Creative Ways to Use Leftover Pumpkin Parts

Halloween is quickly approaching and you’ve finally gotten around to making a cool jack-o-lantern for your front steps. But what do you do with all those extra pumpkin parts? You could throw them away, but what fun is that?

Here are some ideas for what you can do to make good use of all that excess pumpkin.

Seeds
Pumpkin seeds are great for doing a lot more than planting new pumpkins. Sure, you can use them to grow some of your very own for next year’s harvest, but these little gems make an excellent (and healthy) snack.

Consider roasting these seeds by rinsing them off (soon after removing them from the pumpkin) and placing them on an oiled cooking sheet. Season them with a light sprinkle of salt. Then, give them a stir so the oil (or non-stick cooking spray) coats them properly and bake them for 25 minutes at 320 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir them about halfway through so they cook evenly.

The result is a snack that tastes great and isn’t as bad for you as some of the other Halloween snacks you might find around the house.

Pulp
Pumpkin pulp is a key ingredient in a number of popular fall dishes. Pumpkin pie is one very notable favorite here in the U.S. You’ll first need to turn this fleshy pulp into a puree before you can utilize it in your favorite recipes. Doing so is really quite simple.

First, you’ll want to make sure you have all of the pulp out of the pumpkin. Use a metal scraping instrument (such as a spoon) to get the pulp out from inside the skin. This orange goop then needs to be de-seeded and steamed over boiling water for 30 minutes or until it is tender to the touch. Once that’s done, throw it in a blender and puree it. This puree can be stored in the freezer or used right away in a number of recipes.

Other Parts
The outside of the pumpkin can be used in a variety of ways, too. You could chop it up and add it to compost for a Winter garden, or feed it to the birds.

Pumpkin is also a popular ingredient in certain health products, such as in our Dermalogica line. We love that this vitamin-rich plant has an abundance of useful purposes well beyond just decorating your porch.