An easy recipe for toasted pumpkin seeds

It's not often that you find a treat that is healthy, easy to make and kids like it -- at least our kids do.
We have a hard time keeping them around because we all have to grab a few each time we pass by. Usually pumpkin seeds are toasted in the oven, sometimes with oil, but this pumpkin seed recipe contains only spices and water, yet they are so crispy and good.

Above, the pumpkin seeds before heating. We put them in a pan specially made for the microwave from Pampered Chef but any microwave-safe bowl will do. Here's the recipe:

 

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

2 cups raw, shelled pumpkin seeds

2 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Stir together all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl with lid. Cover and microwave on high for around 3 minutes (our microwave isn't as high powered as some, so adjust your times as needed). Remove and stir. Cover and microwave another 2 minutes. Stir again, then microwave for one more minute. Stir, then set on the counter until cooled. Transfer to an airtight container and enjoy!!

 

After heating, they have puffed up to almost double their size and are a brown and crunchy treat!!

Super Bowl XLVI!

Yes last night was the Super Bowl. We stayed home to watch the game and I made a little buffet with snacks. It was really nice to watch the game with Drew again. This was the second year we watched the Super Bowl together.
 
My highlights of the game-

Faith Hill sang the Super Bowl song at the beginning of the show. I really enjoyed that song.

Black Shelton and Miranda Lambert sang America The Beautiful. They did a really great job on the song.

Kelly Clarkson and a Children's Choir sang The Star Spangle Banner. They sang that so beautiful.

Steven Tyler was at the game he was in one of the box sets.

First half of the game-
The Giants-  Eli Manning was sacked two times. They got a touchdown first quarter. Then on Patriots first play of the game the Giants got a safety.
The Patriots- Field goal second quarter and a touchdown second quarter.

Half Time Show-
This year was Madonna the show was really good and it was different. She sang Vogue, Music, Give Me All Your Lovin' and Like  A Prayer. 

Second half of the game-
The Giants- Got an interception, a field goal and a last minute touchdown.
The Patriots- They got a touchdown.

The Giants won the game 21-17.

Eli Manning got the MVP Award. That was great.

This was the fifth time the Giants made it to the Super Bowl and it was the seventh time the Patriots made it to the Super Bowl. Also this is the second time that the Giants and the Patriots played in the Super Bowl together and is the second time the Giants beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

I would really like to hear what you have to say about the Super Bowl. Thank you for taking your time to read this!♥

A great day in the garden!

It has been way too long since I spent any time in the garden. Towards the end of last week my sister called and said we really needed to do some harvesting. We didn't have tons of broccoli but you can see some of it is flowering. It is still edible but not quite as good as if we had picked it last week. We harvested about a quart of broccoli. Most of it looked better than this.

Winter gardens are the best. They provide all these lovely vegetables without quite so much work! Early in the season there is tons of work, but we can now just go every now and then and pick vegetables -- maybe occasionally throw out some fertilizer. It's great because there are not many pests. The electric fence keeps the four-legged pests out and the cooler temps encourage the bugs to hibernate. We took the time to mulch when we planted to keep any cool-weather weeds under control. That all means less work and less stress

Our Brussels sprouts are doing well. I am hoping they will continue to add sprouts as they grow taller and taller. We could have sprouts until the weather warms in late spring. We picked about a gallon and the plants still look hearty so I think we will have more.

We still have some beautiful collards. It looks like the insects are more interested in the outside leaves -- that is very good. The inside leaves are the best.

Our mustard has gone to seed and it is providing some nice color. We did see some honey bees on the mustard blooms and that is exciting because honey bees have been scarce in the past couple of years. Seeing them now is very encouraging and I hope the bee population makes a comeback in the spring. That is one reason we are leaving our flowering plants. We want them to make a "beeline" to our garden all year to pollinate our blooms.

And the best surprise we had were some really beautiful turnips. Some were the size of apples. Last year I baked my harvested turnips with garlic and they were delicious -- so much so that I will bake these the same way. We have already picked double the amount as last year and they are much larger, probably because I bought Purple tops and they are supposed to grow nice and big. We didn't pick them all so hopefully they will continue to grow and we will have a second harvest by spring.

My sister and I decided that it was fantastic to be back in the garden, especially since we could harvest so many tasty treats.

American Idol in Portland Oregon and St. Louis Missouri!

I know I did not write yesterday about American Idol in Oregon. I was really sick to my stomach. So I am going to write about both of them today. I will write something short about both of them.

Portland Oregon- They handed out 45 tickets Wednesday night. I was really shocked about that. I did not think they handed that many out. But I have to remember we only see an hour long show.

The one that really got to me is the girl that is taking care of her boyfriend. Her boyfriend had a real bad stroke last Easter and she has been taking care of him and put her dreams on hold. But now that he is doing better she came to try out and she made it to Hollywood. She is really good too.

A single mom of two small children is going through a divorce and her son said she is the next American Idol. It was so cute. She did make it and her son goes my mom is going to Hollywood.

There was a guy that sang a Queen song and I thought he did really good. The song was really hard to do and he did not make it.

St. Louis Missouri- They handed out 46 tickets last night. One more than Wednesday night.

