This week’s Secret Ingredient for Friday Foodie Fix is Pumpkins! Right now they are everywhere. I’ve seen them in lots of colors, shapes and sizes. This week I purchased a Lumina or white pumpkin. Interesting isn’t it. It’s orange inside and I’ve read people who say it makes a good pie and others say it doesn’t, so cook at your own risk.
Lumina or White Pumpkin
I found an interesting website called All About Pumpkins created by Jack Creek Farms. You can see a list of varieties, learn the history, and get tips on growing, storing and carving pumpkins. According to the site here are some nutritional facts for pumpkins. Pumpkins are very high in beta-carotene (an antioxidant). Researchers believe that eating a diet rich in beta-carotene may reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers. They also believe it helps to delay aging. What, I’m going to eat pumpkin every week!
1 cup of cooked pumpkin flesh contains:
Calories 49, Protein 2 grams, Carbohydrate 12 grams, Dietary Fiber 3 grams, Calcium 37 mg, Iron 1.4 mg, Magnesium 22 mg, Potassium 564 mg
Zinc 1 mg, Selenium .50 mg, Vitamin C 12 mg, Niacin 1 mg, Folate 21 mcg, Vitamin A 2650 IU, Vitamin E 3 mg
OK, so what have you done with your pumpkin? Did you carve it or eat it? Did you also use the pumpkin seeds or pepitas? I love to bake them with salt and then eat the meat from inside. I used my pumpkin to make Gluten Free and Dairy Free Pumpkin Pudding. It was so good I ate it for breakfast. I hope you will leave your original recipes here. Then check back to see what others have left and check out their blogs. And I would love it if you let others know about Friday Foodie Fix, especially by including it in your recipe blog post. If you are adding an old recipe, please consider going back to the post and adding and Update. Visit our Friday Foodie Fix page for more info.
One last thing to share. Do you like the new button? My really cool blog wonder girl, Mary Motz, created it. If you want to use it in your blog post or even add it to your sidebar of your blog, I would be tickled pink, purple, red, green and about a hundred other colors. Here is the code you need to add it:
<a href=”http://www.thewholegang.org/friday-foodie-fix/” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://glutenfreefoodcritic.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/foodie-crossing2.jpg” width=”173″ height=”217″ border=”0″></a>
Next week’s Secret Ingredient is ………………..Sweet Potato!
I've never seen a white pumpkin! I'm having trouble finding more pie pumpkins, but now that I've learned to make fresh pumpkin, I don't want to use canned any more. Thanks for hosting! I'll have to think about sweet potatoes.
Linda- I've seen the white ones in magazines but I was surprised to find them at the market. I think we'll just use it for decoration. Thank you for sharing your recipes on Friday Foodie Fix.
So excited to see everyone's entries. I'm a bit obsessed with pumpkin at the moment =D.
Lauren- It's an easy time of year to be obsessed with pumpkin. I like to eat it all year long too.
Wow I have not seen a white pumpkin before either! Sadly I do not use fresh pumpkin, a few years ago I was cutting a sugar pumpkin and the blade of my knife (an old poor quality knife I shouldn't have been using) snapped in two and I needed a few bandages….so I've been sticking to the canned stuff until I can muster up the courage to try again w/ the fresh pumpkin…
Jenn- Wow, that does not sound like a good thing to have happen. So here's a little secret that most people would never admit to. You can put the pumpkin in a bag and smack it against the counter top. It will split into two pieces. If you're having a bad day it might split a little more. Scoop out the seeds and bake. No knife needed. Shhhhh, you didn't hear that from me.
Ooops. Still trying to make the shift from a PC to my new Mac. Here's the link to the muffin tops: http://celiacsinthehouse.blogspot.com/2009/10/glu….
Tried your Buffalo Chicken Mini Burgers for dinner last night. My daughter wants to come live at your house. She loved them.
Wendy- Oh I'm jealous. I really wanted to switch to a Mac. I bet creative wise it's a blast! Glad you liked the burgers. Let your daughter know we love to have people visit, as long as they go at the end of the day. But we always let them come back the next day! 🙂
I absolutely LOVE this Friday Foodie Fix, but I think my entry will be late this week. I wanted to share what I'll be doing anyhow because it's just blowing my mind. I was watching Rachel Ray yesterday, and Hungry Girl was on for a visit, and she had a tip for cake-making that just seems so simple but so useful. She says to replace oil and eggs in cake mixes with a can of pumpkin instead. I have no idea if it's going to work in a gluten-free mix since the egg is used as much for building "fluff" in the cake as it is for adding structure to it, but I'm going to try it out as soon as I can find some pumpkin to use. If it works, it's just one more place to find that extra fiber so many of us need. (And maybe also a tiny excuse to eat cake.)
Erin- Thank you!! Hey, that sounds really interesting on the replacement. I can't wait to hear how it turned out. I hope you'll share.
I just can't go for those white pumpkins … they are just not as happy to me. LOL, but true. I'm making another pumpkin recipe this weekend, so I'll add that link later. And, fresh pumpkin totally rules. Canned pumpkin doesn't come close in taste or texture IMO. Just love it! I used canned pumpkin for the easy pumpkin squares and often do when I can't find pie pumpkins. The squares can be made quickly and are so good. But, I love the sound of all the recipes here. Must go check them out now … before I get distracted. 😉
Shirley
Shirley- I do love fresh pumpkins. The taste difference is amazing. When I go shopping next I hope to grab a few. Will you be adding Pom Pomegranate juice to your pie? I bet that would taste good.
Added my other recipe as planned. This one's a requirement in our house. 🙂
Shirley
Shirley- Thank you for sharing. I can't wait to go check out all of these great recipes!
So I'm pretty late with this, but I blame the pumpkin suppliers. I couldn't find ANY pumpkin until about two weeks ago. I tried the gluten-free cake mix + can of pumpkin experiment. Don't do it. It was BAD. Very very very bad. Very pumpkiny and not in a good way.