Pumpkin Scavange And Pumpkin Meat Info.

The day after Halloween I took my son to school and noticed Pumpkins still in the patch of the school/church area. Hmmm... I call the school directer and asked if I could take some. She said go ahead, but some one is coming to pick them up. I waited a bit to long and when I went there most had been picked up and scavenged already. It did seem that no one wanted the bumpy ones and I had read online that those were good. Lucky for me, I had bought some good heirloom ones at the pumpkin patch before Halloween.

All of the pumpkins are edible. Do not let anyone tell you any different. I have baked the dark green one here and it had tons of meat. Almost all of the inside is a "dark" orange meat. The skin bakes very soft to. When I dehydrated and blended for storage, I tried it in my pumpkin drink with chocolate and it was not good. Very strong taste, but I baked some Pumpkin muffins with it and they are heavenly. So, the green bumpy pumpkin is worth it's meat in the cash you pay for it and is only good for baked goods.

The grey pumpkin I have not baked and tasted yet. Will let you know asap. I did bake the orange bumpy ones.

Wish I had taken pictures of the green one. My bad. These orange bumpy ones do have a disadvantage. It is a tough outer skin. Sharpen your knife for these. Some had a lot of meat and others not so much, but over all a great pumpkin for eating like a sugar pie.

I took many pics of this one. Very impressive meat. the advantage of the tough skin is that it is easy to scrape out the meat after you have baked the pumpkin.

Baked pumpkin.

I must of had extra time this day.

Note: Pick a pumpkin that is heavy for it's size. Awesome meat.

Nice. The Jack-o-lantern pumpkins are yummy for all eat and drinking to. They are not as meaty as the bumpy ones can be. The ugliest ones have been the best and most meat. I did have some pumpkins I scavenged go bad. They were added to my compost for the garden. Do not take cracked or soft pumpkins. Even then there is a risk after a pumpkin has been sitting in the warm Texas sun with people bumping them around all month. And even if you do not scavenge the pumpkins, buying a few extra and baking them later is a fresh nutritious addition to your diet.

Do not forget the seeds. You can toast them to eat and or save some to grow more pumpkins yourself. I gave many toasted pumpkin seeds as gifts for the holiday.

Kimchi Recipe (lacto fermentation)

My husband said if your are going to make some kimchi, it has to be authentic Korean Kimchi. So, I found a site called Maanchi Korean cooking. I learned a lot from her videos. My first batch is very hot and I think I will use less hot pepper next time. My batch has been in the fridge for about 6 months now and it is heavenly. Makes me feel alive.

Creative cooking is about experimenting with new ingredients and learning from the outcome. Instead of Korean red pepper, I am using cayenne red pepper. Perhaps, I will locate the korean spice some day and try making Kimchi with it.

Ten months after making my batch of Kimchi with cayenne, I have learned that it only gets better with age. I have also read that a batch can last 2-3 years in the fridge. It is still spicy and flavorful, but I am liking it more and more just the way it is.

Ingredients:

One big head of Chinese cabbage (chopped into bite size pieces and placed into a large bowl or two)
About 1/4 to 1/2 C. Salt
1/4 C. Sweet rice flour
1 1/2 C. of water
2 T. sugar
1/2 C. garlic cloves
1 inch chunk of fresh ginger
1/2 an onion chopped
 1/2 C. fish sauce
Ground Cayenne pepper 1/2 C. for mild, 1 C. for spicy. ( Feel free to use less. For it is very, very spicy) Note: that when someone is having a heart attack, make a tea of 1 tsp. of ground cayenne and put it in a cup of warm to hot water. Have the ill person sip it slowly until help arrives or they get to hospital. I read this and I think it to be good info. but it is not a prescription. Use your best judgement.
1 leak (opt.) chopped
1 cucumber cut into thin bite size (opt)
5 green onions chopped
1-2 carrots cut to thin bite size
(opt) 1/4-1/2 cup of whey (it is not needed. Traditional Kimchi does not use whey).

Take the chopped cabbage in the bowl and salt all of it real good. You will use about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of salt. Fill the bowl with water to cover cabbage. Soak for 1 1/2 hours. Rinsed and fill with water every 30 minutes during this soak. which will be twice. Drain at the 1 1/2 hour mark and put back into bowl.

Now take the Leak, cucumber, green onions and carrots and add them to the cabbage bowl. Mix.

In a food processor add the garlic, chopped onion, ginger, and fish sauce. Blend for one minute. Pour into cabbage and veggie bowl. Mix.

Add ground cayenne to bowl and mix.