This lady brought her daughter into the audition with her and it was really cute. The little girl was dancing while her mom was singing. She made it.

Then Steven went into the room where the people where waiting to sing and gave them all a pep talk. I thought that was really neat to do. It really helped the contestants.

There was this guy who is in a family band and they sing country music. His dad was in the band also but then his dad was on drugs and alcohol really bad and went into rehab. His dad is clean now. The guy sang a rock song and he was really good. Steven said he would really like to meet his father. So the guy is going to set that up.

Next week starts the cuts in Hollywood. I can't wait to see that. I would really like to hear what you have to say about what is going on with American Idol!♥

Renee's Garden Seeds

A few weeks ago, my friend and colleague, Angela McRae gave me the opportunity to pick out some sample seeds from Renee's Garden Seeds. It is a company in California that sells garden seeds in beautifully decorated seed packages.

Angela asked if I would like to pick out seeds to try from a media kit she had received and I was delighted. I had purchased their seeds before with a good outcome but I had never visited their website. The Renee's seeds I purchased were from a retail store, Hastings in Atlanta.

I chose some seeds I had been  looking for, like Munstead English lavender, golden beets and Romanesco Italian zucchini. I also ordered gourmet baby salad mix, Wasabi arugula and a package of beautiful heirloom tomatoes named Chianti Rose. I saw a number of seeds developed to grow in containers and from those I picked Astia, a container zucchini and Super Bush, a container tomato.

Their seeds are often packaged in mixtures and groupings. They have mixtures of seeds like the Italian Roasting Peppers I ordered which come in a mix of colors. There are a number of seeds packaged this way -- like eggplant and carrot trios and even a package of "jewel-toned" beets.


Renee's Garden Seeds carries a large selection of heirloom and organic seeds but also specialize in designer vegetable seeds for any culinary experience -- and that is just the vegetables.


The flowers come with seeds in a variety of colors and types -- all beautifully packaged. It is no wonder that they are also used by nonprofit groups for fundraising.

You should check out their website, www.reneesgarden.com. It is packed with helpful information about planting seeds and general gardening.

Another thing I really love are the seeds for themed gardens, like butterfly and hummingbird gardens and special seeds for container gardens and shade gardens. These ideas really gave my imagination a jump start. Also you must check out the Valentine collection, "Seeds of Love" that is now on sale. 

My old standby -- Quickie pie

The other day I had to make a dessert to take somewhere and I wanted it to be good, yet easy. I also had some frozen peaches in the freezer from last summer that I needed to use. Not to mention there aren't many desserts better than a peach pie.

When I want to make something very easy I reach for my mother's old standby recipe, Quickie Pie. It is so easy because all you have to do is melt a little butter and pour it in a baking dish, mix up the next three ingredients and top it with fruit. Stick it in the oven and about an hour later, a really yummy pie.

It is sure easier than making a pie crust. So often I forget about old-fashioned recipes but when I pull out one and remember how great they are I wonder why I don't make them more often. This one is so easy. It may take an hour to bake but only minutes to mix up -- and it's so good with vanilla ice cream!

Quickie Fruit Pie
1 stick butter or margarine (Smart Balance works just fine)
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk (Almond milk works well in this recipe, too.)
3 cups sliced fresh peaches, slightly thawed frozen peaches or other fresh fruit

 Heat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in a 2-quart oblong glass baking dish in the microwave. Mix flour, sugar, and milk in a mixing bowl and pour on top of the melted butter. Layer the fruit on top and bake for 1 hour or until golden brown (This recipe will take around 45 minutes if peaches are fresh or canned and longer if they are slightly frozen.)

Yummy gluten-free waffles

Belgian waffles are delicious, substantial and make for a special breakfast treat. We usually only ate them on vacation because I never owned a waffle iron, but my daughter recently bought one on sale and immediately worked on a gluten-free recipe for her family.

The first waffles she made were from a carob waffle recipe and while I thought they were exceptional -- they were light and fluffy and the recipe from The Allergy Self-Help Book was a good one, I must admit I really don't care for chocolate or carob waffles, muffins or pancakes of any kind. I am a bit surprised by that but I like my chocolate in candy, cakes and desserts. I don't even care for chocolate muffins. Even I think that is weird!

So, she altered the Buckwheat Carob recipe, leaving out the carob, adjusting a few other ingredients and they were quite a treat. They were nice and crisp on the outside and fluffy soft on the inside, which was perfect! I must admit she did a great job.

One good thing about Waffles is that they can be frozen and then toasted when you need them. The only problem we have had with these waffles so far is that we haven't had any leftovers to freeze.

My daughter's recipe:

Buckwheat Waffles

2-1/2 cups white (or lite) buckwheat flour

2 tablespoons tapioca or arrowroot flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoons stevia powder (optional)

2-2/3 cups hemp milk (I used unsweetened) or other milk substitute or water

1/4 cups canola or other oil

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Heat your waffle iron. Mix together the dry ingredients. Whisk in the remaining wet ingredients until just mixed. Mixture will be thin. Poor one cup of batter into your waffle iron and heat according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Remove and serve immediately. Makes 4 to 5 waffles. Make an extra batch for freezing and place on a wire rack so that the bottoms don't get soft. Pop in your toaster and they are almost as good as when you first made them!