As you have seen in my last couple of posts, I have been busy playing with fresh pumpkins from the garden. So far, we have made cupcakes and pumpkin pie. I like to use fresh pumpkins as opposed to canned because of the taste and color… but most of all I like to roast the seeds!!!

We actually end up buying roasted pumpkin seeds throughout the year, but in the fall, we get to make them ourselves. The seeds (pepitas) are delicious and easy to prepare. You can season them in any way you see fit, ranging from salty, to sweet, or even spicy.

Pumpkin seeds are one of the Superfoods, that provide lots of helpful nutrients. They are high in fiber, protein, zinc, calcium, omega-3s, and many others. Although it is still open to discussion, the oil in pumpkin seeds is believed to help protect against Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy (BPH). Some of the nutritional/healthful benefits I found that are supposedly correlated to the consumption of pumpkin seeds:

• promotes prostate health
• helps protect against osteoporosis
• reduces inflammatory symptoms in arthritis
• reduces blood levels of cholesterol
• great source of fiber <-- we all know what this is good for :)

To cook: remove the flesh, and rinse with water. Pat the seeds dry with a towel, and spray with cooking spray. Top the seeds with whatever seasoning you prefer. We used a Kettle Corn seasoning, which was great, but you could use any combination of salty, sweet, or spicy seasonings that sound good to you. Toss the seeds in a 325° oven for about 25 minutes, stirring roughly every 10 minutes.