How to use up all that pumpkin

There are so many things one can do with pumpkin besides carving a Jack-O-Lantern or making a pie. Always concerned about weight and blood sugar, I created a number of low calorie dishes using fresh pumpkin. These are not just sweets, but include soups and stews.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Choose a regional cuisine and take note of the spices and other vegetables used in that cuisine. Soups and stews such as minestrone, American pot roast, and chili lend themselves to pumpkin cooking. Substitute pumpkin for the meat, potatoes, and/or beans called for in that recipe. Doing so reduces the starch, fat, and calorie count substantially and can be done in whatever combination you wish.
2. Prepare your soup or stew as the recipe dictates, leaving out the meat, potato or other starch you want to get rid of. While it simmers, prepare your pumpkin chunks.
3. To prepare pumpkin chunks, cut out the stem as though you were going to make a Jack-O-Lantern. Scoop out the seeds with a big spoon. Save them to make spicy roasted pumpkin seeds for a good snack.
   
   Cut the pumpkin from stem end to bottom into about ten big pieces. Turn each piece on its side so that it is stable while you remove the rind with a big, sharp knife. Send the rind pieces over the fence to the chickens. They will love it.
   
   Cut the pumpkin into bite-sized pieces and add them to your stew or soup. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft and has absorbed all of the good flavor of your spices. Do not overcook or the pumpkin will turn to mush.
4. Enjoy!

Tips & Warnings

• Buy small pumpkins or you will have entirely too much.
• Be sure not to add the pumpkin to your dish until 20 minutes before the end of cooking.
• Buy several pumpkins in October because you will not be able to find them after that.
• Store pumpkins in a cool, dry place and they will keep for up to 5 months.
• If a portion of a pumpkin begins to rot, cut it out, discard all seeds, and the rest of the pumpkin will still be good.
• Choose a spicy recipe because the pumpkin will absorb the flavor entirely. You will not even know it is pumpkin when it is done.