Tasty Tuesday---Freezing Pumpkins and Recipes to use it in!

Pumpkins. 
Lots and lots of pumpkins.

I told you we have 22 pumpkins left, after this weekend?

Yeah. Here is another pic of my twins trying to count the pumpkins.

Since they can only get up to five without randomly choosing numbers like "onetey eleven", somehow I think we have more than five. I have given up counting them, just want to get them finished and done.

Yesterday we covered about how to cut, cube, peel, and pressure can pumpkins. I want you to know that today I opened one of those jars, drained it, and mashed the pumpkin, and literally minutes later was putting 24 pumpkin coconut muffins into the oven. I made the batter using my Muffin Master Mix that is in my E-book ,The Master Mix Way, and they were fabulous, simple, and quick or quicker than pulling a packet of premixed muffin mix out of the cupboard and making them up.


Pumpkin can also be cooked and then frozen in 2 cup portions.

I have a recipe for Delicious Pumpkin Bread that uses exactly 2 cups of pumpkin puree, so that is what I freeze in blocks in freezer bags.

Here is the recipe for that  
Delicious Pumpkin Bread:

4 eggs

1 Quart pumpkin cubes, or 2 cups pumpkin puree 

(smash cubes first)

 1/2 cup molasses

1 cup coconut or regular vegetable oil

 (mix wet ingredients in mixing bowl, then add dry, after sifting them together)

4 cups whole wheat flour

 (I used my WonderMill on pastry setting)

1 cup dark brown sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix all well in a bowl, and then pour into 2 greased bread pans, or 24 muffin tins. Bake at 350* for one hour for breads, or 22-25 minutes for muffins (or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean). If you feel the batter is too stiff, then add a splash of milk before putting into the greased pans.

You can also use pumpkin for oatmeal, pies, muffins, cheesecakes, breads, Ravioli, stews, etc.

Tonight we had fun throwing in some cubes of pumpkin into our standard beef stew recipe, and everyone around the table cleaned their plates and asked for more. I think cubing it up and freezing it like that would make it super simple to just throw in dishes like beef stew, or other meals, like soups, etc.The pumpkin naturally thickened the stew, and it was a 10 according to everyone. In fact, I am not sure most would have known it was pumpkin if I had not told them, and there was a very little hint of pumpkin in the taste. Mostly it all just blended and enhanced the rich beefy taste of the stew meat.

Here is a recipe for this one:
Fantastic Fall Beef Stew:

In a heavy frying pan, place 2 Tbs EV Olive oil, 1 tsp garlic salt, 1 cup diced onions, 1/2 tsp thyme, oregano, and parsley. Add 1 lb beef or venison stew meat, and cook until desired doneness. Add 1/2 cup diced celery, 4 potatoes cubed, and 1 pint of carrots (1 can or 2 regular). To this add 3 Tbs worcesteshire sauce, 1 tsp hot pepper sauce, and 4 tsp of beef bullion. After this simmers for a bit (I add in the liquid from the can of carrots or pints of home-canned potatoes I sometimes use in place of fresh), then add 5-6 cups water, and 1 cup of pumpkin cubes, cubed to about 1". Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened and well blended, as well as veggies cooked through. Takes about 30 minutes. You could also put all this in a crockpot after searing the meat and let it cook on low for about 6-8 hours. Serve with homemade biscuits, and you are good to go for dinner! The herbs and pumpkin really make the difference in amazing-ness for this stew.

I hope you enjoyed today's post with two recipes on how to use up pumpkins you have sitting around. Tomorrow we are going to cover how to dehydrate and use pumpkin in more recipes! Below my signature picture I linked a few more pumpkin recipes that looked absolutely delicious and got shared over on the Welcoming House FB Page.

Don't forget to vote! 
Today I am incredibly thankful to live in a country where I have a say about who runs it, where my right to vote is guaranteed by a constitution, and where it is an honored privilege in a small town.

Many Blessings to you and yours,
Heather

  More pumpkin links:
Pumpkin Cake Roll
Pumpkin Chocolate chip Pancakes
Spicy Pumpkin Cookies
20 AMAZING pumpkin recipes from around the Blogsphere



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