Snack Time! Lemon Pumpkin Seeds

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.

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

Author:

Laura Bashar

This lemony treat is not only a healthy snack, but fun to eat and very kid friendly! Recipe by Laura Bashar of Family Spice

Ingredients:

• 1 medium-sized pumpkin
• 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. Remove seeds from:
• 1 medium-sized pumpkin
2. Place seeds in a large bowl and cover with water.
3. Using your hands, swirl the seeds around in the water to help remove the pumpkin pulp and strings attached to the seeds.
4. You will notice that the pulp will sink to the bottom of the bowl while the seeds float to the top.
5. Using a slotted spoon, remove the seeds and place them on paper towels to pat dry.
6. Let the seeds air dry for about an hour.
7. Preheat oven to 325ºF.
8. Place seeds in a medium-sized bowl and mix with:
• 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
9. Toss well to coat the seeds evenly and spread seeds evenly in one layer onto a baking sheet and place in oven.
10. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
11. Remove seeds form the oven and toss seeds with:
• 2 tsp lemon juice
12. Place seeds back in the oven and bake until all of the lemon juice has evaporated, about 5-10 minutes.
13. Remove from oven and allow seeds to cool on tray, about 20 minutes before serving.

Prep Time: 15 mins

Yield: 8 servings

Cook Time: 30 mins

Total Time: 2 hours

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