter this week!

Back to the seeds. After a good soak, dry the seeds by rubbing between two towels. Season the seeds as desired. We did a sweet seasoning (recipe below). And toast in the oven 275 degrees for 10-20 minutes or until desired crispness is reached. (We went to the park while ours were toasting and reduced the temp to 200 degree for about 75 minutes)

Sweet Fall Pumpkin Seed Seasoning

1.5 TBSP Butter

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/8 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1 tbs honey or raw agave nectar

Mix and Coat the pumpkin seeds