Roast the Pumpkin Seeds after carving your Pumpkin

Making roasted pumpkin seeds in the oven is half of the fun of carving up the pumpkins for Halloween. Instead of discarding the pulp and seeds, seperate out the seeds and bake them for a tasty treat. Decorate with your favorite spices and ingredients. Check out these tasty pumpkin seed recipes. Trick or Treat!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds - Video

Many of you are starting to carve pumpkins or make pumpkin pies. If you aren't sure how to roast the pumpkin seeds, check out this video I found online. It is only 3 minutes long and has some good tips on salting and baking pumpkin seeds.



I must admit that I have been disappointed with the amount of pumpkin seeds that my pumpkins have yieled so far. For 4 pumpkins, I only got 2 baking sheets of seeds. The seeds were all gone in one day and were a fair amount of work to prepare. Check out my link if you want to buy pumpkin seeds online - so you can get the healthy benefits all year round. They are available raw, roasted and even seasoned. Get them in bulk to minimize packaging. Don't forget to put some in your lunch and the kids' lunch - since they are a school safe snack packed full of health benefits.

Health Benefits of Pumpkin Seeds - Buy Pumpkin Seeds Online

Being a big believer in limiting waste, I don't like it when people throw out perfectly good items instead of donating, reusing or recycling them. Food waste is also deplorable. Some people may not even realize they are wasting good food. Take, for instance, pumpkin seeds.

Many people bake pumpkin pies in the fall, but they discard the pumpkin seeds that come with the pumpkins. Pumpkin seeds are extremely nutritious - they contain magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, iron, protein, Omega 3 fats, and vitamins. They rarely trigger allergies so can be brought to school or work as a snack. There are also many health benefits, including improved prostate health in men, preventing or slowing osteoporosis, bladder problems, lowering cholesterol, and even improving brain and eye power.

Pumpkins are part of the gourd family, can the seeds contain an ingredient called cucurbitace, which is know as a cancer fighting agent. There are so many benefits to eating these seeds you should eat them all year round - not just in the fall.

As a snack, you can eat them in their raw green state - called pepitas in Mexican cooking. You can also roast them and add toppings like garlic powder, black or red pepper, Worchestershire sauce, popcorn toppings, honey - the toppings and cominations are virtually limitless.

You can add pumpkin seeds to salads, vegetable dishes, bread mixes, muffins, cereals, cooked rice, etc. You can also grind the seeds and add them to salad dressings, ground meats (for hamburger), oatmeal, rice pudding, etc.

Learn more about pumpkin seeds, how to prepare them and where to buy them online.

Safe at Halloween with Trick or Treat Bags

A friend of mine told me a great tip for Halloween - I know it is still early, but I wanted to pass it on. She found a way to eliminate sugar, calories and harmful food allergens from the treats she gives out at Halloween. How?

She gives out Halloween toys instead. Halloween toys are fun, useful and can cost roughly the same as sugared treats. There are even some great toys for the safety of children trick or treating - like Halloween flashlights and reflective necklaces. Since there are pedestrian accidents every year, I thought these were a great idea. There are also practical items, like pencils, notebooks and erasers for school. Kids love getting the fun and spooky items like bouncy balls shaped like eyes or spider rings. There are also craft items, stickers and bracelets.

You can throw a little candy in with the toys for party treat bags for tradition. If you are a crusader against tooth decay caused by sugar, you may consider the Halloween toothbrushes and brushing timers.

Kids love getting surprises and they love getting toys. Toys will be a more lasting reminder of the fun they had over Halloween. Another bonus - if you don't give out all the toys, you can simply store them for next year. You can't do that with candy.

Get Discount Halloween Toy Supplies for your Halloween Treat Bags. This page even has a video on picking your non-edible Halloween treats.

Environmental Kids Activities

Kids living in urban centers, or even suburbs, are often disconnected from nature. There are several fun activities you can do with kids while you reconnect with nature and our environment. Here is my article on a few of my favourite environmental education activities for kids.

Litterless Lunch Kits - Essential For Back To School

Going green at Lunch

Litterless lunch kits are the right thing to pack

Think of all the schools across the country and all the lunches that are eaten there over a school year. Now think of all the waste that creates. Kids are learning more about litterless lunches at school - packing items in reusable containers that don't create waste.

We can all learn from that. So whether you are packing a litterless lunch kit for the kids or the office, here is my complete article on Litterless Lunch Kit Tips for Back to School .

Green House Cleaning Using Green Cleaning Supplies

With the increase in allergies in children and cancer in adults, many people are concerned with the chemicals they are using in their home and garden.

There are effective alternatives to clean your home using green cleaning supplies. These green cleaning tips will save you money and help save the environment. Best of all - you probably already have these supplies in your cupboard. See my Green House Cleaning Using Green Cleaning Supplies article for more information.

Haan FS20-Plus Steam Cleaning Floor Sanitizer Mop

Steam Cleaning Mops are the best new product for green cleaning your home

Steam Cleaning Floor Sanitizers use absolutely no chemicals or need commercial cleaning products or liquids, but effectively remove dirt and bacteria from your floors.

You can use steam cleaners on tile, wood, marble and most common floor surfaces. If you have really dirty floors, you can add a spoonful of vinegar to the water, but do not do that on marble floors.

Steam Cleaners are now available in a household use model which costs about $100. The steam cleaning mop comes with 2 cleaning pads which are washable and reuseable. You won't believe the amount of dirt you pick up when you clean with a steam mop.

My favorite and also the best selling steam cleaning mop is the Haan FS20-Plus 800-Watt Steam Cleaning Floor Sanitizer with Deluxe Sanitizing Tray

Eco Chick's Blog Begins!

I am green. Not by color but by choice. I have always been interested in the environment from an early age and constantly look for ways to reduce my carbon footprint and save the planet. I was composting, reusing, recycling and reducing waste long before it became popular. Being green has become easier over the last few years, since Al Gore made being eco-friendly a trend. Now that I have kids, I am trying to teach them how to protect the environment while keeping track of green trends in schools and neighborhoods. More than anything, I want to educate and motivate kids to get involved. The best way to do that is usually through parents, teachers and other kids.

My goal in writing this blog is to offer easy tips and tricks for ways of going green. It doesn't have to be painful. It can even save you money. It is the right thing - the necessary thing - to do. As the planet population explodes and the weather gets wonkier - we need to do our part to preserve the earth for future generations. I will gladly offer my knowledge and hope to share tips with other eco conservationists. Together we can make a difference.

Go Green!

Eco Chick