Fall is here! With the cooler weather, my mind is starting to drift towards warm meals, fall harvest, oranges and yellows and cozy weather. This weekend, I finally put up some of my fall decorations, which I’ll share at the end of this post. I’ve also been inclined to cook more soups and comforting meals, as well as buy some squash every single time I stop at the grocery store. It’s a problem.
I tend to buy a couple at a time, cut them up and freeze them for later use. It’s always nice to have squash handy. My favorite has to be butternut squash. It can go from the freezer straight to the pan without any defrosting or added cook time. Awesome!
If I have the time, I also like to save the seeds and roast them. They’re a great snack by themselves, but they also work as soup or salad garnishes. Apart from the extra time you need to prepare, they’re really simple to make.
First of all, you have to gather the seeds. Save them from any squash or pumpkin.
Then, it’s time to get your hands a little dirty and separate the seeds from the pulp. It tends to be a bit messy, so I usually do it over the sink and with the garbage nearby. I place all the seeds in a colander and give it a couple of rinses once done.
In batches, lay them our in paper towels to dry and remove any leftover pulp.
Rub with the paper towels to dry completely.
Place seeds in a prepared baking pan and season with spices of choice and a bit of olive oil, just enough to coat them. I usually do salt and pepper, but you can definitely get crazy with seasonings: seasoned salt, ranch, Italian, cayenne pepper and paprika, maybe even cinnamon and sugar.
Roast for 10 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Watch closely as you don’t want them to overcook. Remove once seeds are a little toasted and gold.
Let cool completely before enjoying. Seriously, they’ll be really really hot straight out of the oven.
As promised, here’s some of the fall décor I took out of storage as long with the links to some of the how-to tutorials.
Explore more DIY tutorials and what I've been up to lately in my blog Do It With Heart.