Don't throw those pumpkins out just yet - make puree!

I posted on Facebook that I made puree out of some pie pumpkins the other day and my cousin Gail asked if she could make puree out of her pumpkins left over from Halloween. So I did a little bit of research and found out that you can!

1. Remove the stem and cut your pumpkin in half and take out all the seeds, slime and stringy parts. ( you can roast the seeds later for yourself or feed it all to your chickens or farm animals like I did)

2. Place the pumpkin skin side up on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and rub some coconut oil on the skin. (I did not have any oil - so mine went in the oven naked and turned out fine)

3. Cook in the oven for about 30-45 minutes at 400 degrees. You will know when its done when you can stick a fork through several areas and it is soft.

4. Once the pumpkin cools off, you can peel the skin off with your fingers or use a knife.

5. Put all the flesh in a bowl and mash it up with a potato masher or use a hand mixer.

6. Place all the pumpkin on top of a piece of cheese cloth and wrap it up good. (see pictures below)

7. You will need to tie a string around the top of your ball of pumpkin in the cheese cloth. You will then hang the string up high enough that the pumpkin ball you created can hang over a bowl.

8. Your pumpkin puree will hang there for 12-24 hours to allow the moisture to drip out. Once it stops dripping, you know it is done!

I portion it out 1 cup at a time and place in a Ziploc bag. Most recipe's use puree by the cup. So freeze your Ziploc bags full of your puree until you are ready to use.