Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

You know what I mean. It’s time for the obligatory trip to the pumpkin patch to take photos of your kids among these orange giants. Then you haul them to the house and prep them for carving. Once they are carved you are left with all of the pumpkin innards and seeds. It’s seriously my favorite part. 

The best part about roasting pumpkin seeds is that all you need is a pumpkin! (or two, or three!) 

How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds

1. Remove all of the seeds from your pumpkin

2. Soak seeds overnight in salt water brine. I use the following ration of 1 cup kosher salt to 1/2 gallon of water. Not only does this add flavor to your seeds, it also helps separate any remaining pumpkin flesh from the seeds. You can also experiment with other flavors such as garlic or hot sauce.

3. Make sure all the pumpkin flesh is removed before roasting. The overnight saltwater soak makes this much easier.

4. The next morning, drain the salt water and remaining flesh from the seeds.  

5. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.

6. Lightly oil a baking sheet and spreads your seeds out on a baking sheet.

7. Cook the seeds for one hour then flip and redistribute them on the sheet. Continue roasting the seeds until they have thoroughly dried, for a total of 2-3 hours. 

8. Remove from the oven and let them cool. 

9. Place them in an air-tight container to maintain crunch.

What about the rest of the pumpkin? You can cook the rest of the pumpkin to make puree for pie, cupcakes, cookies, or other fall treats. Make sure to check out our recipe for homemade Pumpkin Puree!

This is truly one of my favorite parts of fall! We have so much fun picking out the perfect pumpkins and then using them for carving and roasting seeds.

We LOVE sharing recipes! Check out more of our favorite pumpkin themed recipes and crafts: 

• Mini Mod Podge Fabric Pumpkins
• Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins
• Pumpkin Spice S’mores
• Creamy Pumpkin Pie
• Homemade Pumpkin Spice Syrup

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Homemade Popcorn Seasoning

You probably have this combination of spices in your spice rack. It’s quite a variety of different spices, but when they come together they create a flavor sensation like no other. 

Here’s your shopping list:

Popcorn Seasoning Ingredients

• Butter flavoring sprinkles (aka – Molly McButter)
• Sea salt (mellow variety)
• Lawry’s seasoning salt
• Garlic powder
• Cumin
• Paprika
• Cayenne
• Black pepper
• Celery Salt
• Ground mustard
• Parmesan cheese

How to Make Popcorn Seasoning

1. Combine the base which consists of butter flavoring sprinkles, sea salt, Lawry’s seasoning salt, and ground parmesan cheese.
2. Add seasonings – garlic powder, paprike, cumin, ground mustard, black pepper, cayenne. and celery salt.
3. Mix well and sprinkle of your freshly popped popcorn!

And there you have it! A delicious popcorn with a flavor sensation like no other. You will be hooked, it’s definitely our favorite way to eat popcorn now. 

Pro tip: But you have to use fresh popcorn.  Don’t use the microwave stuff.  It’s way better if you pop it on the stove and then sprinkle this on while still hot. If you are looking for more snack recipes, here are some other favorites: 

• Soft Pretzel Bites

• Classic Party Mix Recipe

• The Best Caramel Corn Recipe

• Homemade Fruit Snacks

Print

Homemade Popcorn Seasoning

Ingredients

• 3 tsp butter flavoring sprinkles
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt - finely ground mellow variety
• 1 tsp Lawry's seasoning salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 3/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne optional
• 1/4 tsp finely ground black pepper
• 2 tsp finely ground parmesan cheese
• 1/8 tsp celery salt
• 1/2 tsp ground mustard

Instructions

• Combine the base which consists of butter flavoring sprinkles, sea salt, Lawry's seasoning salt, and ground parmesan cheese.
• Add seasonings - garlic powder, paprike, cumin, ground mustard, black pepper, cayenne. and celery salt.
• Mix well and sprinkle of your freshly popped popcorn!

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Classic Chex Party Mix Recipe

Party mix is one of my favorite things to make for large groups!  Not to mention, it is healthier than throwing a bag of chips and dip on the table.  (Nothing wrong with chips and dip though.)  My recipe excludes nuts because I don’t like them.  But you could easily add them to yours.  I substituted Cheerios for Wheat Chex because the Cheerios absorb the spices so much better!  It really adds a fun and different flavor to the mix!

