5 Ideas for leftover pumpkins this October!
Tis the season for pumpkins... but not sure what to do with them?<br /> If you have uncarved or leftover pumpkins, here's a few ideas to repurpose them...
🎃 1. Bird Feeder
Once you’re done with your wonderfully carved pumpkin, use the hollowed-out pumpkin as a natural bird feeder. Fill it with bird seed and place it in the garden. Enjoy watching the birds visit.
🎃 2. Bury Your Pumpkin
You can bury your pumpkin directly in the soil to break down and provide nutrients for your garden. Cutting the pumpkin up first will help it to break down faster. Make sure you have removed the seeds before burying, or you may end up with your own pumpkin patch next Autumn!
🎃 3. Eat The Seeds!
After removing the seeds from your pumpkin, rinse them, drizzle with oil and season with your favourite spices, then roast for a healthy snack or a crunchy topping for soups and salads. Pumpkin seeds provide essential nutrients including healthy fats, protein, fiber, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. They are also a rich source of antioxidants like vitamin E and polyphenols, which help protect cells from damage, as well as essential minerals like manganese and copper.
🎃 4. Dog-safe treats!
Ingredients:
2 cups of plain oats.
1 cup of plain, pumpkin (or plain pumpkin puree).
½ cup of (xylitol-free) peanut butter.
Method:
Step 1 – Break down oats in a food processor or blender for a few seconds.
Step 2 – Place baking paper onto a baking tray, or plate, that can fit in your fridge.
Step 3 – Mix oats, peanut butter, and pumpkin puree together in a large bowl.
Step 4 – Roll small amounts of the mixture into balls.
Step 5 – Place each treat ball onto the baking paper.
Step 6 – Leave the treats to chill for at least an hour before giving any to your dog.
🎃5. Pumpkin & Bacon Soup (Uncarved and not used prior for decoration!)
Ingredients
1 tbsp vegetable oil
50g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
150g maple-cured bacon, cut into small pieces
½ Crown Prince pumpkin; peeled, deseeded and cut into medium chunks (you need about 500g pumpkin flesh)
1l chicken stock
100ml double cream
3 tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted
maple syrup, for drizzling
Method – step 1
In a large, heavy-bottomed pan, heat the oil with 25g butter. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook on a low heat for 10 mins or until soft. Add 60g bacon and cook for a further 5 mins until the bacon releases its fat. Then increase the heat to medium, add the pumpkin and stock and season. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook for about 40 mins until the pumpkin is soft. Pour in the cream, bring to the boil again and remove from the heat. Set aside some of the liquid, then blend the remaining pumpkin until smooth and velvety, adding liquid back into the pan bit by bit as you go (add more liquid if you like it thinner). Strain through a fine sieve, check the seasoning and set aside.
Step 2
Melt the remaining butter in a pan over a high heat and fry the rest of the bacon with black pepper for 5 mins. Divide the bacon between four bowls, reheat the soup and pour over. To serve, sprinkle over the pumpkin seeds and drizzle with maple syrup.