Today I want to talk about how amazing PUMPKINS are! It's autumn and orange leaves are dancing through the air and coloring the ground, to the delight of young and old. Halloween is approaching, perhaps mostly to the delight of the little ones? 😉 If you're like me and don't care about Halloween, then the pumpkin focus is something to cheer and shout hello and hurray for anyway!
Because in addition to being a nice decoration, a fun activity for the kids to make a jack-o-lantern, it's SUPERFOOD! Yep! Inside and out! And here comes a little overdose of pumpkin love and recipes for you! 😊🧡🎃
The family's autumn and winter package comes in a beautiful and very useful reusable net (voted Denmark's most environmentally friendly net), and contains 3 favorites from our own family's home medicine cabinet - deluxe:
🌼 Calendula Balm 50 ml ❄️Cold cream 50 ml 🐝 Panther balm 15 ml!
Health, beauty, supple and strong skin – yes, pumpkin can really help, AND it helps to emphasize the important point: health and beauty start from within, so it's just as much about eating super healthy full-spectrum foods as it is about applying the best nutrients to your skin. Here you'll find recipes with pumpkin for food, drink and skin, so enjoy playing with the pumpkin!
From seeds to flesh, and all the way to the skin of the pumpkin – it is packed with important nutrients that help the skin. The nutritional composition of the pumpkin can contribute to everything from retaining moisture in the skin to repairing skin damage. Not so surprising perhaps, when it is full of all this: Vitamin A, vitamin C, Beta-carotene, Magnesium, Zinc, Vitamin E, Omega 3.
Enzymes in pumpkin help break down dead skin cells, which strengthens normal cell renewal. This can give more supple skin. And then there are vitamins A and C, which are rich antioxidants, and which are also known for their effects on everything from acne, scars and wrinkles. Beta-carotene, which we also find in pumpkin, can also help with skin damage and strengthen collagen production. Magnesium and zinc, together with the antioxidants, help prevent signs of aging in the skin by increasing elasticity. So here it is just a matter of getting pumpkin into your diet, AND into your DIY skincare routine, because what we eat and what we put on our skin shows on it 🧡🎃
So where do I start?
If you and the kids want to carve jack-o-lanterns, save all the orange flesh, or if you don't care about jack-o-lanterns and Halloween, then either use home-grown or purchased pumpkins like this to make the base for food, drinks and skincare: PUMPKIN PURÉE:
👉 Leave the duck in the fridge overnight and drain the pumpkin water (which you can use in a smoothie or as juice), or use it all at once and make a puree like this: put the meat in a blender and let it become a smooth puree that you can now use for everything!
Then it's just a matter of letting loose!
Pumpkin and honey face mask
Combine two unique ingredients for the skin in this super healthy and effective face mask. Perfect if you are young with acne, or an adult with lines and wrinkles, because here are vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that can contribute a lot!
Ylva tried the face mask, and found it both fun (because it dripped and ran a bit 😉), but also incredibly delicious on the skin. She felt a cooling effect, and felt the good feeling of knowing that pumpkin has the ability to penetrate deeply due to its small molecular structures. Lovely to combine with 🌼 Calendula Balm on the face afterwards.
Pumpkin scrub
Mix ½ cup pumpkin puree with 1 cup finely ground sugar (or oatmeal if you have sensitive skin). Scrub gently and feel the good peeling effect. If you use sugar on your face, do not press hard, but use light circular movements.
Rinse with lukewarm water and apply a nice emollient ointment, such as Sea Buckthorn and Nettle .
Pumpkin fritters
Serve to guests or for dinner.
Here's how you do it:
Put on the waffle iron. Mix all the dry ingredients. Whisk together the eggs, milk, butter
and pumpkin puree, then whisk in the dry ingredients until everything is smooth and
without lumps. Brush the waffle iron with butter or olive oil, and fry
waffles!
Tip: use thin slices of Norwegian-made Brie (e.g. Thorbjørnrud brie)
or from Jørns Brie from Ostegården in Bergen) melt on the waffles, and have
on split/coarsely crushed walnuts and sprinkle with honey or
maple syrup (we use our own Vossabia honey 🐝😉
Pumpkin cookies
Cookies with delicious cream cheese frosting.
These pumpkin cookies are a favorite! Seasoned with traditional pumpkin spice mix and topped with heavenly frosting – ooh ooh!
How to do it:
Set the oven to 200 degrees, prepare a baking tray with baking paper.
Mix the dry ingredients and set aside. Then beat the butter and sugar with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the pumpkin, eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture. Carefully fold the dry ingredients into the mixture with a spatula.
Use a tablespoon to pour blobs onto the baking paper and flatten the blobs slightly (because these cookies tend to puff up as opposed to flatten out when baking).
Bake for 15-20 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Then make your glaze: Mix the cream cheese, butter and vanilla with a hand mixer and gradually add the powdered sugar until everything is mixed and smooth.
And then we adults (and actually the young ones) can enjoy some extra cuddles with a nice hot cup of Pumpkin Latte on the side 🧡
How to do it:
Place milk, pumpkin puree and sugar in a pan over medium heat. It should
do not boil, but get really hot. Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in
vanilla, the spice mix and coffee. Pour into two nice coffee cups, and
Serve with cream on top, and sprinkle with
pumpkin spice mix.
Or how about a hearty soup for dinner, full of superfoods and tasty in the long run? Our favorite:
Pumpkin soup with ginger and coconut
Warm and hearty soup for lunch, dinner or supper.
Here's how you do it:
1. Cut the pumpkin with the skin on, and cut into cubes. Remove the seeds (and save them for later, they are good to eat after you have roasted them in a pan with a little good olive oil and salt)
2. Peel and dice the sweet potatoes. Chop the onion, garlic and chili (remove the seeds if you want a milder chili flavor).
3. Heat a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil in a medium saucepan or pan. Sauté the onion until it starts to soften without changing color.
4. Add the ginger, chili and garlic. Continue to fry for a couple of minutes, stirring. Add the pumpkin and sweet potato and continue to fry for a minute.
5. Pour in the stock/. Bring to a boil and simmer until the vegetables are completely tender, about 30 minutes.
6. Use a hand blender and blend the soup until smooth and even, then add the coconut milk.
7. Bring the soup to a boil again and season with lime juice, salt and ground pepper. Serve with a sprinkle of chopped coriander, coconut and, if you can find it, pomegranate seeds.
You can also add pumpkin to your smoothie (the liquid after draining, as mentioned, or the super-useful puree), make dips from it, hummus, or cut slices of pumpkin flesh before baking it and making chips, or as a side dish for dinner: baked pieces of pumpkin with a little ground coriander and honey! Yum! And don't forget to use the seeds! It's a super easy way to get in the gold package of vitamins and enzymes: eat as a snack, or sprinkle over your salad.
If you are now full and good after all the cooking, a delicious 🍁autumn hike is the thing. Autumn tears us a little extra after a mild summer, so we may need a refill of nourishing plants for the skin in the first cold. I recommend this nice basic skin pack for autumn hikes and everyday life, perfect for the whole family, and the products come in a nice reusable net that is also suitable for hiking and everyday life 🧡.
The family's fall and winter package contains 3 favorites from our own family's home pharmacy deluxe:
🌼 Calendula Balm 50ml ❄️ Cold cream 50ml 🐝 Panther balm 15ml
Have wonderful autumn days with lots of good food, drink and care for your skin and body!