Tis the season for tons of candy.  O how the kiddies love to get dressed up and roam the streets begging for candy. ;)  Who would have thought this could be so accepted.  This can be a difficult time for parents when for most of the year candy is the very thing that they try (for the most part) to keep out of their children’s hands.  Well what can you do they love Halloween and you love to see them happy.  You can try to monitor how much candy they are eating, limit them to just a few pieces a day or eat it yourselves so your kids don’t suffer the crash and burn that you love so much:).    For the most part Halloween is what it is, deal with it the best way you know how. We don’t have any tips for you here!  However, instead we are going to point out a not so hidden Jem in our eyes.  I say this because we all know when carving out your pumpkin you are going to find a ton of pumpkin seeds, but how many of you are going to do something with them, other then toss them out with the guts.

Toasted pumpkin seeds are delish and really easy to make.  After carving your pumpkin, save your pumpkin seeds and rinse them off, cleaning all of the unwanted pumpkin off.  Then lay them out on a baking sheet with some oil or coconut butter and sprinkle some salt if desired.  Bake them for about 10 – 15 mins at 325 F, keeping an eye on them.  Easy peasy!  Not only are pumpkin seeds tasting and great for snacking, they are nutritious as well.  Pumpkin seeds are packed with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and numerous health promoting antioxidants.  They are also known to have the ability to help fight parasites as well.

 Pumpkin seeds are obviously available in the stores all year round so don’t think you have missed out if you didn’t save your seeds and want the health benefits.

We are used to seeing them in the pumpkin in a white kernel edible shell, but inside is a greenish seed, which will probably be the raw form in the stores.