Prepping the Seeds

First, after you have scooped your pumpkin, put the seeds in a glass bowl. Next, separate the seeds from all the stringing pumpkin meat. You’ll need to do this fairly quickly because once you’ve let them sit and they’ve gotten too dry, they will be harder to clean.

Using a cold-water rinse, finish taking off what is left of the stringy meat (there will be some little bits left more than likely) off the seeds. Place a strainer in the sink so you don’t lose all that pumpkin goop in your sink drain.

Once your pumpkin seeds are completely clean, put them on a waxed paper cookie sheet to dry. You’ll leave them to dry overnight. Sorry, you can’t eat them until tomorrow.

Optional: If you like your seeds salty, you may want to let them sit in a bowl of salt water overnight. Be careful though and don’t over salt the water. Remove from bowl of water and dry as stated above.

Now that your pumpkin seeds are prepared, let’s get to the actual cooking of them. Here are both a microwave and oven baked recipe for you to choose from. Note: Preparation is the same for both of the following recipes.

Microwave Pumpkin Seed Recipe

Place salted butter in a microwavable rectangular baking dish and heat for about 30 seconds. Place seeds into pan and toss through the melted butter. Spread the seeds out evenly into one layer on the bottom of the dish. Microwave on high for about 8 minutes or until seeds are a light golden color. Make sure you stir the seeds every couple of minutes while in the microwave to prevent burning.

Oven Baked Pumpkin Seed Recipe

Spray your seeds with butter spray. Cook for 1 hour at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Watch for them to be lightly brown. When they are done, take them out and season with your favorite seasonings. Some popular seasonings include salt and garlic. Let them completely cool before enjoying.

Pumpkin seeds (pepitas) are not the only seeds that can be eaten this way. The seeds from butternut and acorn squash can also be cooked just like pumpkin seeds. Give them a try too.

Leftover Storage

You can store any leftovers of your pumpkin seeds in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 3 months. If you choose to refrigerate them, they will last for about a year in an air tight container.

Baked pumpkin seeds provide a great source of dietary fiber along with a nutty flavor. So, instead of popping that bag of popcorn tonight, grab your favorite Halloween movie, sit back with your toasted pumpkin seeds and enjoy.

Little Bo Peep & Her Sheep (This is especially cute for moms and baby)
Rich Boy and Poor Girl
Cookies and Milk
Fisherman and Fish
Babe and His Blue Ox
Santa and Mrs. Claus
Adam and Eve
Grapes and Bananas (or any other variety of fruit/veggie combos)
Ball and Chain
Toilet and Seat
Sonny and Cher
Republican and Democrat
Raggedy Ann and Andy
Card and Dice
Cat and Mouse
King and Queen
Dog and Cat
Bat and Ball
Salt and Pepper
Batman and Robin
Jack and Jill
Howie Mandel and a Suitcase Girl
Dora and Diego
Bill and Hillary Clinton
Danny and Sandy (from the movie Grease)
Cheerleader and Football Player
Twins (This one will be especially easy if you have actual twins)
Frankenstein and His Bride
Baby Bottle and Rattle
Ketchup and Mustard Bottles
Nut and Bolt
Grim Reaper and Victim
Doctor and Nurse
Beast and Belle
Buzz and Woody
Captain Hook and Wendy
Peter Pan and a Lost Boy
Barney Rubble and Fred Flintstone
Pebbles and BamBam
SpongeBob Squarepants and Patrick
Desi and Lucy
David and Goliath
Pen and Pencil
Soccer Mom and Her Player (This can be done with various sports)
Tom and Jerry
Southern Gentleman and his Belle
Caveman and Cave Girl
Cleopatra and Pharaoh (King)
Harry Potter and Hermione
King & Queen of Hearts
Prince Charming and Princess
Shrek and Princess Fiona
Vampire and Dracula
Hansel and Gretel
Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe
Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth (from Pirates of the Caribbean)
Pilgrim Man & Woman
Pilgrim & Indian
George and Martha Washington
Priest and Nun
Pink Lady and ThunderBird Guy from Grease
Race Car Driver and Pit Crew Member
Cowboy and Cowgirl
Plug and Socket
Austin Powers & Felicity Shagwell

While coming up with the idea maybe the easiest part, putting the two together may not be as simple. If you want to make your own costumes, you can find templates online or at your local craft store that will definitely make the process easier. Looking to purchase your costumes? Make sure wherever you choose to buy from has both costumes in stock before purchasing. Don’t forget you can always go through your own clothes, any dress up clothes the kids may have and previous years’ costumes and put two of them together as well.

Leaves of Many Colors – Fallen foliage are a perfect fertilizer to help keep your yard and flower beds in perfect growing condition for the spring when it’s time to start planting flowers and such again. They also make a great base for your Halloween decorations.

Who says flowers are only for the spring and summer months? Here is a partial list of flowers that will make it through the autumn months. These flowers are hardier than their spring and summer counter parts and will last a lot longer too.