Party tip:  Place in festive cupcake holders for easy serving option!

Classic Party Mix Recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 cups Rice Chex
• 3 cups Corn Chex
• 3 cups Cheerios
• 1 cup broken garlic bagel chips
• 1 cup pretzels
• 6 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
• 3/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• Optional: 1 cup mixed nuts

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees.
2. Mix cereal, bagel chips, and pretzels in a large bowl.
3. Melt butter in the microwave.
4. Mix in your spices and seasoning.
5. Pour butter and spice mix in bottom of a roasting pan.
6. Add the cereal mix and stir until evenly coated.
7. Roast for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
8. Sprinkle with garlic salt once out of the oven and serve!

This variation on the Classic Chex Party Mix Recipe is full of flavor!  It is one of my favorite low fat snacks too!  Serve up a batch for your Big Game Party!

More snack foods that we love: 

• Texas Cowboy Caviar 
• Mexican Fruit Cup
• Lemon Puppy Chow (also made with Chex!) 
• Soft Pretzel Bites
• Easy Guacamole 

Now you are all set for snacking season!! 

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A brief history of Sunflowers

There are about 70 species of sunflower in the genus Helianthus.  Three are native to South America and the rest are native to North America.  The common sunflower or Helianthus annuus is the most familiar species and the one that has been domesticated for seed and oil production.  Of this species there are at least 30 cultivars.  Sunflower cultivation began around 5000 years ago in areas of the American southwest and Mexico.  Sunflowers were an important crop for a number of Native American cultures ranging from tribes in the northern plains to the sprawling empires of the Aztec and Inca.  In the 1600’s the Colombian exchange brought sunflowers to Europe and from there the rest of world.  The steppes of East Asia provide a wonderful environment for sunflowers and half of the world’s entire sunflower crop comes from these areas of Ukraine and Russia.

Selecting seeds for planting

For seed harvesting select a cultivar that grows tall and typically produces one head.  I use the Arikara sunflower from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds here in Missouri.  They will ship nationwide and have a full online catalog at www.rareseeds.com.  Once established Arikaras grow to about 10 feet and produce a head a full foot in diameter yielding a large amount of seeds.  Even if you aren’t harvesting the seeds, growing massive flowers to the height of basketball hoop is fun for any gardener.

Selecting a planting site

Sunflowers, as you might have guessed, do best in full sun.  They require well draining soil and once established are pretty drought resistant.  The soil quality does not need to be particularly good and they don’t require any special nutrients or fertilizers.

Harvesting the sunflower head

Before harvesting the seeds, the head needs to be dried.  In dry climates, you can simply allow the head to dry on the stem and remove it once the back has become brown.  In more humid climates, such as here in Missouri, you begin to run into problems with mold formation on the head.  In such areas, wait until the back begins to yellow and cut the head off with about 1 foot of stalk.  Hang these in a dry a place and wait until they brown.  This takes a few weeks in my experience.

Removing the seeds

Once dried, the seeds will come off fairly easily with some lateral pressure.  Be prepared to make a mess as some of the seeds will go flying as you remove them.  You may notice that your seeds are different colors.  Solid black seeds have more oil and are frequently used for pressing to extract the oil.  The more familiar striped ones are generally set aside for roasting and consumption.  However, both are completely edible and I find the black ones to have richer flavor.

Separating the chaff

Every seed has a little fiber layer around it and a number of them will have a small dry stem still attached.  Removing these bits can be tedious.  Traditionally, this has been accomplished by a process called winnowing which involves tossing the seeds in the air and letting the wind blow the lighter chaff away.  Subsistence farmers around the globe can probably accomplish this while losing very little seed or grain.  However, this skill seems to have been lost to the modern American and I am pretty terrible at it.  Ultimately, this just takes me a lot of time and determination.  If anyone has methods to make this easier please share them in the comments.

Preparing the seeds

Once the seeds are separated out, rinse them off to remove any lose dirt, etc.  Soak them overnight in a bowl of salt water.  The solution does not have to be a precise mixture and will depend on your own preference.  As a starting point, mix 1 cup of kosher salt with ½ gallon of water.  You can also experiment with other flavors such as garlic or hot sauce by adding it in here.

