Top Ten Uses For Pumpkins
October 29, 2009 by Go Green Tips · Leave a Comment
When we think about pumpkins, we think of Halloween, Jack-O-Lanterns, pumpkin pie, and maybe Thanksgiving.
But, truthfully, there are many ways to use a pumpkin!
During October, pumpkins are abundant. Sometimes, they are too abundant. And it’s not uncommon to see excess pumpkins cast aside or left to rot after Halloween, but there’s really no need to let the extras go to waste.
The following are just a few of the great uses for pumpkins:
1. Pumpkins in Recipes
As food, pumpkins are low in calories, yet high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, protein, and potassium. Pull out your favorite cookbook and search for recipes containing pumpkin.
Pumpkin breads, pies, and pumpkin muffins are favorites, but you can probably find plenty of others. As an impromptu house guest in Paris, I was once served an incredible pumpkin soup (though I never completed my search for that recipe). There are more exotic recipes to try as well – pumpkin juice, pumpkin ice cream, and even fried pumpkin.
2. Pumpkin Seeds
Also called “pepitas,” pumpkin seeds are known to be highly nutritious, and are used in weight-loss diets. They provide fiber, healthy fats, and protein, as well as such minerals as magnesium, manganese, zinc, iron, and copper. They are also known to strengthen the immune system, and to be good for people with high cholesterol.
Roasted pumpkin seeds make excellent between-meals snacks, can be sprinkled over a holiday squash soup, and are a favorite in Mexican cooking. Candied pumpkin seeds are great for parties as well – and even your children might accept them among their Halloween candy.
3. Pumpkins for Pets
Mashed pumpkin is a great remedy for digestive trouble in dogs. It can be used to combat weight gain or diarrhea, and for resistance to infections. It is also said to be good for a dog’s night vision and general health.
Simply add a few spoons of cooked, mashed pumpkin to your dog’s food. (Important: it must be pure mashed pumpkin, not a mix!) For instructions on how to create your own mashed pumpkin, see point #4 below.
Cats might like pumpkin as well, and it can be given to help cats with similar digestive troubles, as well as hairballs.
Remember, if your pet is sick, take him to the vet! Also, ask your vet about using pumpkin as a home remedy.
4. Saving Pumpkins for Later
When there are more pumpkins than you know what to do with, you can save them for later use in recipes and for winter holidays.
There are several ways to create pumpkin puree which can be frozen for later. The following are three preparation methods:
1. Baking – Cut the pumpkin into two halves, place it on a baking sheet with the flat side down, and bake it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, for about an hour, or until it is tender when tested with a fork.
2. Microwave – Follow the same procedure as above, but instead of placing the pumpkin in an oven, microwave it on high for about 15 minutes, or until it is tender.
3. Boiling – Cut the pumpkin into large chunks and then rinse. Then, place the chunks into a cooking pot, cover with water (fully immersing the pumpkins, and leaving one inch of water on top), and boil until tender.
Once you have utilized one of the methods above to soften the pumpkin, cool it off, peel it, and mash it in a food processor. You can also use a potato masher or similar device.
Then, simply close the puree in zip lock bags, or whatever is convenient, and freeze it for for the winter. The puree can be used as a substitute for canned pumpkin, in any recipe.
5. Pumpkins as Dishes
You can clean a pumpkin well, cut it in half, and dry it for use as a serving bowl or a flower vase. You can also use a halved pumpkin to cook or bake other foods in.
6. Pumpkins for the Skin
Pumpkins contain anti-oxidants and alpha-hydroxy, which are said to be good for the skin. You can use pumpkin peels as a facial, to combat aging or other skin problems.
7. Pumpkins for Children and Games
You can use pumpkins in children’s drawing and carving contests. If your kids are too little to start carving yet, they can also decorate pumpkins with markers or paint – or even create a pumpkin collage. Another use of pumpkins is as targets for archery practice.
But we definitely don’t recommend any games that involve throwing pumpkins, nor using them as substitutes for soccer balls.
And, possibly even better, how about a cross between a Jack-O-Lantern, a Snow Man, and a Scare Crow? Your kids might have a great time making a Pumpkin Man – and it’s much better for them than watching TV.
8. Pumpkins as Ornaments
Pumpkins, gourds, and squash can be used to create candle holders, Thanksgiving centerpieces, and other ornaments.
9. Musical Pumpkins
Yes, that’s right, pumpkins make good musical instruments as well. Or, at least they can if you know how to make (and play) them. You can find a variety of ideas for instruments that can be made from gourds, squashes, and pumpkins. Although many musical instruments are made from gourds, one can easily imagine how a large or small pumpkin would do just as well in many cases.
10. Pumpkins in Crafts
If you are an experienced craftsman or a devout hobbyist, you might try some more creative and advanced uses of pumpkins. You can make pumpkin leather like the American Indians did, or settle with a simple pumpkin bird house.
As you can see, there’s really no need for pumpkins to go to waste, either before Halloween or afterwards.
During economic recessions, it’s not uncommon that people have more time on their hands than they have money. Instead of letting extra pumpkins go to waste, these are a few ways to stretch your grocery budget a bit further, invest some time in your health, get your kids away from the screen, and have some fun as well.
