Pumpkin

Just before we left town last week, I desperately needed to do something with my cheap sweet potatoes that were sprouting. I waffled between making muffins based on The Frugal Girl's adaptation of the pumpkin muffins Money Saving Mom makes or just chopping and freezing them. I decided since I had the ingredients to make the muffins and expected Paul to bring his boss home for lunch, I'd better have some form of a dessert on hand.

If you can only get one can of pumpkin puree this season, I highly recommend a recipe that I have seen referenced by a number of sources. They have been amazingly good and were most popular with my father. I kept them refrigerated and never needed to microwave them, just let them warm to room-temp or even still chilled before consuming.

My thoughts are that the cost of these muffins is actually cheaper than a batch of my favored banana bread. It's a tough call because I only get two loaves of bread out of a batch, and we got 24 muffins out of the pumpkin recipe. The key is that the fresh pumpkin I used to make the puree only cost me $2 while the bananas can cost more than that depending on the brand we have on hand. Otherwise, I would say the price is even all the way across. However, based on the success of the banana bread, though, I would like to try another batch of the muffins with some walnuts or pecans in it, too. Then, I can say if they really are comparable. Nevertheless, the pumpkins are perfect for the fall season.

Last Friday, I pulled out one Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheet to defrost for apple turnovers. But, by the time I was done making the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins, I realized I had over a cup of pumpkin puree left. So, I decided to use the sheet for a mini-pie instead. There wasn't enough filling to fill a normal pie, but a 6-7 inch pie was perfect. My only mistake was not greasing the bottom of the pan before cooking because the crust stuck pretty well to the glass. Perhaps had I used a foil pan, it would have gone better, too.

I didn't have much time and had no idea where to find a good pumpkin pie recipe quickly. So, I used the ingredients in the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe and threw in a handful of oatmeal for texture. Then, I prayed that it wouldn't be a botch. Yes, God does even answer prayers in the kitchen because the pie turned out exactly how I imagined it (minus the crust sticking to the bottom.)

Cost to Make Pumpkin Pie

• $1.02 Pumpkin Puree (Freshfields Farm)
• Free Oats (Mom bought the wrong ones and gave them to us.)
• Free Vanilla (Gift)
• $0.16 Cinnamon (Publix)
• $0.14 Brown Sugar (Costco)
• $1.50 Puff Pastry (Pepperidge Farm Thrift Store)
• $2.82 Total for 6 slices

Pumpkin Pie Recipe

• 1 cup pumpkin puree (homemade instructions here.)
• 1 Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheet, defrosted (They come two to a box.)
• 1/2 cup Oats
• 1 t Vanilla Flavoring
• 2 t Cinnamon
• 2 cups brown sugar

Grease 6-7 inch pie plate. Open puff pastry sheet flat and lay inside plate. Shape crust and cut off corners as you wish. In bowl, mix remainder of ingredients together and pour into the pie plate.

Bake on center rack according to Puff Pastry package directions (400 degrees about 12 minutes) until top of crust is golden brown. You may need to cover the top of the pie once it is cooked with aluminum foil to keep it from burning while the bottom of the crust cooks. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Cost Per Person $0.47

Last year we dined with some friends of my parents who told me I would never go back to canned pumpkin puree after using a pie pumpkin. This year I decided to see if I had the taste buds to agree with such a statement.

Fiber has five key health purposes if I recall correctly from my nutrition course: 1) Prevents constipation, 2) Prevents colon cancer, 3) Lowers bad cholesterol, 4) Helps control weight, 5) Wards off diabetes. And the day I wrote the post about counting my daily grams of protein, it occurred to me when people learn I'm a vegetarian and ask if I get enough protein, I should be asking them "Do you get enough fiber?" Being from south Louisiana, my experience has generally been that people will down meat before they pick up a fork and down salad. In fact, many people I know would vote meat and potatoes over quality fruits and vegetables. Anyway, as long as I was counting and am not so interested in counting calories because I am not trying to lose weight, I thought I'd better check our fiber intake along with our protein intake. Sadly, this takes a good bit of time; so I'm a week later typing this than the words been mulling around in my brain.

This pasta recipe comes at the end of a number of fall recipes. I read in "Reader's Digest" last week that prices on produce actually go down when the product is hot and in season because there is plenty of the product, and they have to move quickly before they spoil. I found this to be true with apples because last week they were $0.44 higher at Costco than they were this week. So, be on the lookout for produce in season. You will save money and enjoy richer flavor.