Pumpkin Seeds Two Ways

When we were carving jack o'lanterns with the kids I thought that I'd try roasting some pumpkin seeds.  I'm not really a fan of them but I thought that if I seasoned them I'd like them.  So found two different recipes to try, one savory, one sweet.  I have to say that even after roasting and seasoning them I still wasn't really into them.  However, we discovered that our son really likes them!  So, my husband and son got to enjoy these.  My husband preferred the Toasted Pumpkin Seeds over the Caramelized Spicy ones.  Although I do have to note that they did not caramelize the way I had wanted them to and became more sugar and spicy.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
recipe from allrecipes.com by CRYSTAL10

Ingredients:
2 cups raw pumpkin seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/4 teaspoons seasoned salt

Directions:
1.Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).

2.Rinse the pumpkin seeds and pat dry. Place them in a bowl. Add the Worcestershire sauce, melted butter and seasoned salt; stir until evenly coated. Spread out in an even layer on a baking sheet.

3.Bake for about 1 hour in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until crisp, dry and golden brown.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.

Caramelized Spicy Pumpkin Seeds
recipe slightly adapted from allrecipes.com by Theresa

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds, washed and dried
cooking spray
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Directions: 1.Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2.In a large bowl, stir together 3 tablespoons of sugar, the cumin, cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne pepper, and set aside.

3.Place the pumpkin seeds on the prepared baking sheet, spray them with cooking spray, and sprinkle with salt to taste. Bake the seeds in the preheated oven until lightly golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

4.Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, and stir in the toasted pumpkin seeds along with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Cook and stir the seeds until the sugar forms a coating on the seeds, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir the caramelized seeds into the bowl of sugar-spice mixture, toss to coat, and let cool.

Family Rating: so-so.

This recipe was shared at:
Simple Living and Eating

Children's Book Review: Splat Says Thank You

Splat Says Thank You!
Written and illustrated by:  Rob Scotton
Published by:  Harper, 2012

from amazon.com:
Splat the Cat's trusty mouse friend, Seymour, needs cheering up, and Splat wants to help. He's been working on something special for Seymour—not just a thank-you card but a thank-you book! His book lists all the sweet and often hilarious reasons Splat is thankful for their friendship.

The funny adventures that Splat and Seymour have had together, complete with animated illustrations and a laugh-out-loud text from bestselling author and illustrator Rob Scotton, will leave Splat fans thankful to know this cat-and-mouse duo.

* Splat the Cat is a well-known character from Rob Scotton.  He stars in picture books and beginning to read chapter books.   We have read a couple of the Splat the Cat books as a family.  In this book, perfect for this time of year when we are celebrating being thankful, Splat thanks his friend Seymour for all of the kind things that he's done for him.  The illustrations and reasons are somewhat funny, as Splat can get himself into a lot of trouble.  It also touches upon the importance of good friends.  Overall, the kids seemed to enjoy it.  It took the theme of being thankful away from the traditional "Thanksgiving" theme which was a nice change. 

This book was borrowed from the library.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up.

Avocado and Watercress Salad

The end of the Eating the Alphabet Challenge is coming to an end soon!  This fun challenge is hosted by Brenda at Meal Planning Magic.  This month's letters were U,V, or W and the challenge is to make a recipe that features a fruit, vegetable, or grain that begins with the month's letters.  This month was a toughy!  There aren't a lot of fruits and veggies that begin with the letters U,V, or W!  I decided to go with watercress.  I'm not sure that I've ever eaten it before (unless it was mixed in some fancy salad that I've eaten!) and I know that I've never cooked with it.  I found this salad recipe and decided to make it to serve with some home-made mac and cheese (recipe coming soon!) for dinner.  It was super easy to put together, though I was definitley surprised at how stemmy watercress is.  The dressing is definitely the key here and is super-tasty-hints of both sweet and tangy.  I was even more suprised when my son, the picky eater, tried his mandatory bite and said that he liked it!  So, we shared the plate of salad pictured below (although he didn't eat the avocado....score!  More for me!).  For lunch we had leftover mac and cheese and I made another plate of salad.  Without even seeing my plate my son requested some of the "green leafy food."  So, he got his own bowl of watercress salad and ate it all! I'm sure this salad would taste great with cut up pieces of apple and maybe even some chicken or shrimp to make it a meal. 

Avocado and Watercress Salad
recipe from Gourmet, May 2008

Ingredients:
1/4 cup rice vinegar (not seasoned)
1 tablespoon grated sweet onion such as Vidalia or Walla Walla (use large holes of a box grater)
1/4 cup finely grated peeled Gala apple (use small holes of box grater)
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 cups watercress (thin stems and leaves only; from 1 large bunch)
1 firm-ripe avocado

Directions:
Stir together vinegar, onion, apple, soy sauce, and sugar until sugar has dissolved, then stir in oil.

Just before serving, toss watercress with enough dressing to coat. Quarter, pit, and peel avocado, then cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Gently toss with watercress.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up!

