Wednesday

Natural Immune Booster: Pumpkin

***Archived Post

Recently I opened up our deep freezer and saw numerous bright orange bags of pumpkin puree staring at me. :) As you might know, my husband recently wrote a post on some uses for pumpkin and how he got 40 cups of puree from 10 pie pumpkins!

Needless to say, we are well-stocked and I need to make good use of it. Since we are in the midst of winter, I know it's important to incorporate pumpkin into our diet in order to help naturally boost our immune system.

Typically, I love to make some amazing
pumpkin bread for a healthy snack or breakfast treat. Unfortunately, my kefir grains have been acting up when using it with our raw milk (still troubleshooting that) so I didn't have any kefir available to use for my bread recipe.


I thought it would be a good opportunity to try something new anyways. I found this recipe in my Grandma's old Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (it is definitely not new anymore...).

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour (I did 2 batches with AP flour and 2 batches with Whole Wheat)
1/3 c. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1 beaten egg
1/4 t. salt
3/4 c. milk (raw)
1/4 c. cooking oil (I do not use vegetable oil anymore, but rather, organic canola)
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/8 t. ground cloves
1/2 c. pumpkin puree
1/4 c. chopped nuts (we can't do nuts in our house so I used chocolate chips)

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, other seasonings and chocolate chips. Make a well in the center. Combine egg, milk, oil and pumpkin puree. Add the liquid mixture all at once to the flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Pour batter into lightly greased muffin cups (2/3 full) and bake at 400 for about 20 minutes. Yield: 12 muffins.

The health benefits of pumpkins are substantial enough that they've been dubbed one of the Super Foods.They are loaded with Beta Carotene (great cancer fighter), Potassium (great for easing anxiety and for lowering your risk of hypertension), Zinc (great for preventing or fighting colds/flu as well as increasing bone density) and are high in fiber. Additionally, the vitamins found within pumpkin are great for reducing signs of agingsource


Pumpkin really is one of God's wonderful gifts to us! Even if you don't have your own pumpkin puree, try to pick up some this winter. Maybe next fall you can try your hand at pureeing your own pumpkins. I think you'll be glad you did!

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8 comments:

Blogging to Bless said...

Well now I feel extra good about the yummy breakfast we just ate. On a whim, I decided to add 1/2 C. pumpkin to the oatmeal I was cooking on the stove. Added 2 T. brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 1/4 C. wheat germ. It was awesome and all three of my kids gobbled it up! And I have some pumpkin left over so it looks like these yummy muffins are in order! Thanks!
Just out of curiosity- why only organic canola oil? Did you make a post about this preference?

Amanda said...

What is AP flour?

becky@purposefulhomemaking.com said...

AP is all purpose. :)

The short answer: Canola was the result of cross-breeding rapeseed. Wild rapeseed contines high amounts of euric acid (toxin) and canola has much less. A large percentage of it is GMO, to the extent that testing of organic canola found contamination. Cross contamination has also been found in wild rapeseed plants. I only buy the organic (and I think it said GMO free on there). I'm limited to my alternative oil choices b/c some are possibly contaminated with Peanut Oil and we have a son who is allergic. Hope that helps! P.s. you definitely don't want to be buying vegetable oil either. :)

becky@purposefulhomemaking.com said...

ps. that sounds like a great idea with the pumpkin and oatmeal! i'll have to try that. Thanks!!!

Amanda said...

We're mainly using olive and coconut oil and ghee now. We still use canola because we have a bunch left but that's for the bread for communion at church.

What is GMO?

becky@purposefulhomemaking.com said...

olive and coconut are both good choices. :)
GMO-Genetically modified Organism. :(

Chelsea W said...

Hi,
Thanks for posting this recipe! I made these today with some leftover butternut squash puree. I like how they have a nice fluffy texture but are not too sweet.

becky@purposefulhomemaking.com said...

oh, good Chels. :)

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