Dinner in a Pumpkin!

This has been a family favorite and a tradition since our children were small! I make it every October and November each year and it always brings back memories! I have extra pumpkins this year to cook more dinners in the winter months. It is truly a comfort food! It has a hearty, nutty flavor and the brown sugar gives it the right taste for a yummy meal! The meat of the pumpkin makes for a delicious vegetable. The longer you cook the pumpkin the juices flow and becomes tender...oh my! I just made myself crave a plateful! I use turkey most of the time and diced frozen onions.

The preparation is fast & easy!

I forgot to take a picture of browning the turkey,etc...
Line a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.
The pumpkin color gets darker and shiny. Yum!

You have to give it a try just to say you had
DINNER IN A PUMPKIN!
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Dinner in a Pumpkin

A Family Favorite!

1 small to medium pumpkin
1 onion, chopped
1 ½ to 2 lbs. lean hamburger
2 T soy sauce
2 T brown sugar (Mom uses more! I like a sweeter taste!)
1 – 4 oz. can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 – 10 oz. cream of mushroom soup
1 ½ cup cooked white rice
1 – 8 oz. can sliced water chestnuts, washed & drained

Cut off the top of the pumpkin and thoroughly clean outs seeds and pulp. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet brown meat and onions. Drain drippings from skillet. Add soy sauce, brown sugar, mushrooms and soup. Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cooked rice and water chestnuts. Spoon mixture into the cleaned out pumpkin shell. Replace top and place entire pumpkin, with filling, on a baking sheet. Bake approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes or until inside of the pumpkin is tender. It could take 1 ½ hours or more. Put pumpkin on a plate. Remove pumpkin lid and serve meat.
For vegetables, scoop out cooked pumpkin and serve.

Serve with apple cider!
*Mom cooks it much longer because she likes the pumpkin meat inside tender…to eat! Enjoy!