Practical Mardi Gras Challenge #2- What I Did With the Large Stash of Pumpkin in My Freezer

Not just for Halloween anymore. 

Technically, this is only what I did with one bag of the pumpkin. I've still got three more of those suckers to get through. Each bag has about a gallon of pumpkin puree in it.

The pumpkin originated as Halloween decorations in the halls of the high school where my husband teaches. After the holiday had come and gone, he brought them home for me, and I cranked up the stove and processed it by peeling it, dicing it up, threw it in a pot, added a little water, and steamed/boiled it until it was soft. I used a stick blender to get it to the consistency I needed, then ladled it into gallon ziplock bags and laid them in the freezer, where they languished.  

Last week, I finally got a bag of the stuff out of my freezer. 


Look at it. Sitting there all smug. "Use me up. I dare ya." 

The bag sat in my fridge in a big blue bowl for about a week while I used it up. It took up a lot of space-- I was very happy when I finally finished it. 

I made a LOT of muffins. So many muffins. Muffins in spades. 



We eat them pretty often for breakfast, so it wasn't too hard to work this into my normal cooking routine. 

The recipe I use isn't nearly as sweet as the 'muffins' you find in coffee shops (those are just huge cupcakes without frosting). My muffins generally have dried fruit, veggie puree and/or nuts, and I sweeten them by substituting a big spoonful of honey or a mashed overripe banana (we usually have a supply of these in the freezer) instead of using refined sugar. I make them at least once a week for breakfast, and serve them alongside some scrambled or fried eggs for protein. We usually eat them with just butter, but since the sweetness isn't as strong with this recipe as it is for others, they'd also be lovely with honey or jam. 

This particular batch had  blueberries in it. Quite good with pumpkin, actually. 

I've talked about how I alter muffin recipes before in my baby food post. To add a cooked fruit or veggie puree like pumpkin, just reduce the liquid (the recipe I use calls for milk) to half a cup, then add about half a cup of the puree.  You can also reduce the amount of oil or fat the recipe calls for if you're adding a puree by at least half-- I've even left it out all together (don't leave out the egg though). 

I also had enough to make a couple batches of pumpkin pudding. It tastes like pumpkin pie filling, but much lighter.

You simply mix about 1 3/4 cup of pumpkin puree with about half a cup of milk, 

This should give you some idea of the ratio of pumpkin to milk I used. 


 a few spices,

I used ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. 

an egg, about a half cup of sugar, and a teaspoon or so of vanilla.

About half a cup of sugar, an egg...and a bowl because the measuring cup turned out too small to hold the whole mix. 


 Beat well, and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until it hits 158 degrees Fahrenheit,



Beat well (really well, or you'll get chunks of egg in the finished dish), pour into a buttered baking dish. 

and voila! Not nearly as rich as traditional pie filling, but still pretty yummy.

Finished pudding. Be aware it doesn't set up as firm as pie filling...it's pudding.  

Really good, quick, cheap dessert. 

Especially good with cool whip. 

A few general notes on working with frozen puree... 

- It gives off a lot of water/juice as it thaws. Just drain this off (or find a use for it...please let me know if you do!)

- It's much thinner than canned pumpkin, even after you drain off the extra liquid. You can swap it for pumpkin in recipes, but you may need to tweak the other ingredients to make up for it. As with all substitutions and alterations, don't try it with a recipe that you haven't tried before. 

And finally, 

-I recommend storing it in quart sized baggies rather than gallon sized baggies. Learn from my mistake here. Gallon size takes WAY too long to use up. 

Happy cooking! 


Comments

  1. Thanks for the muffin recipe! Can't wait to try it out 😁😁

    ReplyDelete

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