As a kid, one of the few foods I didn’t like, was pumpkin pie…and other than carving one, I didn’t know there was much else to do with this gourd. Boy did I have a lot to learn!
Once we had the boys, I loved roasting the seeds and they loved eating them. But there is so much more purpose for that great pumpkin. Canned pumpkin is a fabulous substitute for the fats and liquids (butter and milk) in baking cakes, pancakes, brownies and so much more. This makes it a perfect substitute for those on a plant-based diet as well as those that are looking to reduce calories. You can use it in place of bananas to turn a banana bread into a pumpkin bread. Rachel Ray suggests you add some roasted salted pumpkin seeds to give it more texture and taste. You can also use it to thicken up smoothies and of course you can roast it just like any other gourd. With only 30 calories in a whole cup, and no fat, it provides 197% of your daily vitamin A requirement and helps balance our sacral chakras (which, for the record, is associated with, amongst other things, creativity and…..sex!)
So whether you carve it, cook it, bake it, just pumpkin. Two of my favorite pumpkins found their perfect one and sent me a great pic last night which inspired this post but…I can’t seem to reduce the size and get it on here. Must be the ghost of Halloween messing with me……………….Maybe it will appear….and maybe it won’t….kind of like trick or treat………