Making your own Pumpkin Puree

     I don't know about where you live, but it has been hard for me to find pumpkin. Sometimes I can find the larger cans of pumpkin, but the 15oz cans have all disappeared. Solution....Make your own! It's easier than you think.

     We don't carve a jack-o-lantern here, mainly because I don't want to touch or smell the insides. Since Halloween is over, and I didn't want my pumpkin to go bad before I got to make something useful out of it, I toughed it out and made my own pumpkin puree. I ended up with 10 one cup bags of puree from one pumpkin. Of course, your yield will depend on the size of your pumpkin.
     I made all of my daughters baby food because it's healthier, cheaper, and tastes better. You can use pumpkin puree starting at 6-8months old. I have baby food ice cube trays, but you could just use any ice cube tray and cover it with foil. Just freeze puree in ice cube trays (I use my meatball scoop to put it in), and then add to freezer bag after frozen. Each cube is about 1oz of baby food, so you can use as many as your baby needs. I used this website to help if you are interested in making your own baby food.
     After you have all this pumpkin puree, start baking. Use a recipe or just add a couple tablespoons to your normal pancake batter. This year, I've used pumpkin to make muffins, cinnamon rolls, and cupcakes.

• Preheat oven to 350*
• Cut pumpkin in half, and clean out the seeds and guts. gross.
• After it's cleaned out, cut those halves in half so you have four pieces.
• Place them, cut side down, on a Jelly Roll Pan,
• Add a little bit of water to the bottom of the pan
• Bake for 45-60 minutes until skin starts peeling off.
• Take out of oven, and cool enough that you can touch it.
• Scoop the flesh out of the skin and put it in your magic bullet, food processor, or blender.
• Puree...I had to add a little bit of water to get it smooth.

Pumpkin