Cheap & Cheerful Suppers With an Easy Pumpkin Recipe

Friday

homemade pepperoni pizza
kale*, cabbage*, tomato* salad in homemade vinaigrette
steamed carrots

trick-or-treat cookies (Circus Animal Cookies)

Saturday

spaghetti in meat and tomato sauce
sautéed kale* in beef fat
no egg, no milk apple* cake (applesauce* snack cake with chunks of apples* baked in), this recipe, no nuts but with apple chunks added

Sunday

vegetable*-beef soup, with garden celery*, potatoes*, herbs*, and store carrots plus beef
leftover apple* cake

Monday

tuna-macaroni salad with celery*, carrot leaves*, mayo, sweet relish*, tuna, cooked pasta over shredded cabbage* in vinaigrette
avocado wedges
pumpkin*-applesauce*

leftover Halloween cookies

Tuesday

carne asada over brown rice
topped with chopped fresh tomato*, cilantro*, and avocado
sauteed beet leaves* cooked in bacon fat
steamed baby carrots*
stewed prunes*

applesauce*-raisin bar cookies (these ones)

Wednesday (needed an easy dinner, as my husband and I had to leave the house early for the evening)

meatloaf, which included a slice of homemade bread, celery*, onions, herbs*, and seasonings along with ground beef

gravy made with drippings, ketchup, remaining sauce from Tuesday's carne asada
oven fries roasted in beef fat
canned green beans
pumpkin*-applesauce*

applesauce* bar cookies

Thursday

scrambled eggs in ham fat

sautéed Brussel sprout leaves* with garlic*

carrot-raisin salad with peanut dressing

smashed purple potatoes*

applesauce* bar cookies

*denotes from home garden/orchard

Notes

The garden harvest continues to wind down. I go outside, dodging raindrops, to get leafy greens several days per week. Daughter picked a bunch of kale and washed and wrapped in a towel to add to our lunch greens this week. We still haven't had a freeze, so everything remaining in the garden is still okay. What remains is the same as last week, just less of it -- kale, Brussel sprout leaves, Swiss chard, beets, turnips, cilantro, and radish. Here's an odd thing, we still have a couple of blueberries ripening on bare branches, branches that have already lost their leaves. I picked the ripest ones the other day to nibble on while raking leaves.

In an exciting bit of news, there's a mother on my homemade crabapple cider vinegar! The other exciting thing tonight, I caught brief views of the Beaver Moon (November's full supermoon) as the clouds would occasionally part. Last night the moon was at its peak, but tonight 's showing was no slouch either.

No grocery shopping this week. I do need to pick up bananas for smoothies and will do that in the next day or two.

Recipe

Pumpkin-Applesauce

for 1 pint

Stir together 1 cup of applesauce and 1 cup of pureed pumpkin (canned or home-processed, could also be made with pureed winter squash). Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of sweetening, such as maple syrup, honey, brown or white sugar, plus a sprinkling of cinnamon (1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon). Mix well. This is a mildly sweet and mildly flavored fruit sauce, not as sweet as applesauce and adds a bonus of vitamin A and fiber.

Beyond the Pie

It's a rainy, rainy day here. November is the wettest month of the year in the Seattle area, with about 6.5 inches of rainfall on average. So when I think of autumn, I think of chilly and wet days -- a perfect season for the warmth of pumpkin-filled meals.

For those wishing to imbibe in copious amounts of pumpkin (or butternut squash for those who prefer squash over pumpkin) this month, but don't want to OD on pie, here are some of my favorite ways to use pureed pumpkin in savory recipes. Sub in squash du jour for pumpkin as your tastes dictate.

Pasta with a pumpkin (squash) sauce in place of a tomato sauce

• Pumpkin/squash, Italian sausage, sage, onion, and cream sauce tossed with penne pasta. 
• Or, a twist on traditional lasagna, using a pumpkin/squash béchamel sauce in layers with lasagna noodles, cooked ground beef or cooked Italian sausage (with or without some cooked chopped spinach mixed in), cottage or ricotta cheese, then all topped with some Parmesan cheese. 
• Or, a pumpkin/squash, cream (or milk/alternative milk), sage, onions, Parmesan, garlic sauce over pre-made tortellini/ravioli.

Pumpkin puree as the topping on a Shepherd's Pie

• Libby's recipe blends pumpkin with mashed potatoes for the topping. Pumpkin is naturally lower in carbs than potatoes. Blending the two reduces overall carbs while satisfying the taste for mashed potatoes.
• For an all pumpkin topping (no potatoes), check out this recipe from Seasonal Intentions. The pumpkin topping is slightly spicy, with cinnamon, chipotle, and cardamom. For vegetarians, this recipe could easily be modified. It is chock full of vegetable flavor and texture, including turnips, kale, carrots, onion, and seasonings. The beef could be omitted and beef bouillon replaced with vegetable broth.

Pumpkin Bisque

• Taste of Home has a delicious pumpkin bisque recipe on its website. I made this last year, using saved bacon fat for sautéing the onions and garlic, but then skipping the bacon topping as a garnish and subbing in ham cracklings (see this post for cracklings). Diced ham would also be nice, or skip the smoked meat topping altogether. I subbed Swiss cheese for the Gouda (Swiss is more economical for me) and used coconut milk for the heavy cream (dairy issue for me). The bisque is very tasty and fairly simple.

Crockpot Pumpkin Chicken Chili

• If you're looking for a dump and go pumpkin chili recipe, this one is a winner. The pumpkin, beans, and chiles are all canned -- simplification, indeed. The green chiles are the kind that stores like Walmart sell for 78 cents/generic-brand, 4-oz can of fire-roasted chiles that add some heat, or mild ones by Ortega that sell for $1.24/4-oz can. They pack a lot of flavor for a little money. The canned beans can be replaced with home-cooked beans from dried, to save a little money. I frequently cook large batches of different types of beans and freeze in pint containers to use another day in soups and chili, as needed.

Pumpkin Sausage Chili

• Italian sausage is a natural pairing with pumpkin. Pioneer Woman's Pumpkin Chili recipe is closer to traditional chili recipes than the crockpot chicken chili recipe above, in that it contains ground meat, canned tomatoes, and bell pepper. Read the comments and suggestions above the actual recipe. She discusses how Libby's pumpkin is closer in flavor to butternut squash, what swaps can be made (including making this vegetarian), and it's flavor profile. 

These are a few of my favorite savory pumpkin dishes. Do you have any favorite pumpkin or winter squash (non-pie) dishes?