It’s just gone 7.30am in the UK, and as we have a busy day ahead I’m typing up this #FoodWasteFriday post in my PJ’s.
We still haven’t carved our pumpkins at Chez Wright.
That’s on the list for a little later.
We have 2 large and 4 small!
It’s important, for me, to ensure we use up the pumpkin flesh.
So, scouring the internet I found 3 recipes for starter, main and dessert.
Although not counting calories, I like the look of this Weight Watchers soup. It looks super simple!
(I’m a fan of WW recipes – and still have my recipe book from 2002 when I lost 24 lbs)
Moving onto the main course, if I had to choose it would be curry every time. This recipe from BBC Good Food looks A-Mazing! I know pumpkin and chickpeas work well, as I’ve made a similar curry before.
Finally, dessert. It has to be cake! I’m going to adapt this recipe to rustle up a couple of tray bakes. Will then square and freeze if it doesn’t get eaten up. Who am I kidding?
(I’ll be updating on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter as the recipes get tested out)
We do have other Jack’o’Lanterns in the house, but they don’t pose any risk of food waste!
Oh and a coffin, made of icing, of course! Ready and waiting for trick and treaters.
Do you have any super suggestions on what to make with pumpkin?
Happy (No Waste Tastes Great) Halloween!
Thanks as always to Kristen, The Frugal Girl, (the founder of Food Waste Friday and the inspiration behind No Waste Tastes Great)…Don’t forget to head on over to her’s to link up your Food Waste Friday post!
Wow, and I was just going to make pumpkin pie 😉 It all sounds yummy! Have fun.
Pumpkin pie is fabulous too!
Wow, and I was just going to make pumpkin pie 😉 It all sounds yummy! Have fun.
Pumpkin pie is fabulous too!
I made pumpkin ice cream yesterday, although from canned pumpkin. I’ve made pumpkin puree from scratch before – a lot of effort and not any better than canned. My carved pumpkins can (continue to) feed the squirrels.
Bad food waste week over here:
– 2 avocados
– 3/4 of a bunch of asparagus. I like asparagus, I know how to cook it, but when I buy it I wait too long. I used the tips but not much else survived.
– 1 cucumber which went bad sort of randomly.
Saves:
– Made fruit smoothie pops from smoothie that was close to going bad.
Good save!
Is the pumpkin ice-cream – just pumpkin (like the ice cream you can make by freezing banana) or is it actually ice-cream? (is that a silly question?)
I made pumpkin ice cream yesterday, although from canned pumpkin. I’ve made pumpkin puree from scratch before – a lot of effort and not any better than canned. My carved pumpkins can (continue to) feed the squirrels.
Bad food waste week over here:
– 2 avocados
– 3/4 of a bunch of asparagus. I like asparagus, I know how to cook it, but when I buy it I wait too long. I used the tips but not much else survived.
– 1 cucumber which went bad sort of randomly.
Saves:
– Made fruit smoothie pops from smoothie that was close to going bad.
Good save!
Is the pumpkin ice-cream – just pumpkin (like the ice cream you can make by freezing banana) or is it actually ice-cream? (is that a silly question?)
Eeek! It was a FRIGHTFULLY wasteful week here 🙁 An egg sandwich, a whole and a partial green pepper, turkey broth, and about a cup of milk. All Hallowe’en joking aside, this waste was a result of overbuying and overcooking – my two enemies in the food waste battle.
Your coffin is so realistic – very good eye there. Hope your family has a great Hallowe’en!
Thanks Jo – and thank you for spelling Hallowe’en correctly! I always forget! Happy Hallowe’en!
Eeek! It was a FRIGHTFULLY wasteful week here 🙁 An egg sandwich, a whole and a partial green pepper, turkey broth, and about a cup of milk. All Hallowe’en joking aside, this waste was a result of overbuying and overcooking – my two enemies in the food waste battle.
Your coffin is so realistic – very good eye there. Hope your family has a great Hallowe’en!
Thanks Jo – and thank you for spelling Hallowe’en correctly! I always forget! Happy Hallowe’en!
Hi Jo,
Halloween been and done here in Oz. We had the sprinkler on and the costumes off in record time for lots of water play. It was hot!
