Tis the Season....

Tis the season for leaves, boots, jeans, bon fires and pumpkin spiced everything. But, as you probably know back in the corner of your mind, "pumpkin spiced" items rarely have actual pumpkin in them, instead are as artificially flavored as my chocolate mint coffee I just picked up from Walmart.

So after you carve up that jack-o-latern and remove it's guts, don't be so quick to discard those hundreds of little seeds into the trash. They are edible and chock full of potassium, protein, iron and magnesium.

Here's my recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds (or "pepitas"):

Remove from pumpkin and rinse, taking care to remove the stringy pumpkin bits. Pat dry with a towel (they'll still feel a little slimey). Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Spread the seeds on a cookie sheet, spray with coconut oil (or vegetable oil of your choice) and sprinkle with seasoning of your choice (I like seasoned salt). It took me about 30 minutes to roast them, turning them half-way with a spatula, then shaking the cookie sheet out to spread them back out - but make sure to keep an eye on them since some ovens/altitudes cook differently, you definitely don't want to burn them. It's like burning popcorn in the microwave. Let them cool after they are a golden color and enjoy! Be aware that they are NOT a low calorie snack - about 721 calories for a cup. But they are quality calories. Check out nutritional info HERE.