Roasting the seeds

There are a couple different methods of doing this.  I have found the best results with a slow roast as this seems to leave the shells a little crisper and easier to work with.  Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Drain your seeds thoroughly.  Lightly oil a baking sheet and spreads your seeds out.  Cook the seeds for one hour then flip and redistribute them on the sheet.  Continue cooking until they have thoroughly dried, for a total of 2-3 hours.  Remove from the oven and let them cool.  Place the home roasted sunflower seeds in an air-tight container to maintain crunch.

Home-Roasted Sunflower Seeds

1. Soak seeds overnight in salt water (around 1 cup of kosher salt to ½ gallon of water)
2. Drain the seeds
3. Preheat oven to 250 degrees
4. Lightly oil a baking sheet and spread the seeds out
5. Cook for 1 hour then flip the seeds and redistribute on the baking sheet
6. Continue cooking until thoroughly dried, total cooking time about 2-3 hours
7. Remove the seeds, let them cool, and place in airtight container.

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As a kid, I loved Bugles!  I would fill them with easy cheese and eat them that way.  But my sister and I always loved putting them on the ends of our fingers and pretending they were long fingernails.  I honestly do not have any idea what reminded me of that.  I was walking through Hobby Lobby the other day and thought it would make a fun Halloween post!  If you coat the tips of the Bugles with a little red candy melt, you have the perfect Halloween snack!

I know what you’re thinking…how can that possibly taste good?  Well guess what?  IT DOES!  There is something about the sweet and salty combo that tastes great!

This is a great no bake treat that kids can make!  Here’s what you need:

1 bag a Bugles
Red candy melts

Microwave the candy melts according to the package instructions.  Once melted, dip just the tips of the Bugles.  Place on parchment paper or wax paper and allow to try.  Repeat the process until you have enough Witch Fingers for your Halloween party!

I took it one step further and created this cute printable to put on a glass jar.

Click HERE to download your FREE Witch Fingers Printable!

All printables are for PERSONAL use only!  Please do not re-sell, redistribute or claim as your own.  If this printable is posted to the internet, please give credit and link back to Create.Craft.Love.

Download directions:  Click link above.  This will bring up a Google Drive folder.  Click the download icon at the top.  This will save the folder to your computer.  Simply open the file and print!  YOU DO NOT NEED TO ASK PERMISSION TO VIEW.

What other fun Halloween treats can you think of for Halloween parties?  You can always fill a bowl full of grapes and call them monster eyes!

Click HERE to see more amazing recipes!

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 All you need is two ingredients – sugar and the Kool-Aid flavor of your choice!

Take a sandwich baggie and add 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and the Kool-Aid dry mix.

Shake well until evenly dispersed.

I hot glued the bottoms of some straws together to make it cuter than taking pictures of my sandwich baggies.

Cut a small hole in the corner of your baggie and fill the straw up until about a 1/2 inch from the top.  Then hot glue the other end.

  Told you they were easy!  Each baggie will fill about 12 straws.  They aren’t quite as pretty as the ones you can fill up at the candy store but these taste better!

My friend, Sarah at Becoming Martha, created these adorable Sprinkle Filled Pixie Sticks for her daughter’s birthday!  She was my inspiration for the packaging!  Be sure to check out her sweet post!

Do you have a favorite childhood summer memory?  Fill up a pixie stick and tell me about it in the comments below!

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One of my favorite winter treats is hot chocolate topped with marshmallows!  It’s the perfect beverage for warming up after sledding on a cold winter’s day.  Marshmallows are a staple in this house.  Reed will eat them for a snack so we run out pretty quickly.  Whip up these cute DIY Snowflake Marshmallows as an extra special treat!

My mom used to make these from Cool Whip when we were little!  They are so easy and fun, the kiddos will love lending a hand!

Make your own DIY Snowflake Marshmallows

All you need is a container of Cool Whip and 1/2 cup of water.  

1. Begin by lining a 13×9 inch pan with wax paper.  Mix water and Cool Whip together in large bowl.  Pour mixture into pan and freeze for about 4 hours.
2. Remove from the freezer.  Turn pan upside onto a cutting board.  Peel off the wax paper.
3. Using a cookie cutter of your choosing, start cutting out the shapes.  This will yield about 12-15 marshmallows depending on the size of your cookie cutter.

