This might seem like a totally random blog but bear with me until the end:
I cooked up 3 fresh pumpkins yesterday, which turned into 3 fresh pumpkin pies, and a batch of pumpkin energy bites and a whole bunch of bags to go into the freezer for the winter. The 2 smaller pumpkins I cooked were the "pie pumpkins", these are sweeter than the regular larger ones.
To cook a pumpkin: put a couple of knife slices (like poking a baked potato) into the sides of the whole pumpkin, a really important step so they do not blow up in your oven. Place onto a cookie sheet and put into a 250 oven for 2-3 hours, or until it is soft with a fork or knife poke. If the pumpkins are too high you can snap off the woody stem at the top as you will not need it.
Once baked, I cut them in half and let them cool, then I scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff. Some people will keep the seeds and roast them to eat, then with a spoon I scrape the “meat” away from the skin, this is the part you use for baking.
Did you know pumpkin is really a nutritious food? It contains a lot of potassium, beta-carotene, fiber and antioxidants – Vitamin C and E. Potassium is an important mineral in your body, it can help with blood pressure and over all heart health. Antioxidants help your body fight against diseases and aging. Scientists have found that eating pumpkin is excellent for type 2 diabetes and they are doing more tests to study this further.
Do not use the canned pumpkin pie mix you get in the grocery store as it contains sugar and possibly syrups. The store should have cans of strictly canned pumpkin, one ingredient, that is the one to buy if you do not cook up your own. Once you taste a pie made from fresh pumpkin you probably won’t be going back to the canned stuff.
Pumpkin can be used in baking, soups, casseroles, salads, preserves and some people use pureed pumpkin in place of butter or oil in a recipe.
Pumpkin is just plain good for you.
I saw this on facebook but I believe this came from HIS radio station.
Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin
God picks you from the patch and brings you in. (John 15:16)
Then washes all the dirt off you. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
He opens you up and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed etc. (Romans 6:6)
Then He carves you a new smiling face. (Psalm 71:23)
He puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see. (Matthew 5:16)
At this time of year and into October when “pumpkin’s” get a bad wrap of just being jack o lanterns and Halloween-ish, I loved finding this little saying to remember how yummy pumpkin’s are and have a whole new perspective on the lowly pumpkin!