Stewing Pumpkins

Because of the weather, I've been at home more than usual this week.

I had a few pumpkins stored away that I needed to deal with. 

There are two kinds of pumpkins.  There are the big Jack O Lantern pumpkins that we see in October, gracing the front porches of homes and businesses everywhere.

Then, there are the smaller pie pumpkins.  These little gems are smaller.  I grow these in my yard, but I've picked them up at farm stands for a dollar or less.

These pumpkins are virtual powerhouses as far as stretching food goes.

Not only can the seeds be roasted and eaten, but the pumpkin itself is full of nutrient rich goodness that will keep you healthy and can be used in foods ranging from bread to soup!

Traditionally, I've cut up my pumpkins and roasted them in the oven.

This week, I decided to toss them in my crock pot to see if the job could be done more efficiently.

First, I washed the outside of the pumpkins well.  They've been sitting in storage for months now, and they are dusty.

Next, I cut them down into smaller pieces.  I saved the seeds in a colander so that I could clean them out and roast them later.

Pumpkin cut in half.
The seeds and pulp will get scooped out first.

Scooped and cut into smaller pieces.
This is about the size of pumpkin I used.
If I'd needed more space in my crock pot, I would have cut these pieces in half.

Finally, I put the pieces, rind side up into the slow cooker.  I covered the bottom of the pot with an inch or so of water, put the pot on low, and checked it every once in a while to see when they were finished, as well as to make certain that we didn't run out of water and burn a pot of pumpkin!

In the slow cooker.
The pumpkin rinds are facing up,
so the heart of the pumpkin will get steamed with the water.

4 hours later, I ended up with a wonderful pot of stewed pumpkin.

I pulled the pumpkin away from the rind, mashed the pumpkin with the potato masher, and threw the rinds onto the compost pile.

I used a cookie sheet for the mashed pumpkin.  Using an ice cream scoop, I put a large scoops of pumpkin on the cookie sheet.  I froze the pumpkin on the cookie sheet in the freezer.  Once it was completely frozen, I popped the scoops off of the cookie sheet and into a freezer bag.  I have a half cup of pumpkin in each scoop.  Most of my bread and muffin recipes call for 1 cup of pumpkin.  When I need it, I can pull out two scoops of pumpkin, give them a quick shot of heat in the microwave to defrost them, and then add them to my recipe. 

I used a potato masher for this because I enjoy doing things the old fashioned way.  I've also used a food mill and a blender to process my pumpkin.  You could also use a fork.  The pumpkin is very soft at this point - like a very ripe banana.  It's easy to mash!  You gotta work with the tools you have on hand!  Don't go out and buy something to process pumpkin - that kind of defeats the whole purpose of cooking from scratch to save money!

I smell pumpkin bread in my future!