A few recipes for you from the blog using pumpkin
http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/stuffed-roasted-pumpkin-with-quinoa-gardens-cheap-thrifty-home-made-goodies-food-waste-friday/:
http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/red-lentil-and-pumpkin-soup/:
Then a link I just read about food waste in the US
http://civileats.com/2014/10/07/uncovering-americas-food-waste-fiasco/
Finally here is my food waste for the week….
http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/macadamia-and-cauliflower-white-sauce-with-basil-food-waste-friday/:
It occurred to be as I express carved a pumpkin yesterday that in Canada and the pumpkin I used yesterday have been grown especially for carving at Halloween. There is no flesh inside just seeds which we roast. Thinking back there was never any flesh in the ones we carved at Halloween when my big kids were younger. Needless to say that I did not make anything with my pumpkin flesh.
Have an awesome week!
Hi Vicki – we had one of the hottest Halloween’s here – despite it being autumn!
Hi Jo,
Halloween been and done here in Oz. We had the sprinkler on and the costumes off in record time for lots of water play. It was hot!
A few recipes for you from the blog using pumpkin
http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/stuffed-roasted-pumpkin-with-quinoa-gardens-cheap-thrifty-home-made-goodies-food-waste-friday/:
http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/red-lentil-and-pumpkin-soup/:
Then a link I just read about food waste in the US
http://civileats.com/2014/10/07/uncovering-americas-food-waste-fiasco/
Finally here is my food waste for the week….
http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/macadamia-and-cauliflower-white-sauce-with-basil-food-waste-friday/:
It occurred to be as I express carved a pumpkin yesterday that in Canada and the pumpkin I used yesterday have been grown especially for carving at Halloween. There is no flesh inside just seeds which we roast. Thinking back there was never any flesh in the ones we carved at Halloween when my big kids were younger. Needless to say that I did not make anything with my pumpkin flesh.
Have an awesome week!
Hi Vicki – we had one of the hottest Halloween’s here – despite it being autumn!
Hi there,
When I was “express carving” my pumpkin yesterday ( lot’s to do, so little time) it occurred to me that I have only ever used the pumpkin with no flesh inside just seeds. Even in Canada that is what we did. I guess they are grown that way? The one I used yesterday was just sinew and seeds. Not even a spot of flesh for a pot of soup.
I am a huge pumpkin fan and have posted a few recipes on the past:
http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/stuffed-roasted-pumpkin-with-quinoa-gardens-cheap-thrifty-home-made-goodies-food-waste-friday/:
http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/red-lentil-and-pumpkin-soup/:
Here is an interesting link about US food waste
http://civileats.com/2014/10/07/uncovering-americas-food-waste-fiasco/
and finally my week in fridge food waste
http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/macadamia-and-cauliflower-white-sauce-with-basil-food-waste-friday/:
Lot’s of links and recipes….have a fab Halloween Jo and family. I love, love, love the coffin!
You may just have partly answered a question I have! In the UK pumpkins haven’t been around that long for Halloween. Okay so I may not be speaking for everyone, but my memory recalls that really Halloween became much more prominent over here when Walmart took over the UK retailer Asda. Now this may be a crock – and not reality.
When I was little generally witches hats were made from black card and we’d do apple bobbing and no-one went Trick or Treating. The main event was Bonfire (Guy Fawkes 5 Nov) Night, not Halloween. It was slightly different for me because my Gran lived in the US for quite a few years and kind of brought the tradition to us. However as a child I carved suedes (turnip?) rather than pumpkin – I don’t recall them being sold.
So, when we carved our pumpkins today a friend asked what the difference was between ‘pumpkin’ and carving pumpkin (because they had labels on them stating ‘carving pumpkin’). That’s my question really – and you hint at it above. There is a difference?
What we concluded was that there was minimal flesh inside. In fact I’d linked to 3 recipes above, but the flesh is so sparse that I’ll be lucky to get 4 serviongs of soup out of 4 large pumpkins.
Help! Please shed some light! Thanks! This may seem really strange that I don’t know.
Here is a good guide to pumpkins, Jo: http://www.allaboutpumpkins.com/index.html
I was surprised to learn a few years ago that a Jack-o-lantern pumpkin is not a good pie pumpkin, but the additional information on this website blows me away!
http://bonnieplants.com/products/vegetables/pumpkins/jack-o-lantern-pumpkin
Well I am not sure and it may be a geographic thing but this link says you can use the flesh even though it is identical looking to the pumpkin I carved yesterday. That one had no flesh at all.
