Recipe for Pumpkin Veggie Bake

The result of a last-minute experiment right before Christmas, this dish will probably become a family favorite!

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp dried onion
8 cups baked pumpkin or (winter) squash, cubed
2 cans (15 oz) diced (fire-roasted!) tomatoes, with garlic
1 cup pasta sauce
½ tsp “Mrs. Dash” seasoning
½ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp crushed red pepper
Dash of fresh ground black pepper
6 or 8 fresh oregano leaves, minced

Instructions:
In a large Dutch Oven (or saucepan), heat oil over medium heat and sauté onions until lightly fragrant. Stir in pumpkin and tomatoes and then pasta sauce. Add remaining spices and mix well. Transfer to a slow cooker and let simmer for three or four hours – the longer, the better!

Make a hearty main dish by adding a pound of ground meat (cooked) and two or three cups of whole grain rotini pasta (cooked).

Enjoy!

Recipe for Pumpkin Curry Soup

Another wonderful recipe – especially for cold fall and winter evenings!

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp dried onion
2 cups grated carrots
1½ cups water
2 tsp curry powder
½ tsp salt
Dash of fresh ground black pepper
4 cups fresh pumpkin or (winter) squash puree
½ cup whole milk
1½ cups (12 oz can) evaporated milk

Instructions:
In a large saucepan melt butter over medium low heat. Add olive oil, onion, and carrots; sauté until tender. Add water and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

Add curry powder and salt, and then add pepper and pumpkin. Working with approximately 2-cup batches, blend until smooth and then pour all back into saucepan. Stir in whole milk and evaporated milk until well mixed. Heat through.

Serve garnished with sour cream, parsley, chives, or toasted pumpkin seeds, as desired.

Enjoy!

Recipe for Classic Pumpkin (Sweet Potato) Bread

(Initially adapted from a Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, I now updated this recipe with a mashed sweet potato substitution, the result of a late-night, last-minute scramble. We now actually prefer this version!)

In a large mixing bowl, combine the following:
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ginger or cloves (or both!)

Mix dry ingredients thoroughly, and then add:
¾ cup pumpkin puree + ¼ cup mashed sweet potato (OR 1 cup pumpkin puree)
½ Tbsp molasses
½ cup milk
2 eggs
¼ cup + 2 Tbsp butter

Mix all ingredients together with electric beaters on low speed until well blended, then beat on high speed for two minutes.

Add:
1 cup bread flour

Beat well and then stir in:
½ cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
½ cup raisins

Pour batter into a greased 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes on a wire rack before removing from pans. Then cool thoroughly. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

Enjoy!

Recipe for Creamy & Spicy Pumpkin Soup

To economize on time and resources, I doubled this recipe so it would make ten one-cup servings. The original recipe is posted at About.com.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 small onions, sliced OR 2 Tbsp dried onion
2 tsp “Mrs. Dash” seasoning
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
8 cups fresh pumpkin or (winter) squash puree
1½ cups (12 oz can) evaporated milk
½ cup whole milk
5 cups chicken or vegetable broth (or bouillon)
1 to 2 tsp sugar

Instructions:
In a large pot, heat oil and sauté onions until lightly fragrant (or until soft if using fresh onion). Add remaining spices, cooking for 30 seconds or so. (Be careful not to burn the spices!) Stir for another minute and then remove from heat.

Add 3 cups of liquid, one at a time, and then add pumpkin puree. Stir (or blend) until smooth. Add the remaining liquid and heat all until simmering. Add sugar to taste. Add salt, if needed.

Garnish with pumpkin seeds, bacon bits, sour cream, or grated Parmesan or sharp cheddar cheese.

making pumpkin puree

On the Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving, we were given two HUGE pumpkins. They had served their purpose as part of the decor for a Thanksgiving Banquet:

They're not "pie pumpkins" – but some quick research yielded the verdict that carving pumpkins belong to the "winter squash" family and are rich in antioxidants and vitamins. So, I was excited about the opportunity for a frugal challenge. (Having grown up in South America, I'm constantly shocked at how much we can "afford" to throw away here in the USA!)

