The FastDay Forum

I grow pumpkin and have them in the store cupboard. I do not grow sweet potato because it's not warm enough here.

I love sweet potato however.

Here's the thing: 300 gm of sweet potato is 270 calories.300 grams of pumpkin is 60 calories.

Now I am going to substitute pumpkin for sweet potato on fast days. I have to treat sweet potato as a luxury food and eat it on rare occasions and treat pumpkin as an everyday food.

Pumpkin is a squash, like butternut, and so it's much healthier than the tuber. You can do such amazing things with pumpkin. You can peel it, cut it into bite-sized cubes, toss it in a bit of oil, salt and pepper and then roast the cubes until starting to caramelize. Then you can eat them as-is, toss them in risotto, or macaroni and cheese, or pasta with butter (excellent with a brown butter sauce and fresh sage). It's amazing in soup, and it makes fantastic muffins or quickbreads

You can also replace veg oil with equal amount of pureed pumpkin when making brownies. You can barely tell the difference at least my kids didn't. Great big calorie saver!

I have only one thing to say. Pumpkin scones!

What's that you said Flo?

To let the non-Aussies in on the joke, We had a state Premier a few years back who was famous for her pumpkin scones- it became a National joke. ( Her name was Florence)

Gigi

Well, actually gigi55, she was the wife of the Premier. A Premier who was the terror of Queensland and banned protest marches for example. He was implicated in all kinds of state corruption. But not Flo; she was clean and famous for her pumpkin scones.

Ooh, Sallyo, thank you for making me think about pumpkin recipes I try to use seasonal ingredients in my cooking and autumn (fall) produce is my favourite.

I usually hold off until September with squash as I keep on using them until spring, even with pumpkin, it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

I have made a nice turkey mince and pumpkin chilli in the past, I will need to work out the calories, but served with shredded cabbage, I think it could be a lovely warming meal on colder days. I'm feeling a bit anxious about cold fast days, to be honest.

Oh yes, by September I'm nearly desperate for squash, but by the end of March I don't ever want to see another ever again!