pumpkin is paleo

A pumpkin is a squash, and like other squashes is a starchy form of carbohydrate (less starchy than sweet potatoes, yams or potatoes). Whether or not to include pumpkin in your meal plan depends on your goals (weight loss, leaning out, increasing strength). However, given the low level of carbohydrates in pumpkin versus other starchy carbs, I don't know if it is something to be avoided for its carbohydrate content. Personally, I am not VLC or even LC, love pumpkin and eat it reguarly, especially post workout.

Pumpkin is starchy, but it's much lower sugar than a lot of roots, and less than other squashes as well. Unless you are eating very low carb, pumpkin is fine...though I prefer other winter squashes, their higher sugar content makes them sweeter and more complex tasting!

I love pumpkin. It's good for you, loaded with beta-carotene + other vitamins and nutrients, it's healthy, and you can do a million things with it - both sweet and savory. Roast and scoop the flesh and use as a side dish. Puree and make a soup. Smash and top with poached eggs, some bacon and sage. Mix with baking spices, a little maple syrup if that's something you enjoy now and then or raw honey, and chopped nuts and you can make a nice little sweet. Add to a smoothie. Curries. It's really a great multi-tasking veg.

The seeds have many health benefits as well.

Just a heads up, if you buy canned just make sure to read the labels as there is pumpkin and pumpkin pie mix. The brand I like is Farmer's Market Organic and they make both - the pie mix is sweetened. If you're in a hurry it's easy to grab the wrong can and then it's sadface time.

Pumpkin will definitely play a big role, as will winter squash and tubers, in my fall/winter dining plans. Yum.

I've put canned pumpkin in a blender with coconut milk and pumpkin pie spices for a little smoothie. Throw in half an avocado for more fat and a thicker, mousse-like snack. Yummmm.

I do pumpkin smoothies with nutmeg cinnamon and unsweetened coconut milk and eggs, cocoa, blueberries, raspberries. Just made one and scarfed it down.

Anyone else plan on incorporating pumpkin as a regular part of their autumn meals?

Pumpkin, butternut, acorn, delicata, sweet dumpling, kabocha, spaghetti, hubbard, kuri, turban and just about any other winter squash variety I can get my hands on.

I like pumpkin smoothies, I make a pumpkin custard, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bars; I should get away from the sweet stuff and make a pumpkin soup!

Sooooo good in curry soups. The extra orange color makes the curry seem more curry-ee if that makes any sense.

This stew is an autumn/winter staple in our house:

1 can coconut milk

1 can unsweetened pumpkin puree

A couple cups of broth

Red curry paste or curry powder to taste

Salt to taste

Throw chunks of whatever meat and veggies we have on hand into the mix

Simmer until the harder veggies are the desired texture, top with cilantro and dig in!

Pumpkin or squash is my main starchy carb and I eat it almost every day. Not all storing varieties are sweet. Overgrown zucchini and many Mexican varieties store just as well and are not as sweet. The availability of pumpkins stored through the winter is another reason I am not fond of the idea that we're supposed to gain weight in the late summer or fall because of the lack of sugars in the winter. Not true at all for the true hunter/gatherer, except at the poles.