Day 1 of Halloween Week – Happy Anniversary & Spicy Toasted Seeds!

It’s an exciting week at DinnerCakes! We’ll be doing a Halloween theme this week with some fun and festive ideas. Also, yesterday was DC’s 1 Year Anniversary!

It’s hard to believe it’s been one full year of adventures in the kitchen (we’ve had great success and some real flops!). We’ve tried to broaden our horizons.. I work a little harder to add veggies to my dinners (see Pineapple Mango Chicken Curry, Ravioli with Asparagus, Spinach and Peas and Taco Salad with Drunken Black Beans). Edwin learned that he can go on vacation, eat things that would make Ronald McDonald blush and still call himself a flexitarian when he gets home (see Greetings From The West – Day 1, Travel Day 2 – A Little Mexican, A Little Hype and Food Photography – Ribs and Cactus Fries). 🙂

seeds

We also completely overhauled our site design and banner, and added several new features such as Our Favorites, an archive of our Kitchen Tips and Food Photography and an About Us page. Hopefully the quality of our photos will also continue to improve (I got a new camera after a few months of blogging and man, it’s hard to look at some of those early photos with the point-and-click camera!).

Have I gotten Edwin to enjoy pumpkin yet? No, but he does seem a little more open to the idea of trying some things? Do we have a perfectly seamless recipe archive yet? No, but I can tell you that it’s in the works!

Clearly the upcoming year will hold new adventures and new challenges. What kinds of everyday recipes will I come up with to make my clinical rotations in the hospital a little easier? I’ve received a lot of requests for crock pot dinners, so you can probably look forward to more of that here. Will Edwin learn to embrace healthy and lean meats like fish? Just how many cookies will both of us eat at this year’s Third Annual Bake-A-Thon (and how disgusting will we feel afterwards…)? Only one way to find out!

But back to Halloween Week –

Probably a lot of you will be carving your pumpkins soon (and following our tips to make your Jack-o’-Lanterns last!). Don’t just throw away all that goo inside – you can make some tasty and healthy treats that are actually fun to eat. Pumpkin seeds contain both of the “good” fats – omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. They’re a great source of iron, too.

roasted seeds

Spicy Toasted Pumpkin or Acorn Squash Seeds
adapted from Simply Recipes

1 small/medium pumpkin
salt, chili powder, cayenne
oil

After carving and scooping out the insides of your pumpkin, preheat your oven to 400F. Separate the seeds from the pulp (be careful if you have contact dermatitis with squash like I do!) and rinse.

While oven preheats, boil seeds from one small/medium pumpkin in 2 cups of water with a dash of salt. Simmer for about 10 minutes, then drain.

Line cookie sheet with foil and brush with oil. Add the drained seeds to a small bowl and season with desired amounts of salt, chili powder, cayenne (easy on the cayenne, heavier on the chili powder) and a drop of oil. Stir until combined. Spread over the cookie sheet in one layer and bake for 12-15 minutes. Be sure not to overcook (they’ll start to get pretty dark if overcooking). Cool before serving.

Notes:
I like to eat mine whole, but some people prefer to remove the outer shell.
This recipe will also work well with acorn squash seeds (that’s actually what I used in these photos).
Enjoy Pumpkin Seeds plain, in salads, added to granola or in breads! For some fancy spice combos, check out 101 Cookbooks.

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4 Responses to “Day 1 of Halloween Week – Happy Anniversary & Spicy Toasted Seeds!”

  1. Lindsey says:

    Why don’t you love me? And by that mean, I love pumpkin seeds and yet, no sharing of the wealth. Le sigh. If you need any help with your Halloween festivities, I have two hands AND an empty stomach. 🙂

  2. Chef Edwin says:

    Woooooo one year!

  3. Bethany says:

    I wanted to bake pumpkin seeds for the first time tonight for my little kindergarteners. I remembered this was here and wanted to check it out. I won’t add the spice for the kids, but I am glad I read this. I didn’t know to boil them first:)

  4. Heather (Ghost Baker) says:

    It’s a little trick! Hope it works well for you 🙂