Take a medium pot and add water, rice flour and bring to boil stirring. Mix in the sugar. Lower heat to medium and mix/cook for 5 minutes. Now add this to cabbage mixture and stir well. Add whey if you want, but not needed.

Put mixture into glass jars with lids. Make sure to have the mixture a good inch below the top. Fermentation will cause a bubbly rise. Place the tops on loose. to let it burp but not let air in. You can let it sit on the counter away form heat and light for two days then stick in the fridge or cold storage. Or just put directly into fridge/cold storage. I let mine sit for two days, then put it into my mini fridge.

You can eat it fresh,but It gets better with age. Eat a small bit over rice, sprinkled with sesame seeds. You can just snack on it to for a happy tummy. Lacto ferments are good for intestinal happiness and health.

Pumpkin Biscuits Recipe

Great for anytime. Yum.

Ingredients:

1 C. wheat flour
1 1/2 C. white flour
1/2 C. brown sugar (you could use less)
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C. butter or shortening
1 C. pumpkin/ sweet potato cooked and mashed.
1/2 C. milk of choice

Pre-heat oven 350 F   Grease baking sheet or pull out a baking stone.
In a large bowl mix dry ingredients. Add butter in pieces.

Cut in with pastry cutter until mixture is crumbly. Use a large fork if one has no pastry cutter.

They are cheap and will be worth the investment. Add pumpkin. I took 1/4 cup of my dried ground pumpkin and added 1 cup of boiled water and let it rehydrate.

Add milk of choice and stir until dough is just moist.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface, roll out to about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick, and cut into rounds with about a 2 inch or bigger biscuit cutter. Roll the scraps and cut out more.

Arrange the rounds on the prepared baking sheet or baking stone about 1 inch apart and bake in the center of the oven until golden brown about 25-30 minutes.

Serve warm or let cool on a wire rack.

Looking at them makes me feel all warm inside.

Moringa leaf Tea Recipe And Nutrients

Moringa is very nutritious. I am trying to get the most natural nutrition possible during the winter months and this tea is just what my body needs.

Take 1 tsp. Moringa leaf powder and place it into a mug. Add 2 tsp. sugar, honey, spenda or use other sweetener of choice. Add hot water to 1/2 the mug and stir. Sip. If the water is to hot, add some cold water. You want it hot enough to drink as quick as possible, but not to hot that it may burn your tongue or throat. Now drink it all before it gets to cold. Tastes best that way.

Analysis of dried leaf powder contains the following per 100 grams of edible portion:

Moisture % 7.5	Arginine (g/16gN) 1.33%
Calories 205	Histidine (g/16gN) 0.61%
Protein (g) 27.1	Lysine (g/16gN) 1.32%
Fat (g) 2.3	Tryptophan (g/16gN) 0.43%
Carbohydrate (g) 38.2	Phenylanaline (g/16gN) 1.39%
Fiber (g) 19.2	Methionine (g/16gN) 0.35%
Calcium (mg) 2,003	Threonine (g/16gN) 1.19%
Magnesium (mg) 368	Leucine (g/16gN) 1.95%
Phosphorus (mg) 204	Isoleucine (g/16gN) 0.83%
Potassium (mg) 1,324	Valine (g/16gN) 1.06%
Iron (mg) 28.2	Sodium (mg) 870
Vitamin A-Beta Carotene (mg) 16.3	Oxalic acid (mg) 1.6%
Vitamin B1 - thiamin (mg) 2.64	Vitamin C ascorbic acid (mg) 17.3
Vitamin B2 - riboflavin (mg) 20.5	Vitamin E tocopherol acetate mg) 113
Vitamin B3 - nicotinic acid (mg) 8.2

This drink gives me an energy boost. I have also stopped my iron pills. They all have Talc in them. Talc causes cancer by accumulating in the body over time.

Nutrient	Dry Leaves	Other Foods
Vitamin A	18 mg	Carrot: 1.8 mg
Vitamin C	150 mg	Orange :30 mg
Calcium	2000 mg	Milk: 120 mg
Iron	28.2 mg	Spinach:1.14 mg
Potassium	1320 mg	Banana : 88 mg
Protein	27.9 g	Yogurt: 3.1 g

 It is very important to know that Moringa leaf is the most nutrient dense tree on this planet. I could be wrong. I have not seen this much nutrition in anything but man made synthesized pills. Take one more look.

Moringa Nutritional Values

Moringa Leaf for energy, endurance, and much, much more.

This is what some use to teach small poor 3rd world country tribes that the trees growing around them, even in there own yards can feed them. The seeds are even said to contain HIV in people who consume them. There is a lot of great info. on the net. Check it out.