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Dinner in a Pumpkin

Just bringing this forward AGAIN!  We have it every year and we love it!  It is so very good!

Also just in case you were wondering we don't go Trick-or-Treating around here! Obviously it doesn't seem to fit with our lifestyle! ;) The kids love to dress up and hand out toys or healthy treats at the door, we play games, have our traditional dinner and sometimes friends come over and sometimes we take our dinner over to friends for a party. But every year it's lot of fun!






Dinner in a Pumpkin
1 medium size pumpkin
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 head of cauliflower chopped
3 ribs of celery chopped
1 large onion chopped
4 Tablespoons Sucanat
2 Tablespoons Nama Shoyu
1 recipe "cream of something soup"(below)
4+/- cups cooked brown rice (or you can use a mix of cooked wild and brown rice)
1 can water chestnuts (drained)
1-2 cans sliced mushrooms (drained)

Cut off top of pumpkin and clean out the seeds and pulp.
Draw a face with a marker if you want.
In very Large skillet or large pot add olive oil, cauliflower, celery, onion, Sucanat, and soy sauce. Saute for a few minutes then add the soup, rice, water chestnuts, and mushrooms. Simmer for a few minutes, Spoon into pumpkin.
Place pumpkin with top on onto a cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for at least an hour until pumpkin is cooked to desired softness.
When spooning out filling be sure to get some of the cooked pumpkin with it. MMMmmmmMMMmmm!

Cream of Something Soup
(I call this cream of something because I use it in place of things that call for cream of mushroom or chicken etc.)
2 1/2 cups rice milk
1 Tablespoon vegetable bullion
3 rounded Tablespoons whole wheat flour
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 Tablespoons Nama Shoyu
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (from health food store)

In a sauce pan put 2 cups of the rice milk mix with the bullion bring to a boil at medium heat.
In a cup or small bowl whisk together 1/2 cup rice milk with the flour.
When the first mixture is boiling; slowly add the flour mixture while stirring. Turn off heat mix in rest of ingredients.

Note: The first picture was taken BEFORE it was cooked, the second picture after.










18 comments:

Maile said...

This look so good, anything with pumpkin is delicious! I am sure my hubby won't be as excited, but I will make it anyway :)

Courtney said...

We are definitely trying this out this year. Also we can't wait to bring your pumpkin cookies to a party tomorrow.
I was wondering, I really need to learn more about health, so do you regularly take herbs and tinctures or do you just do it when you are feeling sick. I want to boost my kids immune system, there is a lot of nasty bugs going around and we don't live in a bubble, what can we do besides eat healthy?
Also I want to get the book Dr. Moms healthy living and it seems that it is out of print? Are they coming out with a new addition? Thirdly, I am thinking of homeschooling my kids. What are your reasons for homeschooling? The only con I seem to see is people say that our kids will turn out wierd? And thirdly what curriculum/resources do you use? And one more question- are you part of a homeschooling group?
Thanks- sorry for all the questions.

Trish said...

I am totally making this! It was already on my list of things to make from your website. So now I just have to buy all the ingredients I don't have and get cookin!

Tammie said...

Courtney: Okay to answer your questions! Diet is for sure the best way to build a strong immune system. Remember part of being a kid and building your immune system is getting sick sometimes. But it doesn't need to be bad and last long. I love that herbs help with that. We don't take herbs on a daily basis but we do use them quite a bit especially during cold and flu season. Reading Dr. Mom's book is a huge help for that. You can find it at http://shop.drmomshealthyliving.org/product.sc?productId=2&categoryId=5

Also I have been trying out essential oils too! With all these "Bigger Bugs" showing up I wanted some more potent forms or the herbs. Essential oils is it! But I have struggled to find a brand that I could trust and was affordable. I have found a brand that I am very impressed with If you want to know more about them let me know. I have found that they have been a great compliment to my herb knowledge and I'm loving learning more about them!

Alright onto Homeschooling! Oh I can't say enough good about it! We love it! Oh I have lots of reasons for doing it some may seem a little offensive to others or not "politically correct" but quite honestly it just felt like what we needed to do for our family. And again HONESTLY these days with your "con" wierd is a good thing! ;)
Seriously though I have only noticed my kids are "wierd" in a good way like not judgmental of others, they get along with all ages of kids, play well with homeschooled or public schooled alike, are not concerned with the latest fads and styles, they are confident but not snobby, enjoy talking to adults, like to read, and love learning, etc. etc. etc. ;) Not really a con in my mind but I guess that's relative.

With Curriculum there are soooo many resources out there! But my first suggestion would be to look into Thomas Jefferson Education. It's not a curriculum but it's priciples of learning and can lead you to customize curriculum to each childs gifts, talents, interests, etc. I would just start with Oliver DeMille's book "Thomas Jefferson Education" and see what you think. www.ldrf.com is a great resource too I also quite like www.cbd.com

And yeah we have a few homeschooling groups we do things with. I have a Mom's group that the Mom's and kids all meet every other week just to visit and play. There are 5 Mom's it's lots of fun and a great support! We always end up planning parties and things like that. There is also a bigger park days group of more than 20 families in our local area. Lots of stuff happens with that group to like book clubs, field trips etc. I am also part of a yahoo group too.

Okay I think I hit all the questions. I hope that helps. Feel free to ask if you have more.

Have fun with your reasearch! ;)
Tammie

Permission to Unwind said...

What a clever idea! I wish I could talk my husband into not being a candy-lover, because he inspired our kids to be Trick-or-Treaters as well. Oh well! I just have to hope that my healthy cooking throughout the year can make up for the junk they get on Halloween. Darling idea to do dinner in a pumpkin. I love it!

FeistyGirl said...

So going to try this!! What do you guys do on Thanksgiving, food-wise that is?

Anonymous said...

Tam-For the last couple of years we have taken our boys to Tuicahn in St George to see "Thriller" you dont have to sacrifice fun on Halloween just because you don't go Trick-or-Treating.

Semi-Organized Mom said...

I make this every fall and sometimes I get a chance to make it on Halloween. My husband requests it every year. I think I'll surprise him and make it this Saturday. :)

The Lazy Organizer said...

That looks so good! All I need is cauliflower and we're good to go!

Thanks for sharing your Halloween with me!

Are you going to be at the Forum again in March? We had better not miss each other this time! I have been surprised by how many people do it different like we do.

P.S. I absolutely love the sunflower sour cream recipe you shared. I make that and add spicy salsa and now my kids love salad! It tastes just like the dressing from Costa Vida or Cafe Rio. Thanks!

The Lazy Organizer said...

Oh my word this was good! I can't to make it for friends.

Thank you!!!

rachel said...

can brewer's yeast be substituted for nutritional yeast or are those not the same things?

Jes said...

This is probably going to sound like a really dumb question, but is that just a plain pumpkin that you can buy to make jack-o-lanterns out of? Or is it a large pie pumpkin?

Sorry it this is silly...I've never done anything like this but love the idea of trying! :)

Tammie said...

Jes: Yes it's just the same as pumpkins you would use for carving.

Tammie said...

Rachel: I have heard that brewer's yeast is similar. Just be sure it is yellow in color and little flakes. I don't know if they are the same but I do know that some people call nutritional yeast brewer's nutritional yeast. I do think the original brewer's yeast is not the same thing though.

kitchenrecovery said...

I've been wanting to make "something" in a pumpkin this year! Thanks for bumping this up!

isabel graham said...

made it! yum!!!!

Anonymous said...

Do you leave the top on the pumpkin when you cook it in the oven or do you leave the top off? I can't wait to make this!

Tammie said...

Anonymous: I put the top on.