3 Ways To Use Your Pumpkin Guts

Many of you may be carving pumpkins right now in preparation for Halloween next week.

What will you do with all the guts that you scoop out?  Here's what I did...

ONE.

Roasted pumpkin seeds.  Consider this your warning, do not dry pumpkin seeds overnight on paper towel... you will spend A LOT of time trying to scrape the paper toweling off the seeds the next morning.  This is a fact (don't ask how I know).  Next time I will wash my seeds, place them on two paper towels so that the majority of the moisture is sucked up, then move them to a towel overnight to suck up the remaining moisture.  I ended up wasting all the seeds you see on the mess-of-a-paper-towel below because I got sick of trying to save every seed.

How did I season my seeds?  Sea salt + a little stevia.  Bake for about 25 minutes (stirring after 10 minutes) at 325 degrees.  Eat.  Enjoy :)

TWO.

Smoothies!  The pumpkin that you scrape off the sides of your pumpkin to make the wall a little thinner, thus easier to carve, save that stuff!  Put a handful of it into a blender and blend away (it will turn into a liquid-like substance).  My favorite smoothie combination thus far is blended pumpkin + vanilla yogurt (1/2 c) + blueberries (1/2 c)!  Both the pumpkin and the blueberry flavors stand out so much in the smoothies, it's awesome!  Oh yeah, and healthy!!

THREE.

Cookies! I borrowed a recipe that I found on Ashley's blog A Happier Healthier Bear, and modified it with ingredients I had on hand and tried to healthify it. (Note: Don't hate on the fact that "healthify" is not in the dictionary.)  Here's my version of the recipe...

Chewy Pumpkin Spice Cookies (modified)

1/2 c applesauce

1 1/4 c packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 c fresh pumpkin (blended as seen above)

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour 

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg 

Chocolate chips 

(I used less than a half bag since that's all I had left, wish I had more since I like everything chocolaty)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cream applesauce, sugar and eggs together. Mix well. Add vanilla and blended pumpkin.  Stir in dry ingredient to the wet mixture. Add chocolate chips (or nuts, raisins, etc. if you want).  Drop by the spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet, bake for 10-15 minutes. Cool.  

The cookies are still in the oven as I write this post, so check back here in the comments of this post or check Twitter (@wealths_health) for the results!  

What other ways do you use the guts of a pumpkin?  

PS If you're wondering what we carved in our pumpkins, you'll have to wait until Halloween!  But I'll give you a hint... mine has to do with one of my favorite cities in the US.  Can you guess it?