Children's Book Review: Glamorous Glasses

Glamorous Glasses
Written and illustrated by:  Barbara Johansen Newman
Published by: Boyds Mills Press, 2012

from goodreads.com:
Bobbie and Joanie are best friends and best cousins, and they do everything together. So when Joanie has to get glasses, Bobbie figures she'll get them, too--especially once she discovers the fabulous frames on display at the eyeglasses store. Meanwhile, Joanie has the opposite reaction. Glasses make her feel different and look different. And they're uncomfortable. So the ever-resourceful Bobbie comes up with a perfect plan to make both of them happy. Illustrations full of rich, comical details enhance this story about friendship and a classic childhood experience.

* My daughter recently got glasses, for distance only.  While at the eye doctor my son also got his eyes checked.  He luckily doesn't need glasses....yet.  While picking out frames for my daughter I had to deal with a bit of a tantrum from my son while he kept telling me that he NEEDS glasses.  I told him that he just had his eyes checked and he did not need glasses.  I told him by the time he's six he'll probably need glasses too.  I am practically blind (though I prefer to wear contacts) and my husband wears glasses too.  He's doomed!  So, this book ended up being one that the kids could relate to.  Bobbie goes with her cousin Joanie to pick out her glasses and she really wants a pair too.  She even goes as far as to fake pretending that she needs them (pretending that she couldn't see the board, tripping on purpose, etc.).  Joanie doesn't like her glasses but really likes Bobbie's pure so they end up doing a switch.  Only after a couple of mishaps do the girls realize that Joanie should really wear her glasses!

This book was borrowed from the library.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up.

Beginning Reader Book Review: P.J. Funnybunny Camps Out

P.J. Funnybunny Camps Out
Written by: Marilyn Sadler
Illustrated by: Roger Bollen
Published by:  Random House, 1993

from goodreads.com:
Illus. in full color. Camping is not for girls, right? At least, that's what P.J. and his pals tell Donna and Honey Bunny when they want to tag along on a camping trip. But when two mysterious ghosts frighten the boys all the way home, only the girls know the "real" story.

* My son picked this book off of the beginning chapter book shelves at the library.  I didn't really like when P.J. told his sister that "Camping is not for girls."  I asked my son, is he right?  Can girls go camping? I was very relieved when my son told me that girls can go camping (which we have done before as a family!).  However, in the end, the girls prevail.  This was a good book to practice predicting.  When I had my son make some predictions he ended up being partly correct.  When I made my prediction and ended up being correct, my kids accused me of reading the book before!  Overall, this was a cute story about a bunny and his friends who attempt to go on a camping trip but end up being frightened and run home.

This book was borrowed from the library.

Family Rating: 1 thumb up.

Baked Parmesan Zucchini Fries

I had a leftover zucchini in the refrigerator and had this recipe bookmarked in my "To Try" folder.  So I thought now would be a perfect time to go with the Hummus Turkey Burgers.  I thought the breading might entice the kids to eat zucchini, but I was wrong.  They didn't like these.  I did, although they didn't come out as crispy as I would have liked.  For the amount of time and dirty dishes this created, I don't think I'll be making these again.

Baked Parmesan Zucchini Fries
recipe from The Soulicious Life

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds zucchini, cut into french fry sticks about 3″ long
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper, divided
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. Panko or traditional bread crumbs
1/2 c. grated Parmesan and/or Romano cheese
1 tbls. fresh oregano, or 1 tsp dried

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees and lightly grease two baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray.

Arrange three bowls assembly line style. In the first, stir together flour, 1/2 tsp. garlic salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. In the second, whisk together eggs with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. In the third bowl, combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan and/or Romano, and oregano.

Working in batches, first dip zucchini in flour, then transfer to egg mixture and toss until coated. Finally, coat zucchini in breadcrumb mixture.


Arrange zucchini on prepared baking sheets in single layers and without touching. Bake 22-27 minutes until breadcrumb coating is golden and crisp.


Family Rating: 1 thumb up.

Children's Book Review: Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?
Illustrated by:  Various illustrators
Published by: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2006

from goodreads.com:
We all know the joke. We've all told it. Kids love to tell it over and over and over again, with as many different punch lines as possible. And now we've found out that famous award-winning artists love to tell the joke too—and they have some wacky and downright hilarious ideas about why that chicken really did cross the road. Mo Willems's chicken confesses his motives to a police officer; David Shannon's chicken can drive a car; Marla Frazee's chicken is looking for a more luxurious coop; and Harry Bliss's chicken encounters aliens. And this is just the beginning. One thing is for sure—you won't cross this book without a good laugh!

* My kids are beginning to get into and understand joke telling.  They are familiar with the classic "Why did the chicken cross the road?"  So when I saw this book at the library I thought they would enjoy it.  I had no idea what the book was about but was pleasantly surprised to see that it's a compilation of various illustrators, including some of our favorites, Tedd Arnold, Mo Willems, and David Shannon.  Each artist drew their own interpretation as to why the chicken crossed the road, so there are many different artistic styles represented.  This is a great introduction to popular children's illustrators (and some are also authors). The end of the book contains mini bios of the various illustrators, including other books that they have illustrated.  This is a visual and humorous book that we all enjoyed.

This book was borrowed from the library.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.