This is my sneakiest way to get vegetables into my picky eater. She loves tomato sauce (and hates tomatoes ironically) and will eat any meal I make with it. The nice thing about adding pumpkin to my sauce is that, while it doesn’t change the flavor hardly, it reduces the acidity of the sauce. So, our whole family gets a heaping amount of nutrients and fiber, all while wolfing down their favorite Italian dish, lasagna! Simply mix your sauce with an equal ratio of pumpkin puree. Then use that to make your favorite lasagna recipe. I wonder if Garfield would notice my sneaky swap?

Nothing is more comforting than warm pumpkin and beef stew on a brisk Autumn evening. The best part is using the sugar pumpkin as the vessel to cook and serve your stew. First brown your stew beef in a Dutch oven with oil. Add chopped garlic and cook until fragrant. Then add beef stock, potatoes, carrots, bell pepper, and onion. Simmer for about two hours. Add chopped tomatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Wash and dry then cut the top off a sugar pumpkin. Remove the seeds and spoon in stew. Replace the top, coat with oil and bake for a couple more hours. Serve the stew in the pumpkin or in bowls, scooping the flesh of the pumpkin into the stew.

This is a recipe of my own making. Sometimes you are just looking to use up ingredients you already have and this particular day, it was ground beef, shredded cheese and a lone spaghetti squash. Now I know it isn’t pumpkin, but the two squashes are really interchangeable in this recipe, and just as delicious. Cut your squash in half, removing and discarding the ends (stem). Remove seeds, coat with oil and put the inside facing down on a baking pan and cook in a medium oven until soft. Meanwhile, brown your ground beef, stirring in whatever spices you prefer. My go-to’s are oregano, parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper. When cooked, flip your squash over and fill with beef mixture. Top with cheese (I like mozzarella and a good parmesan) and place back in the oven to lightly brown the cheese. Slice and serve. Modify this recipe any way you like. I sometimes add tomatoes and leftover rice to the beef before filling for a stuffed pepper like filling. Yum!