I see alot of commercialization of Halloween here in Australia so the perception of what it is “like” comes from Woolies, Coles and the other big supermarket type shops. One friend at our party yesterday said she never even really heard about Halloween until we moved into town last year 🙂
Most older people here are very down on Halloween…Aussies can be a blunt and forthright bunch. “It is an American tradition” is what I hear over and over ( usually with words unfit to print here inserted). It is all a bit of fun I say!
I’d say it’s been over slowly growing here for the last 15-20 years. We no longer have any Woolies! They went into administration in 2008 (the height of the recession here) – such a shame was a childhood store to me.
Hi there,
When I was “express carving” my pumpkin yesterday ( lot’s to do, so little time) it occurred to me that I have only ever used the pumpkin with no flesh inside just seeds. Even in Canada that is what we did. I guess they are grown that way? The one I used yesterday was just sinew and seeds. Not even a spot of flesh for a pot of soup.
I am a huge pumpkin fan and have posted a few recipes on the past:
http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/stuffed-roasted-pumpkin-with-quinoa-gardens-cheap-thrifty-home-made-goodies-food-waste-friday/:
http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/red-lentil-and-pumpkin-soup/:
Here is an interesting link about US food waste
http://civileats.com/2014/10/07/uncovering-americas-food-waste-fiasco/
and finally my week in fridge food waste
http://www.veeseasyvegan.com/macadamia-and-cauliflower-white-sauce-with-basil-food-waste-friday/:
Lot’s of links and recipes….have a fab Halloween Jo and family. I love, love, love the coffin!
You may just have partly answered a question I have! In the UK pumpkins haven’t been around that long for Halloween. Okay so I may not be speaking for everyone, but my memory recalls that really Halloween became much more prominent over here when Walmart took over the UK retailer Asda. Now this may be a crock – and not reality.
When I was little generally witches hats were made from black card and we’d do apple bobbing and no-one went Trick or Treating. The main event was Bonfire (Guy Fawkes 5 Nov) Night, not Halloween. It was slightly different for me because my Gran lived in the US for quite a few years and kind of brought the tradition to us. However as a child I carved suedes (turnip?) rather than pumpkin – I don’t recall them being sold.
So, when we carved our pumpkins today a friend asked what the difference was between ‘pumpkin’ and carving pumpkin (because they had labels on them stating ‘carving pumpkin’). That’s my question really – and you hint at it above. There is a difference?
What we concluded was that there was minimal flesh inside. In fact I’d linked to 3 recipes above, but the flesh is so sparse that I’ll be lucky to get 4 serviongs of soup out of 4 large pumpkins.
Help! Please shed some light! Thanks! This may seem really strange that I don’t know.
Here is a good guide to pumpkins, Jo: http://www.allaboutpumpkins.com/index.html
I was surprised to learn a few years ago that a Jack-o-lantern pumpkin is not a good pie pumpkin, but the additional information on this website blows me away!
http://bonnieplants.com/products/vegetables/pumpkins/jack-o-lantern-pumpkin
Well I am not sure and it may be a geographic thing but this link says you can use the flesh even though it is identical looking to the pumpkin I carved yesterday. That one had no flesh at all.
I see alot of commercialization of Halloween here in Australia so the perception of what it is “like” comes from Woolies, Coles and the other big supermarket type shops. One friend at our party yesterday said she never even really heard about Halloween until we moved into town last year 🙂
Most older people here are very down on Halloween…Aussies can be a blunt and forthright bunch. “It is an American tradition” is what I hear over and over ( usually with words unfit to print here inserted). It is all a bit of fun I say!
I’d say it’s been over slowly growing here for the last 15-20 years. We no longer have any Woolies! They went into administration in 2008 (the height of the recession here) – such a shame was a childhood store to me.
Fantastic coffin! I like making mac and cheese with a cup of pumpkin or squash puree stirred in. Food waste this week: someone gave me FOUR turnips and I’m not sure I like them enough to save them?
4 turnips is a lot, it’s good with bacon in a soup I’ve heard! May try it one day!
Fantastic coffin! I like making mac and cheese with a cup of pumpkin or squash puree stirred in. Food waste this week: someone gave me FOUR turnips and I’m not sure I like them enough to save them?
4 turnips is a lot, it’s good with bacon in a soup I’ve heard! May try it one day!