New November Recipes!
November 7, 2008
This month’s recipe file includes seasonal favorites. There is even a free cookbook that features 27 Turkey Recipes - you can download it HERE.
Feel free to pass it along!
Breakfast:
Whole grain fruit and nut breakfast bars
Main Dishes:
Apple stuffing topped mustard pork chops
Sides and Salads (a few of these would be great main dishes for vegetarians):
Grapefruit kumquat salad with sherry vinaigrette
Vegetable medley with vinegar salsa
Cornbread sausage stuffing with fruit and nuts
Candied sweet potatoes with pecan topping
Cheese and cream potato casserole
Plum delicious sweet potato casserole
Beefy baked rice and mushrooms
Caramelized butternut squash custard
Quick and easy baked cauliflower
Baked spinach and cheese casserole
Soup:
Drinks and Treats:
Homemade cranberry sauce cocktail
Growing Your Own Pumpkins
October 6, 2008
Growing your Own Pumpkins
When fall arrives, there are no shortages of places where someone in need can acquire a pumpkin. Boy scouts and other civic organizations sell from their stock or they buy pumpkins to sell to the public. Either way, they are plentiful.
One way to make a little cash during the months of September through November is to begin and maintain a pumpkin farm of your very own. One doesn’t need a twenty acre setup to grow pumpkins but time and attention along with patience are required.
It seems easy to grow something with such a solid rind but these beauties are temperamental. Unless they get what they want, their growth will be puny indeed. Start with good soil to nourish your pumpkin seeds.
Pumpkin seeds are not put into the ground from the start. They are planted indoors in the spring. These humble beginnings give pumpkin seeds a fighting chance to germinate away from bugs and birds. Most growers plant more seeds than they need in case something unforeseen happens and some of the seeds or small pumpkins die.
Once those seeds begin to rear their tiny little heads above the soil, they are ready to go out into the world of the garden. The first month is the most critical. Tiny pumpkin seeds need protection from insects, the sun, and drying out. On cold evenings, cover new seedlings to protect from harsh winds and potential late season frost.
Just when you thought that they were old enough to go it on their own, fungus bursts on the scene. It is not common but possible for all pumpkins. One way to avoid damaging fungal growth is to water pumpkin plants during the morning so that the water has time to soak in and the leaves can dry in the sun of the day.
Fertilizer provides nutrients for the pumpkins and promotes increased growth. Continue watering as much as possible to grow larger pumpkins. Since pumpkins are mostly water (like watermelon) the extra water is carried in the “meat” of the pumpkin.
Bees come to pollinate pumpkins. Without pollination, pumpkins will be small and there will be fewer of them as harvest time. Declining bee populations have led some growers to pollinate by hand. This is a lot of work so pray for the bees to do it.
When harvest time comes, keep pumpkins on the vine as long as possible. Cutting an unripe pumpkin from its vine can stop the ripening process all together.
Pumpkin growing is not an easy task, but it is a rewarding one. With the way that we use pumpkins each year around the holidays, it can become a profitable business.
Are Pumpkins Good For You?
October 6, 2008
Are Pumpkins Good for Eating?
We carve pumpkins or paint faces on them for the amusement of others, but are there other uses? Well, pumpkins make great additions to recipes, but they aren’t guaranteed to be low fat meals. What people don’t know is that eating pumpkin on its own gives the best nutritional value and taste.
Pumpkins have been around for a long time. Native Americans used pumpkins for both food and materials. Long strips of pumpkin were dried and used to weave mats. Some was dried for the pumpkin version of beef jerky.
Pumpkins are highly nutrition by themselves. Eaten fresh from the pumpkin, the fruit provides zero cholesterol, less than 100 calories, and low sodium. When we add sugar, eggs, butter, and other ingredients, our pumpkin recipes get heavy and calorie laden.
Pumpkin can be pureed and added to recipes like muffin mixes and cakes without extra calories. The trick is to substitute the butter for applesauce and liquid oil to flavor the batter. Pumpkin puree can be given to babies to boost their intake of Vitamin C.
Speaking of Vitamin C, pumpkin contains large amounts of the antioxidant beta-carotene. It aids in giving the pumpkin its deep orange color. We have heard about the benefits of antioxidants. They work to reduce the signs of aging and various diseases.
When pumpkin is a part of a healthy diet, supplements are not necessary. Eating a piece of pumpkin a day is just as effective as an apple. If bananas are not the tastiest way to gain your potassium, try eating some pumpkin. It contains over 500 milligrams of potassium per serving.
Pumpkins have endured their own bit of folk remedy over the years. People believe that pumpkin would reduce the appearance of freckles or eliminate them all together. It was also a remedy for snake bites.
Many creams include pumpkin as an ingredient. That probably has more to do with its antioxidant properties than the healthy qualities of the fruit.
Pumpkins seeds are removed when a pumpkin is hollowed out. Instead of throwing them away, clean the seeds off and roast them with a little bit of salt. Pumpkin seeds make a quick snack to eat on the go or when kids are watching television and get the munchies. The nutritional value is higher than eating a bowl of popcorn.
Without all of the extra sugars and fats, eating pumpkin is healthy. Whether eaten alone or in a recipe, it provides nutrients that benefit the human body.