They keep great in the freezer!  Simply place in an airtight container and return to the freezer to use when ready!

We use a similar recipe to make our own ice cream sandwiches! So you can use it as a fun treat for the summer months!

Reed was beyond thrilled when he saw these DIY Snowflake Marshmallows in his hot chocolate!  Worth the extra effort for that heart melting smile! You can make these into any shape but the snowflake just seemed fitting. Have fun with it! Add sprinkles or chocolate chips to yours for a little something extra.

Stay warm, friends!

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Happy Memorial Day!  Cookout season officially starts TODAY!  If you are popular like me {haha – just joking}, you get invited to a dozen of these each summer – usually with the same people in attendance.  This year I want to mix it up a bit and try out some new recipes.  Check out these 50+ Summer Cookout Recipes that are sure to get your “fire” going! 

As always, please pin from the original source!

Main Dish Cookout Recipes

Sausage and Grilled Shrimp Kabobs from Gimme Some Grilling

Easy Grilled Veggie Skewers from The Forked Spoon

Garlic Butter Steak and Potato Foil Packets from The Food Cafe

Bourbon BBQ Wings from Fork in the Kitchen

Grilled Steak Kabobs from Create.Craft.Love

Chicken Foil Packets from Spaceships and Laser Beams

Marinated Flank Steak from Carlsbad Cravings

Whiskey Pineapple Chicken from Plain Chicken

Bacon, Pineapple, Chicken Kabobs from Recipe Diaries

Dr. Pepper Ribs from Lil Luna

Smashburger Sliders with Grilled Onions from Dad with a Pan

Grilled Chili Lime Shrimp from Taste and See

Grilled Sausage and Peppers Foil Packets from Yellow Bliss Road

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken from The Flavours of Kitchen

Butter Burger Recipes from Grillseeker

Caribbean Jerk Grilled Chicken Tenders from Grilling 24×7

Side Dishes

Bacon Ranch Potatoes Grill Foil Packets from Family Fresh Meals

Grilled Potatoes from Well Plated

Mexican Coleslaw Recipe from Lemon Tree Dwelling

Broccoli Salad with Cranberries from Peas and Crayons

Caprese Salad with Avocado from Joyous Apron

Hawaiian Macaroni Salad from Food Folks and Fun

Strawberry Spinach Salad from 365 Days of Baking

Loaded Bacon Ranch Potato Salad from Mama Knows Gluten Free

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Asparagus from Gimme Some Grilling

Summer Cookout Extras

Chicken Marinade from Mom on Timeout

Herbed Butter Steak from Seeking Good Eats

7 Go to Grill Marinade Recipes from Plays Well With Butter

Steak Rub Recipe from Out Grilling

Grilled Porkchop Marinade from Bunny’s Warm Oven

Beverages

Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade from Mom Endeavors

Peach Sweet Tea from The Diary of a Real Housewife

Strawberry Margarita Sangria from Shake Drink Repeat

Bourbon Sweet Tea Cocktail from This Worthey Life

Shirley Temple from The Thirsty Feast

Triple Berry Lemonade from Nibble and Dine

Tropical Vodka Punch from Berly’s Kitchen

Cherry Limeade from I Am Baker

Fruit Punch from Fantabulosity

Desserts

5 Minute Strawberry Dessert from One Sweet Appetite

No Bake S’mores Bars from The Life Jolie

Summer Fruit Sugar Cookie Cups from Big Bear’s Wife

Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Dessert from Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt

Brownie Fruit Pizza from All Things Mamma

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake from Princess Pinky Girl

No Bake Banana Split Dessert from Sugar Apron

Funfetti Cake Batter Dip from Homemade Hooplah

No Bake Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cake from The Recipe Rebel

S’mores Dip from Princess Pinky Girl

Strawberry Lemonade Bars from Made to be a Momma

Heavenly Lemon Oreo Dessert from Life in the Lofthouse

Lemon Bundt Cake from The Fresh Cooky

OMG!  Are you ready to start inviting people over?  Maybe you already have some people coming over today.  Try out one of these awesome recipes!  You will NOT be sorry!

PS – Writing this post while dieting made me uber hungry!  hee hee

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