Pumpkin Carving And A ‘Wicked Good’ Recipe For Pumpkin Seeds!

I’ll be the first to take credit for being a horrible cook, and my family will second, third, and fourth that.  It’s a running joke in our family, cause I seem to burn just about any food which requires heat, so my sharing a recipe is akin to Mike Tyson sharing tips about Irish Dancing.  Another reason I typically don’t share recipe’s, is because I have very few to brag on, but this one, this one is special!  This recipe may be more about meaning and significance, than about the food itself.  It epitomizes fall, and for me, it brings back great memories of family unity and togetherness.  Pumpkin Seeds, I love em, they’re all natural, full of magnesium, zinc, Omega 3’s and very tasty too.  As a family we used to gather round the table, patiently watch my pops saw through the pumpkin until us kids, were given the go ahead to dig the pumpkin guts out.  It was like rolling around in the mud, we loved it, were on cloud 9!  So this weekend, I wanted my daughter to experience that same family unity, so we spent Saturday digging out pumpkin guts and baking pumpkin seeds.  We had such a fun time- all of you with kids please do this, the impressions you leave will be felt for many years to come, I assure you!

With that, I wanted to share this recipe for the best pumpkin seeds I have ever made.  As I said, I don’t cook much, and truth be known, the recipe is not my own, it was  given to me by the grocery store checker, so I gotta give her props!  Thanks Janet!  These seeds were such a hit at my niece’s birthday party though, I felt I had to write a post about our experience and share the concoction with you, my tribe.

Step 1:

Dig out the seeds, have fun, joke around, hey maybe even get into a slimy food fight with your kids,  this is where the memories are made.  We bought a carving kit at the grocery store for $6.99 and it was well worth the price.  It came with 2 small knives; perfect for small areas and rounded edges, a marker, and traceable templates.

 Step 2:

 Step 3:

Clean the seeds by placing them in a strainer repeatedly running cold water over them to separate any straggling slime from the individual seeds.  Consider another lesson in perseverance!   

Step 4:

Let the seeds dry, this may be a good time for the kiddo’s to take a nap, cause the dry time may be up to 3-4 hours.

Step 5

Pour your clean, slime free pumpkin seeds in a Ziplock bag and mix in a 1/4 cup of Olive Oil, 1/8 cup of Lime Juice, and a tablespoon of garlic powder.  If you are really feeling frisky throw in a dash of cayenne pepper.  Shake profusely for about 2 to 3 minutes, so it looks like this: 

Step 6:

Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 for 1 hour.  Rotate with a spatula at least every 15 minutes insuring a consistent browning of all the seeds.  Once cooking is complete, let’em cool, then pour onto a paper towel where you can dab the excess ingredients off.  After they have cooled grab a handful, devour them; shell in all.  This little seed is packed with nutritional value, they are a great addition to any salad or simply by themselves.  

I hope this post reminded you of the importance of family unity more than it educated you about some silly recipe.  I assure you, the quality time I spent with my daughter during our pumpkin carving, tasted better than any ‘perfect’ pumpkin seed!  She is my pumpkin seed!  

In the Spirit of Fall and Halloween, here are some other great Posts:

Adrianne over at Savingwithshellie.com wrote about the delicious IHOP Scary face pancakes available for Halloween 2013.

Charlene from myfrugaladventures.com wrote about the deals available on Halloween costumes from the Disney Store.

Shannon over at theheavypurse.com wrote about five smart fall money moves.  Dont miss these!!

Angel at marcandangel.com wrote a great post about 10 truths you will learn before you find happiness, what an inspiration!