The first step involved recruiting my Dearest to help cut the biggest pumpkin into three large chunks. This is the largest chunk – representing almost half of the pumpkin:

After scraping out the seeds with an ice-cream scoop, I covered the first chunk of pumpkin with aluminum foil and placed in on a pizza stone in the oven at 350 degrees, checking on it every half hour or so until it was fork-tender.

The largest chunk took about two hours to bake.

After cooling slightly, I scooped the baked pumpkin from the rind with the ice-cream scoop.

The first pumpkin – the largest – yielded this much:

After storing the chunks in the refrigerator overnight, I began making pumpkin puree the next day. Since I don't have a high-quality blender, I found that the pureeing worked best if I added about one cup of water per batch being blenderized.

The result was pumpkin puree with an applesauce-like consistency – which we actually prefer.

Not counting the pan (front center in the picture above) full  of chunks (reserved for stew), the largest pumpkin yielded over 35 cups of puree! There's been lots of pumpkin cooking and baking going on around here, and I'll probably freeze the 20 or so remaining cups for later use.

And there's still the second pumpkin to attend to...

making applesauce

It's still apple season! And one of the simplest (perhaps obvious) things to do when there are lots of apples on hand is make a big batch of applesauce!

About a year ago while experimenting with apples that had to be used up, I came up with a healthful (not oversweet) variety of applesauce that we love to eat plain or incorporate into other (especially sweet bread) recipes.

I start with a big pan full of apples. I used mostly the Golden Delicious variety yesterday:

After washing the apples, I cut them into eighths and then peel each section. (Being health-conscious and frugal, I hate to peel apples – so I sometimes boil the peels in about two cups of water, making an apple drink. But I digress...)

I add one cup of 100% juice to the pan, put on the lid, and then simmer the apples on the stove (on a low setting for about an hour), checking the apples occasionally and stirring and mashing them – since the ones on the bottom cook first. It's always fun to note how much "juice" accumulates in the pan, having started with only one cup! (Incidentally, I've used Kiwi Strawberry Juice the last two times – since that's what I've had on hand. The result is quite tasty, and the juice blend is apple-juice based anyway.)

When the apples are thoroughly cooked and mashed, I uncover the pan to allow them to cool. Then, when the applesauce has thoroughly cooled, I package it up for the fridge or freezer, depending on the quantity.

Yesterday's pan full of apples yielded about 15 cups of pure applesauce!

Yum!

Frugal Fall Fun!

Take an afternoon drive (or walk) and enjoy the wonderful colors of autumn.

Every year, I'm awed by the beauty of God's creation!

When you stop for photo opps, collect some of the leaves to use in frugal decorating. You could do something simple, like this (from last year's Thanksgiving table):

Or, arrange leaves on a sheet of wax paper and cover with another sheet of wax paper, like this:

Then, use a hot iron to press the leaves between the two sheets. (Be sure to put a dishtowel on the ironing board and on the top sheet of wax paper!) After ironing, peel off the wax paper; the leaves will have a light wax finish that will help to preserve the colors and keep them from curling.

Here are some of our finished products:

We'll probably tape some leaves to a window or indoor mirror and use others to decorate the table. Use your imagination! And check out a post by MoneySavingMom to read about using leaves in homeschool lessons, too.

It's apple season!

For readers in the Upstate, fall usually means inexpensive apples – and possibly some frugal family fun on an apple-picking outing!

MacAbee's Fruit Stand next to the Dish Barn (where I-25 merges onto I-26 near Flat Rock) sells "seconds" for $4.00 per half-bushel bag. Assuming 20 pounds per half-bushel, that's $0.20 per pound. Or you can buy most varieties of apples for an average of $12 per bushel, i.e. $0.30 per pound. Either way, you're getting a much better deal than you would at a grocery store.

We recently picked up a bushel of apples. We've been enjoying them fresh! And I'm planning to make up (and freeze) a big batch of applesauce, among other things.

Stay tuned for my modification of a favorite family recipe we call Apple Slices.