Reduce Halloween Waste With A Deliciously Simple Pumpkin Hack
Pumpkin carving season is back! If you've ever hollowed out one of these giant orange gourds, you know how messy it can get with all those fibrous strands and seeds. After carving the pumpkin, you probably throw the "guts" in the trash so you can immediately jump right into the carving. But have you ever felt like you were being wasteful in throwing out those guts?
After all, the flesh and seeds are where you'll find most of the pumpkin's nutrients. According to Healthline, the flesh of a pumpkin contains protein, vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin E, and many other nutrients. The seeds contain even more protein and are high in antioxidants, per Healthline.
So what are the options for reducing waste after hollowing out a pumpkin? There are actually a few. Although it may be easier to just toss all the pumpkin scraps into the trash, never to be seen again, you can cook and eat them instead.
The pumpkin strands and seeds are both edible
Food waste expert and co-founder of Oddbox, Emilie Vanpoperinghe shared a few ideas with CountryLiving for reusing pumpkin guts. If you like veggie burgers, you can add pumpkin strands to your homemade veggie burgers to give them some added flavor and nutrition.
One Green Planet also shared some ideas to prevent wasting pumpkin guts, including some that involve the seeds. You may have already eaten or at least seen other edible seeds, like sunflower seeds, so why not pumpkin seeds? Try coating them in oil, season them, and roast them for a nice, crispy, healthy snack.
One last idea for what you can do with the pumpkin scraps is to make a broth, according to Hubbub. The broth can be used as a base for soups, to which you can add any number of other ingredients, giving you a flavorful, healthy meal for fall.