Pumpkin Recipes

This past Sunday, we had a lovely fall-ish dinner right out of a pumpkin, and for dessert we had pumpkin apple streusel muffins. YUM. I said I would post this pumpkin recipe on my blog, so here it is! My mom made this for us kids one or two times around Halloween time before I moved out, and I thought it was so fun! And it tastes good. You can basically do any casserole inside, or make it with sausage or ground turkey instead of beef. You could also add other veggies like celery or potatoes, but here's the recipe that I used:

Dinner in a Pumpkin

1 large pumpkin or 2 small baking pumpkins

1 onion, chopped

1 lb ground beef

2 tbs soy sauce

2 tbs brown sugar

1 can mushrooms, drained

1 can cream of mushroom (or chicken) soup

2 cups cooked rice
1 can water chestnuts, chopped

Cut off the top of the pumpkin, and remove the seeds and pulp to clean out the inside. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350. Cook rice according to directions and let cook while preparing the rest of the ingredients. In a large skillet, saute the onion and ground beef, brown, and drain grease. Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, mushrooms and soup. Mix together and simmer on low for 10 min. Add the cooked rice and water chestnuts. Scoop the mixture into the prepared pumpkin, put the top on, and set on baking sheet (in case of drips). Bake for 1 hour or until pumpkin inside is soft. Remove from oven, and serve right out of the pumpkin! Be sure to scrape the sides to get some of the cooked pumpkin with the casserole...it's good and healthy! Season with salt and pepper.


And this muffin recipe, my mom's been making for years. It's a good fall memory for me!
Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

2 1/2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
1 tbs pumpkin pie spice
1 t. soda
1/2 t. salt
Combine these and set aside.

2 eggs (lightly beaten)
1 c. solid pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 c. oil
Combine these and add to dry ingredients.
Mix in:
2 cups finely chopped apples. Spoon into greased or paper lined muffin cups, filling 3/4 full. Sprinkle with streusel:

Streusel topping: In small bowl, combine 2 tbs. flour, 1/4 c. sugar and 1/2 t. cinnamon. Cut in 4 t. butter until mixture is crumbly.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 min. or till toothpick comes out clean. (I baked for a little over 30 and mine were done). They are so yummy and great for fall!! (Although I think we've hit winter)