Football Epilogue

This post is a little overdue as the pumpkin carving was two weeks ago. However, sometimes I need to write something for my own reference. In this case I took a swag at baking pumpkin seeds and they came out rather good. They had just enough spice to notice and I was mildly impressed, so here goes the recipe. The obvious stuff: de-goop and rinse seeds post-pumpkin removal Brine: Put seeds in a bowl of water overnight with a tablespoon of salt and a heaping teaspoon of crushed red pepper. Stir and let sit overnight. Bake: Preheat oven to 275°F. Spray baking sheet with non-stick spray and spread seeds over the sheet with minimal water (use a slotted spoon) taking some of the red pepper with onto the sheet. Bake for about an hour until the seeds start to brown. Consume: allow to cool and eat, enjoy, etc. Simple I know, but I would forget if I didn't write it down. Oh, and in case you're curious, here are the pumpkin carving results for this year: My daughter...

 It's been hard to do anything but pick up quick meals during the football season. I was finally able to slow down a little this weekend and do some home cooking. Saturday, I prepared a good breakfast with chipped and fried zuccini with some bacon and eggs and for dinner I prepared some chicken in a simple marinade (place in marinade at least 30 minutes prior to cooking and chill): 3 tbsp minced garlic (store bought/pre-minced) 1/4 cup lemon juice 1/4 cup olive oil 1 tbsp thyme 1 tbsp salt  The chicken was cooked/browned in a skillet preheated with a couple tbsp of vegetable oil and served with thin/angel hair spaghetti and some sauce. It's nice to do something simple like this and have some time at the dinner table with the kids.

I'm liking this new crock pot. Tonight's dastardly concoction: an ad hoc Sun-dried tomato pesto chicken. Crock and shred 2 lbs boneless/skinless chicken breast Add 1/3 cup balsamic vinaigrette dressing/marinade 1/4 cup sun-dried tomato basil pesto  (I'll figure out with actual homemade tomatoes and pesto later) 6 to 10 fresh basil leaves 1 tbsp oregano mix it in, let it simmer, part it out, feed a nibble of chicken to your begging cat and voila! I think I'll have mine over veggies or cold on a salad, but would go well over pasta. Delicious.

Sometimes you just need a treat. Here's my preferred (base) recipe. Substitute coconut oil, Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips, add a little flax seed and substitute some of the white flour for oatmeal or oat flour for some variation.

Salsa-Part Deux on the food page. Check it out.