A few weekends ago, Ben and I played parents to his niece + nephews. It was a great weekend and we loved spending time with these fun kiddos, plus it was neat to get a small taste of what life will be like as parents. It will be an adventure, for sure!

One thing the kids wanted to do was carve a pumpkin, and were pretty amazed when they found out that I have never done that. So we stopped for a big ‘ole pumpkin at a road side stand and went to work on it (ok, mostly Ben went to work on it…). We made a group decision on what to carve (a Mater face), how many teeth should be showing in the smile (two), and what we should name our creation (uhhh…I forget…).

In the middle of the activity, one of the kiddos suggested we roast the pumpkin seeds. At first, I was skeptical. The seeds we were taking out of the inside of the pumpkin looked nothing like the roasted pumpkin seeds I buy at the store. But I did some online looking and realized that it was pretty easy to roast these little babies so….we did! Best idea ever.

You will need:

pumpkin seeds
salt + additional seasonings, if desired
olive oil

Scoop out the seeds from the inside of your pumpkin and clean the seeds thoroughly (make sure there isn’t too much pumpkin pulp left on the seeds, though I wasn’t super careful about this). Place the seeds in a large pot and fill with water. Add about one teaspoon of salt to the water per every half-cup of seeds (or just throw some in and hope it’s about right). Bring to a boil and then let simmer for ten minutes. Remove from heat and drain.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place seeds in a large bowl and add enough olive oil to coat the seeds lightly. Add your seasonings and mix well. Spread the seeds on a cookie sheet and roast until the seeds begin to brown slightly. This can take anywhere from ten to twenty minutes, depending on the size of your seeds (mine took about twenty minutes). Remove from the oven and let cool.

These turned out super yummy, and we’ve been snacking on them plain, or adding to salads or yogurt. If eating the shell makes you feel weird, you can always crack it open and remove the inner seed. But I think it’s just fine eating the whole thing.

Next time, I want to do a cinnamon-sugar version….or a spicy curry seasoning….or a dilly flavor.

What about you: have you roasted pumpkin seeds? What flavor ideas do you have?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Freezer breakfast sandwiches are more of a technique than a recipe, because basically all you do is make a breakfast sandwich, wrap in plastic wrap + aluminum foil, and freeze.

I keep a supply of them in our freezer for the hubs…a quick, easy breakfast for him to grab in the mornings. Obviously you can make whatever kind of sandwich you like…we typically do bacon, egg, and cheese on English muffins. I haven’t tried doing them on regular bread, but I’m sure that would work just as good. The next batch I do I want to do a few with egg, cream cheese, and caramelized onions, a tasty combination I learned from my grandmom. I think the cream cheese would freeze ok…we’ll give it a shot!

For other freezer breakfasts, I’ve also done french toast (just prepare like you normally would, lay out the cooked toast on a cookie sheet to freeze, and then once frozen, place in a freezer bag) and breakfast burritos. Leftover pancakes and waffles freeze really well too.

Basically, I love my freezer.

What about you: what freezer breakfast ideas do you have? 

I’d love to hear!