This past weekend I brought in the pumpkins from the front door that were decorations and cooked them up and froze their puree. This really is a simple process.

Just half or quarter your pumpkin. Then clean out all the “gunk” inside, I saved some of the seeds to plant next year and the rest we Roasted for a Yummy Snack.

Then place cut side down on a baking dish (with a lip since some will release liquid while they cook), then bake at 350 until the give when you push on the peel. This variety let out a lot of liquid and look wilted in the pictures, the orange jack-o-lantern type pumpkin I did the peel stayed very hard and it kept it shape.

Then once it becomes cool enough to handle scoop out the flesh put in a large bowl and blend into a puree. I used a immersion blender but you could put it in a blender or food processor, and let the liquid drain, I placed a flour sack or cheese cloth in my strainer so I did not loose any of the puree. Once it cooled and drained well put it in your freezable container, I put mine in freezer bags in 2 cup portions.

I am for anything that saves my family money, helps stock my pantry, and this way I know what my family is eating. Yes it takes a bit of time but for me it is worth it. I also get lots of free pumpkins from the garden but I have seen lots of people online getting free or almost free pumpkins the day after Halloween at their local grocery or from neighbors.