Baked Pumpkin Seeds

Easy peasy!!!  I love Baked Pumpkin Seeds!!!  I eat the shells and all!

Hey what can I say… I’m a weirdo, I eat the shells of Sun Flower Seeds also!  They are a little harder to chew up, but hey great fiber!  LOL! 

Anyway, hope you have a great Halloween!

 Step One, pull the seeds out of of the pulp!

Just throw them on a piece of newspaper.

Then rinse off the pulp and throw them on a paper towel. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Dry them off some, but I like to leave them wet so that the seasoning will stick.

This time I used Cajun seasoning, but I also like Sea Salt, if you like sweet, put Cinammon and Sugar on them, Lime would also be great!  Just put what you like.

Anyway I spread them out on a cookie sheet lined with foil.  They don’t have to be completly even, you can stir them half way through the baking process.

I let them bake for about 15 to 20 minutes.  Keep an eye on them because they can burn quickly.  I taste them to see how I like them, they don’t have to be golden and you don’t have to use oil like a lot recipes call for.

Stir them half way through to make sure they are crispy. 

This is a fun and easy family project that can become a tradition.  ENJOY!

Halloween Pet Safety Tips

HALLOWEEN PET SAFETY TIPS

Pets can get in trouble eating trick or treat candy, getting scared from Trick or Treaters, and checking out the decorations.

1.  TREATS 

You might think that it is healthy to give sugar-free candy that is made with Xylitol.  BUT DON’T! 

And be sure to check your child’s bag for such treats and make sure they’re out of your pets’ reach.

Xylitol can cause a radical drop in blood pressure, liver damage and death, and it doesn’t take that much. A 22-pound dog that eats just one gram of Xylitol needs veterinary treatment. Its effects in cats and birds have not been reported, but don’t be the one to find out.


2.  CHOCOLATE 

Especially dark and baker’s chocolate, contains theobromine.

Theobromine has a small stimulant effect on humans, but a HUGE ONE ON DOGS, causing shaking, seizures, increased heart rate and death. Milk chocolate has approximately 44 mg of theobromine per ounce, semisweet chocolate about 150 mg per ounce, and baker’s chocolate about 390 mg per ounce. A lethal dose for dogs is considered about 50 to 100 mg per pound; cats and birds are even more sensitive, but tend to have less of a taste for chocolate.


3.  RAISINS AND GRAPES

Some dogs appear to be able to eat raisins and grapes with no ill effects, but in other dogs, they can cause kidney failure and DEATH!  The reason isn’t understood, but as little as 0.3 ounces of grapes per pound and 0.05 ounces of raisins per pound have caused kidney failure.

In other words, a 50-pound dog could be poisoned by eating two ounces of raisins. A few cases have been reported in cats, probably because cats aren’t big grape and raisin eaters. Birds appear to be unaffected.


4. MACADAMIA NUTS 

You probably won’t get too many of these in the treat bag, but you never know, and if you do, you don’t want your pet eating them.

They’ve been known to cause vomiting, diarrhea, hind-leg weakness and temporary paralysis. No reports of macadamia poisoning with cats exist. Birds can eat the nuts without problem.


5.  PENNIES

You spend enough on your pet without feeding him money, but pennies can be the most expensive money he eats. Some people give out coins instead of candy, and some dogs will eat anything.

The problem with eating pennies is that they are made of 99 percent zinc, and when the penny sits in the dog’s stomach, the zinc is dissolved and enters the bloodstream, where it causes severe anemia and kidney problems.


6.  FOIL WRAPS

Those shiny wraps around some candies can cause intestinal problems, and are particularly dangerous to birds, which may be attracted to them.

7.  SCARY VISITORS

Nobody told your pet that those costumes are all in good fun. He could be frightened and try to flee, or if he’s the protective canine type, he could bite trick-or-treaters. It’s best to keep him in a secure room away from the door during peak hours.

8.  PUMPKINS & CANDLES

Flames can burn your curious pet or containers could be knocked over, starting a fire. Birds are especially endangered by Jack O’Lanterns that they can fly into, and perhaps get stuck inside.