About the author: Megan Barlow helps others understand how to utilize existing resources in their lives, reduce waste, and adopt eco-friendly living habits. Find out more at her blogs, Source and Resource and the Build and Rebuild website.
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Solar Car Chargers
October 28, 2009 by Go Green Tips · Leave a Comment
As green problems accumulate more and more concern, interest in using electricity and solar energy to power cars grows. In order to appreciate the Solar Car Charger, you need to understand how a car battery operates. A vehicles battery stores energy and supplies a direct current (DC) to conductive parts of an vehicles circuit.
A standard battery has six cells that are 2.1 volts (V) each. It’s imperitive to note that when a small amount of voltage is lost it makes a massive difference. For example, if your car battery drops from 12.6 to 12.0 V you lose 75% of the charge.
This is important to understand because largely solar powered car batteries are six volts; in order to make them work a automobile they are synchronized together. Therefore, if you use a solar car battery you will not have quite as much power as if you use a standard battery. Therefore, you may want to use a standard battery and charge it with solar power to keep your car performing at maximum power.
Experienced do-it-yourselfers can charge a standard lead acid car battery with a solar panel. Attach the solar panel to your battery and use a voltmeter to watch the voltage increase. As you move towards 14 V your battery will be charged.
If this sounds too difficult, shop for a solar car battery charger. To understand Solar Chargers, you should understand a little bit about solar powered cars. Think of solar powered automobiles as electric automobiles that are powered by solar energy as an alternative of plug-in technology.
The car harnesses solar energy via solar panels attached to the surface of the vehicle. Solar cells capture the sun’s energy and convert it into electricity. However, solar powered vehicles cannot be used for normal transportation because they cannot stock up sufficient electrical power to travel far when they are not exposed to direct sunlight.
Until solar powered vehicles make more movement into the purchaser market, the next best thing may be the solar car battery charger. A solar battery charger can prolong the life of your battery because the battery can charge without experiencing wear and tear as you drive. If you keep your car in storage a solar charger is very useful because you do not need to drive your car to keep the battery from dying. You simply hook it up to the solar battery charger.
Note that you will not be able to keep your car parked completely in the garage if you hardly ever use it because you will need sunlight to power the solar charger.
The solar car battery charger has yet to attack the mainstream car market and cannot be found in stores like AutoZone and Pep Boys or in the vehicle sections of large stores like Wal-Mart. So, you will find it easiest to shop online where you can look for competitive prices and research the chargers.
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Our Continually Changing Earth And What We Individuals Should Be Doing To Make It Sustainable
October 26, 2009 by Go Green Tips · Leave a Comment
Being sustainable and using sustainable methods, materials and products has now become a must in our overstretched world.
Being a participant in the harvesting and processing of kelp has certainly made me aware of this really important issue.
By cutting the seaweed as it should be – sustainable carefully by hand, to ensure the root and part of the plant is left to regrow, will guarantee a continued supply of the seaweed. processing the seaweed carefully is also extremely important. Presently drying the seaweed with oil is quite costly, and oil is fast reducing its overall global stock.
Oil is used for so many things – to heat our homes, run and maintain our vehicles, boats, industrial machinery and help towards providing electricity to homes, offices and factories. To calculate how many litres of oil are used every day in just the UK alone will be give astounding results.
To replace oil with the growing of land crops for biofuel is wrong. This is taking food away from the millions of starving communities – therefore an alternative substitute(s) has to be used.
Wind power is fast growing. The construction of the turbines is causing divided communities in several areas. Many think the turbines are unsightly – but we will have to endure any pain and annoyance we feel, in order to safeguard the future and make our world sustainable.
Tidal and wave power is another sustainable form of energy which is fast growing.
We are wrecking the world by over exhaustion of supplies. Demand is far more than supply. A lot of this is down to misuse and greed – many people overheat homes and offices, overeat and use vehicles unnecessarily.
The amount of food waste that is dumped each day in the UK alone is vast. Many people do not respect their food. There are many who really do not know exactly where the food on the plate has come from – how many miles and how much oil it has cost to get the meal onto the plate. Furthermore, how many litres of chemicals have been sprayed onto some of the food we are eating?
In order to put right some of the global environmental problems, it is down to us to set the pace with everyone becoming much more conscious of these issues. Stop buying too much food, stop overheating the homes, walk instead of using the car, wherever possible, install natural heating and power systems, grow our own vegetables and purchase only food that has been produced within the local area or in the UK, as far as possible.
We are also destroying our oceans with over fishing, which is disadvantageous to the natural ecosystem, along with dumping fish and rubbish at sea, and killing many of our beautiful oceanic plants and animals. Before we cause unalterable damage to our oceans, and make many animals extinct, there has to be areas of total non fishing put in place. This will allow our sea animals to reproduce effectively and rebalance the oceans food chains. If some protected areas become over populated they will move to the unprotected areas. This form of control will, at least, help to retain some of the already threatened species.
It is our selfishness that is causing the world to be so environmentally exhausted, and in order for our future generations to go on we must teach ourselves the true values of our environment, and how to have a more environmentally sustainable world.
