Here’s a delectable way to use up those pumpkin innards this Halloween!
It’s taken 34 years but I’ve finally decided to try planning dinners on a regular basis. I’ve always wandered the grocery store with a list of basics and then I grab whatever looks fresh and inspiring. Later in the week I find myself with 2 red peppers that don’t really go with anything. And this method leads to a lot of unnecessary impulse buying as well as a ridiculous grocery budget. It also hinders my ability to be creative with meals, which sounds counter-intuitive. But once I’m at home and deciding what to make it would help if I had all the ingredients for a recipe. The creativity comes in the planning.
I’ve been using ZipList (thanks to Lisa for the recommendation!), which makes adding recipes to my grocery list a breeze. If you’re not familiar with it, you can see an example of the ZipList recipe plugin on my site (check out the recipe below). You’ll notice above the recipe an option to save as well as print. If you create a ZipList account and save the recipe, you can go back at any time and automatically add the ingredients to your shopping list in the exact quantities you need. It also has a nice meal planning function and phone app. I wish I could convince all of my favorite food blogs to use this plugin! I’m now much more likely to make a recipe if I can save it to ZipList. I’ve recently found myself making quite a few dinners from Cookin’ Canuck, Skinnytaste and Simply Recipes. I highly recommend their recipes!
Do you meal plan? If so, do you find that it saves you money on groceries? Any tips for a beginner? I’m only planning 3 meals a week right now since I cook for two and many recipes make great leftovers. And to be honest, some nights all I want is cereal or a frozen pizza.
And now for the recipe, which was definitely not planned. I had a ton of fresh seeds leftover from a recent pumpkin canning extravaganza. And a ton of nervous energy during the storm. Behold, the final snack of Hurricane Sandy: Sriracha maple pumpkin seeds.
Sriracha Maple Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh pumpkin seeds
- 2 teaspoons Sriracha
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
- Toss the pumpkin seeds with the Sriracha and maple syrup and then spread evenly on a baking sheet.
- Sprinkle with salt.
- Roast for 20 minutes.
Notes
Please read my full post for additional recipe notes, tips, and serving suggestions!
Nutrition
Recipe Troubleshooting
For immediate help troubleshooting a recipe, please email me using the form on my contact page. I’ll try to respond to urgent questions as quickly as possible! For all general questions, please leave a comment here :)
Christina @ The Beautiful Balance says
Sriracha AND pumpkin!? Holy YUM, you are an evil genius! I already know I would finish off that entire bowl. They look incredible :)
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
These look fab, girl!
Olga @ MangoTomato says
LOVE the photos!!!
Erin @ Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts says
Yum! Love the flavors! Good luck with the meal planning. I try to come up with a plan at the beginning of the week, but I don’t always stick to it. And then I don’t always feel like what I have planned later in the week. But it does keep me in check better, so that is good.
Christine says
Meal planner right here – I have been doing it for a few years now and the benefits definitely outweigh the drawbacks for me. I would definitely spend more on groceries if I were walking in there every other day! The way I see it, I plan five dinners, loosely based on my after work plans and the specials at the places that we shop, but I don’t follow it religiously. It just means I have most things I need for most meals and that we are conscious of the nutrition we are getting (or not….depending on the week).
Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking says
My husband would love these pumpkin seeds – he’s a nut for Sriracha sauce! They look scrumptious!
Katie @ Blonde Ambition says
Yum! I have been baking my pumpkin seeds with an assortment of spices to give them some heat, I never thought of adding sriracha (which I LOVE!)…sounds great!
Laura Dembowski says
I definitely need to toaat some pumpkin seeds. Love the sweet spicy combo. Can you roast pumpkin seeds after having roasted the pumpkin whole or only use ones that were taken out of an unbaked pumpkin?
Savory Simple says
Interesting question. I’ve never roasted a whole pumpkin; I always slice it in half and scoop out the seeds first.
Laura says
What kind of recipe seo do you use? Does Ziplist get added into it?
I PLAN some (more than one meal in advance), plan most, and wing it for some. We also do a lot of leftovers. I pride myself on my pantry–living where I do I could not cook the international meals that I do without a fairly extensive pantry, because much of it cannot be purchased locally. I do agree though that when I BUY without a plan, things often go bad. I am also lucky because we have a farmer’s market down the road 9 months out of the year, so we can easily pick up any fresh produce I might need to make a meal more complete. I definitely do not formally plan the way some people do.
Savory Simple says
Ziplist has recipe SEO built in.
Laura says
Coming back to add that having a smart phone does encourage more planning, as I am never scrambling for pen/paper late at night when reading cookbooks and blogs. :)
Lisa says
These are the dreamiest pumpkin seeds I have ever seen. Being a sriracha lover and loving the addition of maple..I cannot wait to try them! More pumpkins to roast :)
Laura says
I’ll be honest, I’m likely an over-planner when it comes to meal planning, but only because I absolutely love the recipes my fellow bloggers are putting forth. With so many recipes coming from the web I can’t tell you the number of times i’ve had to print recipes or slowly tap out the ingredients one by one on my iPhone just to get a grocery list down; needless to say, ZipList seems like the perfect solution – so thanks for the intro!
Kate@Diethood says
I get all the ziplist recipes on my phone, then I just lick add, and at the end of the week I go to the grocery store with an all ready ‘to-buy’ list. :)
Now about those pumpkin seeds… can we say, GORGEOUS!!
Jenn and Seth says
i’ve been wondering what i wanted to put on my pumpkin seeds this year – this is PERFECT!!
Rachael {SimplyFreshCooking} says
I’m a total meal planner. I can’t think of a time when I haven’t done it… but I know that during those times when I don’t do it (which are rare), I always end up spending more than I want to. It’s so worth it, and I wish more people would do it. I literally sit down every Friday for an hour and talk to my hubby about what we want to eat for the next week and we do our shopping the next morning. It’s also nice to only make one trip to the store per week as opposed to multiple trips. Saves money and time! :)