During Halloween, pumpkins are the staple for decor, costumes and carvings. However; they tend to go to waste a lot. To avoid that from repeating, let's be the change we want to see and try these 5 ways to make use of your pumpkin after Halloween.
1. Compost It (Eco-Friendly)
The quickest, less stressful and most environmentally friendly way to get rid of the pumpkin is by putting it into the Compost Bin! This helps reduce the amount of waste sent to our landfills and breaks down the organic materials to leave you a natural fertilizer that can nourish the environment.
"Lomi" has made composting much easier and better with its portable compost machine, that speeds up the composting process within 4 hours or if you're a broke college student like me, take it to your dumpster room and put it in the compost machine or bin. All at a low cost, it can easily be turned into something new!
2. Make A Pumpkin Purée (Delicious)
I know, I know, it's the most basic and common thing to do with a pumpkin but did you know the variety of food you can make with it?
You can make a pumpkin pie, pumpkin creme cheese muffins, biscuits, spice syrup for a pumpkin latter, and much more! So, even if you don't want to eat the purée itself, preserve it and use it for these recipes!
Now that's out of the way, let's make some delicious purée.
Step One: After taking out the seeds (which I assume you did to carve out a nice spooky pumpkin), cut your pumpkin in half (do not throw the seeds, it can be roasted).
Step Two: Place it on a baking pan, and turn the half facing up and roast at 350 degrees for 45 mins until it is softened, remember to check with a fork.
Step Three: Once soften, take it out of the oven (please be careful as this will be SOUPER hot), make sure it's lightly golden!
Step Four: Carefully, peel off the skin from the pumpkin before throwing it into a food processor and blending. If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a blender just add some water so it comes nice and smooth.
3. What better way than to... EAT IT.
Don’t eat it raw of course, cook it! The easiest way is to make a purée soup, which I've given the steps above, but I challenge you to be more adventurous with the cooking.
You can make a Pumpkin Chili with It's Souper's meat lovers chili.
All you have to do is pour It's Souper's Meat Lover's Chilli into a pot and a blend it with a pumpkin purée and let it boil to your preferred texture! And there you have it! Simple, tasty, and a seasoned pumpkin chili for you to enjoy!
4. Make Pumpkin Stock (Yummy!)
Yes, pumpkin stock. Pumpkin stock is perfect for our pumpkin lovers. It can be made with some nice chowder soup. All you need is the insides of the pumpkin, veggies of your choice, and a bay leaf or two.
Put them all in a pot with water and let it simmer for an hour. Always make sure to check between times and stir, we don’t want it burnt (unless you like that flavour, no judgement here!). Lastly, strain the veggies out and reuse the stock whenever you like.
5. Smooth like Butter (DIY Idea)
Make your very own butter. I bet you had apple, almond, and honey butter, so it is about time we add to the collection. Spice up your breakfast with this easy recipe to try with your leftover pumpkin!
Another use for the pumpkin purée is this!
You will need:
- Pumpkin Purée (See recipe above)
- Sugar (brown, or coconut)
- Maple Syrup
- Apple Cider or Juice
- Vanilla Extract
- Cinnamon Powder
- Cinnamon Sticks
Put all ingredients into a pot, bring it to a boil, and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Stir in between to avoid burnt butter and to make sure it thickens. Add whatever spices you like to adjust to the taste of your choice and serve with bread, pancakes, or waffles!
I hope this was helpful and has you brainstorming a bunch of ideas of what you can do with that leftover Pumpkin! Here at It's Souper, we don't like to waste anything, so we want to give our Souper Fam foodie lovers all the best tips and tricks!
Let us know if you'll ever try this out!
Rachael Afolabi