9.  ELECTRICAL CORDS

Those cords snaking all over the place to power all those special effects can be tempting to chew. And then zap! Keep them out of pets’ reach!

10.  ARTIFICIAL SPIDER WEBS

What sense does it make to clean your house and then hang spider webs all over the place?  Birds can become entangled in them or even eat them, causing intestinal problems. Just leave the real ones up.

11. POLYURETHANE GLUE

Often used when making homemade decorations, dogs in particular have been known to eat it. Once in the stomach, it absorbs moisture and expands into a huge rock-like mass that may need to be removed surgically.

12.  COSTUMES

It’s fun to dress up your pet in his very own costume, but don’t let him wear it unsupervised. Chances are he’s not thrilled with your fashion statement, and he can knock things over trying to rub it off, or he could get tangled in it or eat it, in some cases choking. Be sure no rubber bands are left on him when the outfit comes off. Birds should not be part of your pirate costume, either. It’s too easy for them to get frightened and injured.

13.  SINISTER HUMANS

Bad people pose the most frightening threat of all.

In the weeks BEFORE Halloween, some steal animals, particularly BLACK CATS, so they can use them in rituals in which the animals are sacrificed or tortured. Take special precautions to safeguard your pet from thieves during this time.

And while you should never let your pet roam, you should particularly not let them roam on Halloween. 

Wishing you a Happy and Safe Halloween!

From my friends at Camino Al Norte Animal Hospital

187 Pound Pumpkin!

Growing up in Las Vegas, I remember that it was always cold by the time Halloween rolled around.  Believe it or not, it gets cold in the desert.  We always had to wear our coats (maybe even gloves) over our costumes, you could see your breath as you ran down the street from house to house.  I guess global warming has changed all of that.  It has been chilly here the last couple of days, but by Saturday it’s supposed to be around 75 degrees.

Now that I am all grown up, (at least by my age) Halloween to me means carving pumpkins, putting on a great “winter dish” like chilli or hamburger stew (recipe to follow).  See in Vegas it is so hot here in the summer, that at least in my family, we have what we call winter and summer dishes.  My honey thought that was so funny when I would say “I’m not gonna make hamburger stew that’s a winter dish, it’s a 110 degrees outside”! 

Young and I love to carve pumpkins to have on the porch when the kids come a knocking on Halloween.  A couple of years ago for some reason we didn’t have time to get some pumpkins, Halloween was on a Wednesday or something.  So a couple nights before, Young all pouty faced said to me “I guess were not gonna carve pumpkins this year”. 

Well I had to run over to the grocery store so I thought I’ll check and see if they had any pumpkins left.  As I walked into the doors there it was a giant pumpkin!  No others to be had, they were all out.  So I asked one of the clerks if this huge pumpkin was for sale, she didn’t know, she would have to get the manager.  So the manager came over and said yes and since it’s so close to Halloween I let you have it for $35.  Then he said it weighs 187 pounds!

What!  187 pounds!  My husband is gonna jump for joy like a kid on Christmas morning!  I’ll take it!  It was night time and the only young strong men that were in or near that store was the college kids coming in and out to get their booze for what ever party they were going to. 

So I watched as the manager and another man struggled to put it on a flat bed cart.  I thought how are they going to lift that thing up into my Expedition.  Then I remember the college kids in the parking lot! So I turned on the southern charm, no I’m not from the south but for some reason all of my life I have been asked if I am from the south, my response is always yes, Southern Nevada!  “Hey y’all can you help them get this pumpkin in my car”.  They were so flabbergasted at the size of this thing (187 pounds) they were jumping at the bit to help.

It took an act of congress and a hand truck for me and my husband to get it out of the car and up the drive way, but the joy on his face when he saw he had a pumpkin to carve was, well you know, priceless.

Wrinkles & Sputters could both put their heads in this pumpkin!

He had a lot of fun with the girls carving that pumpkin!  Now if your hungry, the next post has my recipe for Hamburger Stew.  This is a dish that my Granny and my Mom would make when it was really cold outside.  It goes great with a slice of bread and butter and a big glass of milk!