Don’t toss those pumpkins away!
I have a soft spot for all things pumpkin. I love them for fall decor, but most of all I love pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, pumpkin alfredo pasta, pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin stew, and the list goes on. Where I live in Texas, I skip outdoor decorating with real pumkins because they rot quite quickly with the warm weather.
Now that it’s time to decorate for Christmas, what to do with all of the pumpkins you used to decorate your house for Halloween and Thanksgiving? You could compost the pumpkins, but why not eat them? I have really enjoyed filling my freezer with fresh pumpkin, which elliminates the need to use canned pumpkin in recipes.
The first time I tried this I made the mistake of chopping up the pumpkins raw and that’s a LOT of work. Now I like to roast the pumpkins in their skins and peel once cooled. When they are cooled the “flesh” is easily peeled or scooped out with a spoon. I prefer to freeze in plastic freezer proof bags but you could use plastic containers, too.
This year I had several pumpkin varieties that I had not used before and I wasn’t sure they were edible. With a little research, I was able to confirm that the yellow and orange mini pumpkins are edible, as well as the blue grey bumpy pumpkin. The blue grey one had more flesh than any of the other pumpkins. I was able to freeze 8 large gallon size bags of pumpkin – achieving zero waste!
