YUMmy Pumkins

'tis the season for one of my favourite foods! While I have written about pumpkins before, I've found some new resources and I've tried a couple new things with them, so it warrants a new post.

Pumpkins are so versatile, and I never get tired of them. Which is a good thing because they're kind of BIG, so there's a lot of pumpkin to eat. Last week I was steaming a huge pot of it on the stove, while baking a tray, as well as roasting it with other veggies. They are so nutritious and versatile. (Click here for a ton of recipes). My favourite is pumpkin soup; I puree it and add curry, sea salt & coconut butter (it's what I eat as butter instead of dairy butter). Recently, I added a tin of coconut milk--WOW! Very tasty with a rich, creamy texture. The other new thing I did was add it to my morning smoothie: frozen bananas, pumpkin, hemp seed protein powder, cinammon. AWESOME. And now I'm off to have a pumpkin omelette. Kidding. ;-)

Yummy Pumpkins

Today's post was inspired by Duchess Dreams. She has a pumpkin cookie recipe on her blog. Last year, my friend Bess told me she had tried a pumpkin recipe and in the end, it just ended up tasting like sweet potato. I love sweet potatoes, so I thought I'd give it a go. Thus began my love affair with pumpkins. They are so versatile--they can go savory or sweet.

Here's what I do:
Cut the pumpkin in chunks and put on a cookie sheet. Cover with aluminum foil to keep it consistent. Bake at 350 for an hour or so.

You can eat it like you'd eat acorn squash: mashed with butter & a dash of salt.
I scoop out the flesh and put it in a big bowl & use a hand blender to smooth it out.

• Add it to pancakes or muffins
• For kids, you can use it in macaroni & cheese for added nutrition & fiber. They'll never know.
• Pumpkin soup--lots of varieties: savory with basil, garlic, etc. Cream of pumpkin soup. You can also make it as a soup base to make veggie soup, chicken soup, etc. My favourite pumpkin soup is adding curry for a spicy Indian theme.
• You can also go sweet: cinnamon, honey, butter
• Serve it chilled, like a custard

Pumpkins are an easy & nutritious addition to your repertoire!

At the pumpkin patch (also with a corn maze!) they had these goats. How cool that they have a house they can climb on.
King of the Castle.