Save those pumpkin seeds from your jack-o-lantern and enjoy this healthy snack: Lip Smackin’ Lemon Pumpkin Seeds.
I have been MIA for the past few weeks as I have been struggling with the mom job I have. My oldest has been keeping me on my toes with his adjustment into adolescence. His head is full of mush and the homework fights began a few weeks into the new school year.
I have had to take away a lot of fun things from him. There’s a lot of fighting and crying and hugging going on. Sometimes it really sucks being a parent.
But life goes on.
We still have school and homework. The kids still have their projects and extra-curricular activities. One of them is scouting.
Middle-Child is still a cub scout and his pack had a pumpkin carving contest this week. This was his pumpkin (inspired by this pumpkin).
Cute, isn’t it?
It may not make it to Halloween, but we had a lot of fun carving it. For a good witch, you will need to look for a good stem and a nice flat top. The deep grooves of the pumpkin give your witch great wrinkles!
The hair is rebar wire – what, you don’t have that in your garage?! A giant roll is like $5 at Home Depot. The hat is homemade with poster board. My beautiful boy drew out the face and carved it himself, with a few small touchups from Daddy.
And of course, we do not waste anything. I toasted the seeds.
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Middle-Easterners love their seeds. My husband snacks on them all of the time. Me? I do not have patience to crack them open. But, my kids love ’em, so I toast ’em.
A Persian favorite are these lemony pumpkin seeds. My family is a lemon addict. They suck on the seeds and suck off the lemony goodness before cracking open the seeds for the nugget inside.
I’ve burned many seeds in the process, but I think I finally got the recipe down.
It’s pretty simple and quick to prepare. And I hope you like sucking on these lemony pumpkin seeds as much as my family does!
Lemon Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients
- 1 medium-sized pumpkin
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Remove seeds from the pumpkin.
- Place seeds in a large bowl and cover with water.
Using your hands, swirl the seeds around in the water to help remove the pumpkin pulp and strings attached to the seeds. You will notice that the pulp will sink to the bottom of the bowl while the seeds float to the top. - Using a slotted spoon, remove the seeds and place them on paper towels to pat dry.
- Let the seeds air dry for about an hour.
- Preheat oven to 325ºF.
- Place seeds in a medium-sized bowl and mix with olive oil and salt.
- Toss well to coat the seeds evenly and spread seeds evenly in one layer onto a baking sheet and place in oven.
- Roast for 20 minutes.
- Remove seeds from oven and toss seeds with lemon juice.
- Place seeds back in the oven and bake until all of the lemon juice has evaporated, about 5-10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow seeds to cool on tray, about 20 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
Ha! I love that carved pumpkin! So cute 😉
And lemony pumpkin seeds look divine! Parenting comes with challenges. Wine definitely helps in this situation.
Parenthood is challenging at times. Chocolate Martinis help! :-))
I love the recipe. Am I supposed to eat the whole seed or just the inside?
I so rarely roast pumpkin seeds, and should – they have terrific flavor. Love the addition of lemon! That’s one of my favorite flavors. And kids these days! We were never like that, right? 😉 Good post – thanks.
Love this! I will be making it!Great pics !
I like pumpkin seeds but I like them better when they are roasted and shelled. I think all kids should be locked up from 12 – 20. 🙂
Are we living in the same household??? My daughter has been watching tv all afternoon & evening since we took it away during the school week this past Monday. The issue? Incomplete homework assignments!! On a happier note, these seeds look delicious!!! Hope you have a wonderful weekend 🙂
I swear these kids lose brain cells during puberty. Since it was all a fog when I was that age, perhaps it is not far from the truth!
His pumpkin is genius!
Sorry the adjustment is taking its toll. I’ve been there/done that. Ain’t fun.
We should were a badge saying we survived middle school as mothers or something!
I wish I had the patience to toast the seeds – the idea of adding lemon sounds terrific. Love the great angle on the carved pumpkin – the steam as nose is brilliant!
My family loves them so much that I get a huge guilt trip if I DON’T toast the seeds. They even clean them out of the pumpkin for me! I’ll send them to your house to help, if you want!