After we went and bought him some new shoes.  He’s HUGE for a 4 year old.  60 pounds, 44″ tall, and really wide large feet, so I always need to take him in to get sized when its time for new ones.  He’s up to 13 1/2 WWW.  Not the kind of thing its easy to find, but luckily he liked one of the only 3 options they had in that size.  He was a little upset because the play area in the mall has a 42″ limit, and he’s outgrown it, and he couldn’t stop to play there, so I let him pick what to do next.  He was hungry and  picked a BBQ place he likes to go because they have a small game room. (Mommy and Daddy like it too because its really GOOD Texas BBQ ;)). 

It turned into a  rather beautiful day (and OH!  Fall is finally here, literally overnight!  The leaves are changing and falling!) so we stopped at a park after lunch so he could work off some energy after sitting so much, until we finally made our way home — where the uncarved pumpkins were glaring at us from the corner of the house where I’d left them since they were so dirty.  He jumped right on those and asked to decorate them; we washed them and carted them inside.  He had a small pumpkin which he decorated with paints and foam sponges, and then “helped” me carve the larger one.  They turned out cute!  I’ll have to snap a pic later.

After we finished up with the pumpkins, the kidlet and I hit the kitchen to roast up the seeds.  I wanted to let him experiment with a number of different flavors instead of just the old salt and oil routine.   I took inspiration from a combonation of several recipes and ideas I found on the web. 

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds:  Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut open the pumpkin and use a strong metal spoon to scoop out the insides. Separate the seeds from the stringy core. Rinse the seeds.  In a small saucepan, add the seeds to water, about 2 cups of water to every half cup of seeds. Add a tablespoon of salt for every cup of water. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.

Lemon Pepper Pumpkin Seeds:  In a medium-sized bowl whisk together 1 egg white, and 2 tsp. Lemon Pepper (the kidlet’s favorite seasoning on everything ;)).  Add 1 C.  pumpkin seeds and toss well. Drain off any excess egg white (using a strainer) and place seeds in a single layer across a baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until seeds are golden. Sprinkle with a bit more lemon pepper when they come out of the oven. Taste and season with salt if needed (lemon pepper has a fair amount of salt in it).

Chili Powder Pumpkin Seeds: In a medium-sized bowl whisk together 1 egg white, 2 tsp. chili powder and 1/2 tsp. salt. Add 1 C.  pumpkin seeds and toss well. Drain off any excess egg white (using a strainer) and place seeds in a single layer across a baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until seeds are golden. Sprinkle with a bit more chili powder when they come out of the oven. Taste and season with more salt if needed.

Spicy and Cheesy Pumpkin Seeds:  In a small mixing bowl, beat an egg white with a whisk until soft and foamy. Stir in a pinch of salt, ¼ tsp. Cayenne Pepper, ¼ tsp. Garlic Powder, 2 tsp. Soy Sauce, and ¼ C. very finely and freshly grated Parmesan Cheese.  Spread 2 C. pumpkin seeds in an even layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Coat with the egg-white mixture. Bake 13–15 minutes until the pumpkin seeds pop. Let them cool completely and store in a covered container.

Sweet & Spicy Pumpkin Seeds: In a medium-sized bowl whisk together an egg white, ¼ C. sugar, ½ tsp. cayenne pepper and ½ tsp. salt. Add the pumpkin seeds and toss well. Drain off any excess egg white (using a strainer) and place seeds in a single layer across a baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until seeds are golden. Sprinkle with a bit more sugar and cayenne pepper when they come out of the oven. Taste and season with more salt if needed.  

The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.” ~Eden Phillpotts

Posted by Kristen in Brain Dump