Playing with Pure Pumpkin
@belindayhughes (1096)
United States
January 18, 2013 11:47pm CST
The holidays are past and I still have some canned pure pumpkin on the shelf. I've been experimenting with seasonings and other things to prepare it differently than usual. First I just played with cinnamon and powdered sugar. Then I added nutmeg, soy flour and baking powder, as well. That was yummy! Typically, I have relied on recipes, and sometimes I will adapt one to my new healthier ways. But right now I'm just flying by the seat of my pants and enjoying it. A pinch of this, a dab of that, stir, taste, cook, taste again, see what happens.
6 responses
@peavey (16936)
• United States
19 Jan 13
I like pumpkin and it's really good for you. I usually buy one each fall, then cook and puree it to make pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas. One pumpkin will make more than a few pies, though, so I always have some in the freezer.
I made pumpkin soup one time without a recipe. I put in onions and (turkey) ham and it was really good. There are recipes for pumpkin muffins and cookies, too, that are good ways to use it.
It's fun to just experiment and see what we can come up with, I agree. How about pumpkin pudding or pumpkin custard?
1 person likes this
@crochetkid (351)
• United States
19 Jan 13
Oooo, pumpkin custard now that sounds delish! I love baking with pumpkin especially muffins. They make a great fast breakfast, I too like baking it for a pie but just pour it into a greased dish and omitt the crust. I can eat an entire pan of it just by myself. It seems that here in the states people just think of pumpkin for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I like it all year round. It isn't that expensive either.
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
19 Jan 13
Heya peavey! I have yet to cook with a real pumpkin, yet, although growing them is easy. Your pumpkin soup sounds luscious! Muffins and cookies are good with pumpkin. My mom and I indulge in pumpkin pies and pumpkin sponge cake rolls at holiday time. A roommate once showed me how to make pumpkin pudding. It's just the recipe on the can, without the pie crust, basically. A custard would be a new frontier for me. Cheers!
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
30 Jan 13
Hey Ricki, how's it going? The pancakes and muffins sound like yummy innovations. Not sure I'd try the hot chocolate. But then again, one of my nannies stirred an egg into my hot chocolate when I was little, so I guess anything goes.
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
19 Jan 13
I have to admit that in my all my life I have never ever tasted pumpkin, in any shape or form, they say pumpkin seeds are supposed to be healthy for you. Sounds like you are cooking up quite a storm from the humble pumpkin and having fun with it, bon appetite!
1 person likes this
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
20 Jan 13
Oh dear wolfie friend, you have no idea what you're missing. I have a recipe for spicy toasted pumpkin seeds, whenever I get my hands on some. At the moment, the dollar store in my neighborhood has cases of large cans of pumpkin on sale for only $2 per can, and I plan to stock up and bake my heart out!
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
19 Jan 13
Hi jalucia, and thanks! Like I said, I'm just playing around with it, experimenting. Hopefully, in the course of doing so, I might come up with some new recipes for my food blog and cookbook. There's a lot of perfectly good canned pumpkin on clearance right now, because, with the economy, many people chose to spend their money on other things, if they had it to spend at all. It's very nutritious stuff, and with it still being winter, it's a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of the leftovers at home and in the stores to create something new and delicious.
@Arieles (2473)
• United States
19 Jan 13
I love adding canned pumpkin to my morning oatmeal and egg whites. It's a great change and it taste great plus the added Vitamin A is great. I have tried soy flour before and it's pretty good, and I've heard it's really great for menopausal women. I'm really interested in trying coconut flour, but the only place I can find that is on Amazon.
1 person likes this
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
19 Jan 13
Heya ARIES! Pumpkin is indeed rich in Vitamin A. And it's true about the soy flour, too. I have not tried coconut flour, nor seen it on store shelves yet. I do have coconut milk, though. Cheers!
@edvc77 (2140)
• Philippines
19 Jan 13
My son loves to see pumpkins. I'm amazed too of the huge sizes of pumpkins in US. We have pumpkins too here in our country but not that huge. And you have many recipes on pumpkins and I would like to try it too. Here in our place we just mixed it with other vegetables and meat and put coconut milk or fish sauce. It's yummy already. I have never eaten pumpkin pie and I would like to try it.
1 person likes this
@belindayhughes (1096)
• United States
19 Jan 13
Hi, edvc, and thank you. I had not heard of adding fish sauce to pumpkin, but it sounds very interesting. Cheers!
