Pumpkin Stuffed Meatloaf

This year Autumn has been absolutely beautiful in Colorado, we got to enjoy a full show of colors followed by the crunching of leaves and now in blows our snow. Winter in the Denver area is usually pretty nice, we'll get a big snowstorm that will leave us with 6-20 inches of beautiful white, sparkly powder all over creating a magical wonderland, only to have the next few days be sunny and warm enough to melt most of the snow, then the process will start all over again. Snowy days are beautiful, and one of my very favorite things along with pumpkins, and pumpkins are in abundance right now, they are great for snuggling with a hot pumpkin latte, baking pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, or our newest venture. . .Pumpkin stuffed meatloaf.

This was really quite easy and quick to throw together, it made the whole house smell so yummy!

Ingredients:
1 two to three pound organic pie pumpkin
2 pounds of grassfed ground beef  (or meat of your choice)
1 cup shredded organic carrots
1/2 cup shredded organic zucchini
1 chopped organic yellow beet*
Season to taste

Directions:
Cut your pumpkin in half, lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and the strings. You can save your seeds to roast.
In a separate bowl mix together the meat, veggies and seasoning with about 1/4 of water (depending on your altitude and the weather). Stuff the pumpkin with the mix, rub the top with a bit of olive oil. Cover with foil and bake 350 degrees for about an hour.

The grease softens the pumpkin and it scoops right out of the rind when you serve up your meatloaf. Not only makes for a yummy addition to normal meatloaf, but it also saves you a pan. My husband and kids LOVED this meal, even my picky boy ate (most of) his pumpkin!

Serve with a side of quinoa.

*Side note, Sam found organic yellow beets 
at the store and couldn't wait to bring them home to try. They tasted almost the same as a normal, red beet, but a little more mild. You could use a red beet in this and it would be just as good, and add in some fun color as well.