Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

How was everyones halloween? Mine wasn't as exciting as I hoped but I spent time with family and stole candy from my niece. What? She couldn't possibly eat all of those chocolate bars by herself. So I helped her out. 

Well, now that halloween is over and those pumpkins have been carved; what are you going to do with all of those pumpkin seeds you have lying around? I bet I'm a bit late on this, but I'm sure if you happen to make your own pumpkin puree sometime soon you can definitely throw those seeds in the oven for a tasty nutritious snack.

Today, I watch Julie & Julia for the first time. I know, it's been out for a while, but I always see the good stuff after the hype has gone down. As I was watching it, I was dying to get back into the kitchen and cook. If you love food and want to become a better cook, this movie really does make you feel like you can cook anything. I have looked at recipes and thought, "There is no way I could do that." Well...now I'm going to start thinking a bit differently. I will look at a recipe and find a way to make it. I don't have a food processor...oh well, I'll use a blender. I don't have every pan size ever made...I'll convert the cooking times, or just go out and buy the pan since I'm awful at math. That food will be made. 

Take this recipe for example. I have never roasted pumpkin seeds, I have actually never eaten them. This year I just had an urge to cover those little seeds in spices and toast them. While I was looking at recipes online, I realized that there are many ways to flavor pumpkin seeds. So, instead of just following a recipe, I decided to use the flavors I like the most. Spicy and sweet. I had three pumpkins worth of seeds so I was able to do two different batches. One batch I covered in spices and worcestershire sauce, while the second swam in a bath of cinnamon and sugar. When they were done, I couldn't decide which one I liked the most! 

I went through my cupboard and brought down all of the seasonings  I liked the most.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients:

Olive oil (2 tsp to 1.5 cups pumpkin seeds)

Most seasonings to taste.

Spicy:

Red pepper flakes

Cayenne pepper

Paprika 

Worcestershire sauce (2 tsp to 1.5 cups pumpkin seeds)

Sweet:

Cinnamon

Sugar

Nutmeg (just a dash)

Salt (just a dash)

Direction:

1. Separate seeds from pulp. Lay out to dry.
2. Preheat oven to 350'
3. Cover dried and cleaned pumpkin seeds with olive oil and other desired flavors. 
4. Lay pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast at 350' for twenty minutes. Occasionally stirring so all of the seeds toast evenly. 

There are so many ways to toast pumpkin seeds your possibilities are endless! If you want a natural taste, use a little olive oil and salt. Simple! Have fun!