Dinner in a Pumpkin

DINNER IN A PUMPKIN
*original recipe from mom

Ingredients
1 small/medium pumpkin (pie pumpkins usually work best)
1 cup diced onion
1 1/2 - 2 lbs ground beef
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 can (10 3/4 oz) Cream of Chicken soup
1 - 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1 can (8 oz) water chestnuts, drained
1/4 teaspoon pepper
*These ingredients are very forgiving. You can add different amounts to fit personal tastes (for example I often use very little meat and more rice). Also it works well with lite, low fat and low sodium products.

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1. Cut pumpkin open like you would when making a jack-o-lantern
2. Clean out pumpkin, saving seeds if you want to use them later
3. Parboil or steam the pumpkin for 5 -10 minutes depending on size of pumpkin.
4. Brown meat in a pan. Drain. Add onions and saute till slightly tender
5. Combine meat/onion mixture with other ingredients and mix well.
6. Fill the pumpkin with mixture and place in baking pan that is lined with tin foil. Don't skip the tin foil and put the lid back on the pumpkin. Add a face to the pumpkin with a black marker if you would like to do so.
7. Bake for 2 hours at 350 degrees or until the pumpkin inside is tender.