Recycle Those Halloween Pumpkins!

Halloween may be over, but don’t throw away those Jack-O-Lanterns just yet! We’ve come up with some great ideas to make use of every last bit of your pumpkins.

Bake the Seeds:
Separate the seeds from the membrane, rinse. Soak in salt water overnight. Spread the seeds on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick vegetable oil. Sprinkle with salt if desired. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees, turning once. Allow to cool. Enjoy!

Make Baby Food:
Scoop the flesh out of a pumpkin that has been halved and roasted. Mash well with a fork. Typical Jack-O-Lantern pumpkins aren’t the sweet type you find in the produce section of your grocery store, so you may want to season with a little brown sugar and butter.

Use it as a Harvest Planter:
Scoop out the inside membrane and clean. Insert a disposable container like a coffee can or margarine tub. Fill with a little water and use as a vase. Fill the vase with natural twigs, grasses, and harvest mums for a beautiful autumn centerpiece.

Create a Bird Feeder:
Cut the top portion off the pumpkin so that you're left with a bowl large enough for birds.  Fill with birdseed and place outside where you can watch the birds enjoy a fall treat.

Make a Pumpkin Bowl:
Scoop out the inside membrane and clean. A typical pumpkin holds up to a gallon of soup or an entire casserole and adds flavor, too. Smaller pumpkins can be used for individual-sized bowls.

Pumpkin Casserole:
1 small to medium pumpkin
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. salt
1 med. chopped onion
1/2 c. diced green pepper
1/2 c. chopped celery
1 (4 oz.) can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 (10 oz.) can cream of chicken soup
2 c. cooked rice

Brown ground beef with onions, pepper, celery and salt. Add additional ingredients and place in pumpkin bowl. Place filled pumpkin on a baking sheet and bake for one hour at 350 degrees. Pumpkin will soften a little while baking. Be sure to scoop out a little of the pumpkin along with the casserole.

Make Pumpkin Puree
Pumpkin puree is the basis for many great bakery goodies. After preparing the puree, be sure to freeze what you won’t be using. It will stay fresh in your freezer for months.

How to prepare your pumpkin for use:

Cut pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds. Cut it into big chunks and place in a baking pan peel side down. Cover with foil. Bake 2-3 hours at 350 degrees. Remove from oven, scoop the pulp out of the peel. Puree in a food processor to reduce stringiness. Freeze excess pumpkin puree for later use.

Baked Pumpkin Pudding:
6 Tbsp butter or margarine
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
3/4 c. pumpkin puree
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Cream butter and sugars until well blended, beat in eggs. Combine dry ingredients. Mix together pumpkin and buttermilk and add to creamed mixture alternately with dry ingredients. Fold in chopped walnuts. Spoon into bundt pan or tube pan. Cover tightly with foil. Bake for one hour at 350 degrees. Let stand 10 minutes, unmold and serve with whipped cream. Makes 12-16 servings.

Pumpkin Bread:
3 1/2 c. unsifted flour
2 1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 c. pureed pumpkin
1 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 c. chopped walnuts

Grease and flour 2 (9 x 5 x 3-inch) loaf pans. In large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix together pumpkin and vegetable oil. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pumpkin mixture and stir just until flour is moistened. Add nuts. Pour into prepared pans and bake in 350 degrees oven 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes before removing from pans. When completely cool, wrap in plastic film and store overnight. Makes 2 loaves.


About the Author: Kimberly Danger is creator of Mommysavers.com. Portions of this article were inspired by the Mommysavers discussion forums: http://mommysavers.com/boards/index.php