Last week we bought a pumpkin for carving. I was at a loss as what to do with all the pumpkin guts so I asked my BFF, Google.

Turns out you can just puree up those puppies.

So I did.

I set aside the pumpkin seeds for roasting, then I tossed all the guts into my blender (a little at a time) and hit “puree”.

I ended up with about 30 oz of puree.

With all my yummy pumpkin-ness, I made some new favorite treats I thought I’d pass along.

Pumpkin Pancakes*:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar (I used sucanat instead)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I ran out of cinnamon, so I used pumpkin spice)

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar. Combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and salt, stir into the pumpkin mixture just enough to combine.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

I made about 4 pancakes the first day and saved the batter. It filled up 1 1/2 12oz mason jars. It was even better the second day! And the third. 😉

Pumpkin Muffins*:

1 small sugar pumpkin, seeded (about one can of puree – 2 cups)

3 cups all-purpose flour (I used 2 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup all-purpose)

2 cups white sugar (I used sucanat)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cloves

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)

3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners. *Makes 24 muffins.

Split pumpkin in half. Remove seeds and strings. Place on baking sheet, cut side down. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven until tender, about 90 minutes. Remove pumpkin pulp and puree in blender. Measure out 2 cups pumpkin puree; set aside. *Again, you can just use the canned puree, or homemade puree.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together 2 cups pumpkin puree, vegetable oil and eggs. Stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture until smooth. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Jonathan and I both agreed that these taste awesome, but are lacking something. Next time I make them (which might be pretty soon – as they are almost all gone!) I’m adding chopped up cranberries.

I’m picky when it comes to food. Not picky in the sense of food preference, but picky in the if-this-cereal-is even-within-a-two-month-expiration-date-from-today-I might-just-not-eat-it. I have some irrational fears and consuming “post marked” goods is one of them. The thought of eating cookies that say “Best by” two months out gives me the willies. But, if I want to be frugal maybe I can’t always be so picky.

This morning, Julia and I drove out to Kalona to visit the Central Discount Store. I have heard some people recommend the place and knew that they were open today (they are owned/ran by some Amish and are only open 3 days a week), so since Julia fell asleep in the time it took us to leave our house and pull into Fareway, I decided to let her sleep a little longer and make the drive out.

Here’s my loot from the trip:

In all my total was $7.42. With that I got:

– two boxes of Optimum Raisin Bran cereal

– 4 bottles of organic, diary free, gluten free ranch dressing

– one box of Back to Nature mint cookies (yummy!)

– two boxes of organic chocolate cake mix

– two boxes of organic chocolate icing mix

– one box of organic kid’s granola bars

The best thing is, these are all brands that are sold at New Pi that I always want to try but never have the heart to spend the extra money (with the exception of the cookies – I have bought those before – kinda a weakness of mine 😉 ). I can’t say for sure how much I saved, but to give you a small idea, the salad dressing alone is usually $3ish per bottle and I got it for 50 cents per bottle.