Powerful Pumpkin

HAPPY OCTOBER!!!  With all the excitement of the season, I completely bypassed my busy birthday/anniversary/season-changing love of September on here, but October is fast becoming a new favorite month.  I've always loved me some (non-spooky:) Halloween festivities, my now TWO-year-old son claims this month, and while currently living in the south, October is bringing some beautiful transitional weather... bye-bye  humidity!

Also with this month comes some deliciousness in all that is pumpkin-HEALTHY pumpkin-hello Vitamin A!  We've tackled pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin cookies, and today:  pumpkin SEEDS!  A few problems lie with most stated above:  1. carbs 2. sugar 3. artificial ingredients (all of which can be modified and changed!).  I stuck with original recipes for the pancakes and cupcakes (using only organic ingredients), since one was a treat for my son's birthday morning, and the other served an expectant crowd I wanted to please-didn't want to take any granola-head chances at my son's party!  They were both hits, but due to my blood sugar issues and general health concerns I definitely had to limit the intake.  As for the cookies, they were the premade, precut version that were super cute and super yummy but goodness knows the preservatives and chemicals added PLUS the fact that a few left me feeling sick.  Again, playing around with recipes I found online, I could create a mean pumpkin muffin subbing or adding stevia, xylitol, apple sauce, almond or coconut flour, ground chia or flax etc etc-the sky is truly the limit!

One item mentioned above, however, needs no subbing, modifying, or limiting... beautiful, lovely, yummy, sweet or savory... PUMPKIN SEEDS!  These little gems straight from the pumpkins you're carving are loaded with health benefits, from a powerful punch of antioxidants to having cancer-prevention properties to being loaded with fiber and minerals you probably aren't getting enough of on a daily basis.  Make them sweet, savory, eat solo, or add them to a variety of foods-salads, desserts, dinners!

The best part about these is that they're just so darn easy to make.  I do the following after rinsing the seeds thoroughly in a strainer (to get rid of the pulp):

• Preheat the oven to 325
• Lay clean seeds out on sprayed cookie sheet or foil
• Coat with light dusting of spray, oil, or a little butter (optional)
• Top with your choice of sea salt, cinnamon, sweetener etc (I did half and half)
• Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until they're a light golden brown-you want them a little crisp

ENJOY!  This is just the beginning of a fabulous season and wonderful holidays for all denominations to share... Thanks for reading!  Stay Chic, Stay Healthy;)