Whole Lotta Pumpkin: 5 Things To Make With Pumpkin

    I have a HUGE pumpkin carved in my yard.  Although I do like to bake pumpkin seeds, I don't tend to use the pumpkin itself.  I find the canned pumpkin very convenient.  I buy the plain pumpkin without the spices.  Since it is pumpkin season, what do you do with that canned orange stuff?

1. Pumpkin bread/muffins

2. Pumpkin seeds

3. Pumpkin Pie

4. Pumpkin Oatmeal

5. Pumpkin Harvest Pudding

Pumpkin Harvest Pudding

    After opening up the can for our new recipe pumpkin oatmeal, I had A LOT leftover.  I could just let it sit on the back of the shelf and grow mold, tsk tsk, or find a use for it.  So in the most unlikely of sources What To Eat When You're Expecting I found a pumpkin recipe that used up my pumpkin and my dwindling pile of apples.
   I didn't have frozen apple juice so I substituted unsweetened applesauce.  I was out of pears, so I doubled up on apples and threw two extra in since they were on their way to rottensville. I raided the raisins from the kids snack shelf and I skipped the wheat germ and cranberries since I didn't have any.  I threw in two eggs instead of egg whites, though I did manage to separate them by dropping one on the table. We had some mixed nuts which my little helper enjoyed preparing with a bag and a spoon.
   It took a little work to put together, but it was good!  The recipe said to enjoy it for dessert, snack or topped with yogurt for breakfast.  It was even tastier cold. The crumb topping would make a nice crumble for an apple crisp or granola starter.  I'm not waiting until Thanksgiving for my pumpkin fix!
 



Harvest Pudding from What To Eat When You're Expecting

2 cups canned unsweetened solid-pack pumpkin
1 1/3 cups apple juice concentrate
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 egg whites
1/2 cup raisins, chopped
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
1 medium pear, peeled, cored, and freshly chopped
1/2 cup fresh cranberries (optional)
1 2/3 cups rolled oats
6 tablespoons wheat germ
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pumpkin, 3/4 cup of juice concentrate, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and egg whites in a bowl; beat together until well blended. Stir in the raisins, apple, pear and cranberries. Combine remaining juice concentrate, cinnamon, oats, wheat germ, butter and nuts in another bowl; blend until crumbly. Stir half the oat mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Transfer the pumpkin mixture into a 9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining oat mixture evenly over the top. Bake until crumbs are light brown and pudding is set, 30 to 40 minutes. Serve warm or cold.