These Pumpkin Seed Recipes Make Really Healthy Treats

You can get more than just a treat from these pumpkin seed recipes. Every year around the US Thanksgiving holidays pumpkins can be found everywhere.

Maybe the most popular recipe from the pumpkin itself is the pumpkin pie. Yet it is in no way nearly as important to me as the special healthy treat packed in the seeds which are mostly thrown away.

Pumpkin seed recipe No. 1: Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Just as you may like to eat roasted, salted peanuts or other nuts, you can have roasted or toasted pumpkin seeds.

Here's how to make them:
-- 2 cups of pumpkin seeds
-- 2 tablespoons olive oil
-- 1½ teaspoons salt

Wash the pumpkin seeds to remove any dirt, and let them dry on sheets of paper towel. Mix the seeds with the oil and salt and spread on cookie sheet or wide baking dish. Bake at 225°F for about an hour or until crisp.

NOTES: Optionally, you could soak the pumpkin seeds in water for 8-12 hours or overnight. Soaking the seeds (or any grain) causes growth hormones in the seeds to become active, releasing more nutrients.

Also, you may do without the olive oil. But you will have to stir more often to prevent sticking to the container.

Pumpkin seed recipe No. 2: My favorite pumpkin seed cereal dash

Make sure you use this recipe every week (for men, every day is even better!) You will understand why this is my favorite pumpkin seed recipe when you notice the health benefits (below) to be gained from pumpkin seeds.

This is a simple recipe and I use it everyday. I call it pumpkin seed cereal dash:
Ingredients: ¼ cup (or a handful) of pumpkin seeds, washed, then dried on paper towel.

Optionally, you may use a handful of the toasted seeds as prepared in the first recipe (above).

Toast the pumpkin seeds at 225 °F in the oven on cookie sheet or in a glass baking dish for 10-30 minutes or until crisp. The larger the batch you prepare, the longer you need to let them remain in the heat.

(I usually prepare a bigger batch this way, so that I have enough for the next step.)

Place the ¼ cup (or a handful) of seeds in a coffee grinder and grind to powder. You're done! Add it to your breakfast cereal, or sprinkle on rice, cooked vegetables, or other food.

SPECIAL NOTE

I have found the need to wash the pumpkin seeds I buy at the whole food markets or farmers' market. Washing removes any unwanted contents before toating them. The supplies usually look clean but it's just my way of making sure. Since I do not have the time to "air-dry" them, it alters my preparation in 2 ways:

1. Longer time in the oven - required to get rid of the extra moisture.
2. Prepare larger batches - a time saving measure. Larger batch, means fewer trips to the oven.

Regardless of the amount, I have found it quite good to turn off the heat so as not to bake the seeds crisp. Instead, I leave them in the oven after it has been turned off so they dry to a crisp form while retaining much of their original color characteristic.

Notice these health benefits of using pumpkin seeds

These pumpkin seed recipes bring you the following health benefits, which should be especially appealing to those with diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or other lifestyle illnesses.

Why? Because we seem to be more sensitive to the need to preserve what's left of our health.

Antiprostatic - Pumpkin seeds have a substance called cucurbitacin which acts on the prostate to reduce inflammation, by blocking the division of glandular prostate cells. This action retards the enlarging of the prostate and so relieves painful urination and other symptoms associated with this condition.

Urinary Anti-Inflammatory - The active ingredient, cucurbitacin, also prevents bladder infections and incontinence. This is great for diabetics. You could consider pumpkin seeds a part of the anti-diabetes diet.

Vermifuge - The same ingredient, cucurbitacin, also expels intestinal parasites. There are no health risks to using pumpkin seeds as a vermifuge for children.

There is more harm from the sugary pumpkin pies that children love than from a dash of ground pumpkin seeds in their cereals.

Other health benefits - Other benefits include ease of hemorrhoidal discomfort because of the mild laxative properties, and as an aid in digestion.

Try other healthy recipes (like these pumpkin seed recipes) from my specially-selected list.

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