Chrysanthemums
Joe Pye Weed
Chelone (also known as Turtleheads)

Even veggies have their place in your Halloween yard décor. Now is the perfect time to pick up gourds, squash and pumpkins from a neighboring farm or store. Not only are they decorative, but you can eat the squash, carve the pumpkins or make pie too! For those who live in the country and like to attract wildlife, deer enjoy pumpkins after the season as well.

Seasonal decorations to adorn your yard are fairly easy to come by this time of year. Check your local dollar store to pick up everything from bird feeders to scarecrows and more. Here are a few other ideas for sprucing up the outside of your home this Halloween.

Bird feeders adorned with black crows
Scarecrows for your garden and flower beds – You can purchase these or make your own. Get the whole family involved and spend some quality family fun time together.
Pumpkin arrangements – Using hay bales, create your own pumpkin and scarecrow scene or village.
Using fallen limbs and sticks from the trees create stick Halloween characters. Always popular at Halloween are Frankenstein and his bride along with ghosts hanging from the bare tree branches.
Rake all those leaves that have fallen from the trees in September and early October up. Put them in black or orange garbage bags to prop up throughout your yard and beds. You can purchase ones with jack-o-lantern faces already on them or use the black ones to create make-shift tombstones painted with white markings like RIP, Here Lies…, etc.
Grab a shovel and a dark colored blanket. Create a few mounds of dirt around your flower beds or yard and cover them with the blanket. Then place the shovel in the ground at the top of the mound to resemble a freshly dug grave.
Get a big cardboard box. Using grey and black paint, decorate it to look like a coffin. You can even lay down in it on Halloween night sitting up whenever trick-or-treaters enter the yard to give them a bit of a fright.
If you’ve got speakers or a radio available, purchase a CD at the dollar store with spooky music that you can play in the background to really help set the mood for visitors.

It’s Fall. It’s Halloween! Have a yard that will be the envy of the neighborhood this year. You don’t need a fortune to make it happen when you use these ideas along with a little creativity of your own.

Argh Matey! – Pirate Costumes

Pirate costumes will be huge this year. You need baggy black or brown pants cut below the knee. Pirates wore baggy white shirt that are cuffed up. A solid baggy vest, unbuttoned, would be worn over the shirt. Add a bright scarf tied around your waist. Army boots, large gold hoop earrings, sword, eye patch, hat or bandana tops this outfit off. If you live in a colder region you might want to look for a long black coat.

BOO To You Too! – Ghost Costumes

The ghost is the oldest and easiest ghoulish outfit around. You need a large white sheet that completely drapes your being. With arms down cut any excess off the bottom up to an inch from the ground. Cut out eyeholes. White eye make up keeps the ghost entirely white. You can carry a pumpkin or maybe a glow stick for that added touch.

If I Only Had a Brain! – Scarecrow

With the right straw hat and a little straw, a scarecrow can easily be done. Oversized, old and sloppy is the key. You will need old overalls or jeans that you can patch with bandana type material, a flannel shirt, work boots and work or garden gloves. Be sure to stuff straw or raffia inside your shirt and leave some hanging out wherever you can. A blackbird attached to your hat, silk daisies or a corn cob pipe would be good accessories. Paint your face base white and proceed with black paint for a triangle nose and circle eyes. Paint your lips a bright red extending the make up beyond your lips for a straight smile.

10 Hut! – The Always Popular Football Player

Another inexpensive way to look sharp while using odds and ends is the football player. You may have or can easily network to get the pads, helmet, shirt, cleats and pants for this easy costume. Black make up under the eyes is all that is needed. Oh, don’t forget to carry the football for the full effect.

As soon as this year’s festivities are done, start thinking about next year! Once Halloween is over, it’s time to hit the discount stores. Often, outfits and accessories can be picked up for half the price or less. Thinking ahead on what your needs will be the following year will save you a ton of money, especially if you’ve got more than one person in the family dressing up. Don’t forget the garage sales too. This past Spring I bought my son’s character costume at a garage sale for two dollars. Outstanding savings I must say. Clearly, with a little imagination and a bit of planning ahead, you can create a costume that the kids will love and so will your checkbook.

When the frightening and always festive Halloween season rolls around, you want to make sure that your family always has a good time. Instead of simply waiting to go out and trick or treat, you can think of putting together a great Halloween party that everyone will enjoy. However, what are you supposed to do if you do not have a ton of money that you can throw into decorations and all sorts of food for your Halloween shindig?

No fear! There are plenty of great ways that you can put together a killer Halloween party without completely breaking the bank. From the costumes all the way down to decorations and food, you can put together a memorable fright fest that all of your guests are sure to love. You simply have to kick your imagination into high gear and set aside the time to implement all of the ideas that you come up with.

Do you happen to have a couple of children who love to do arts and crafts? Gather up your kids and even some of their friends and sit them down with all of the craft supplies that they need to make great Halloween decorations. There are a variety of websites with terrific craft ideas as well as magazines out there that you can use for inspiration. Before you know it, you will have a complete collection of low cost decorations that you can put all over your house for the party.

If you have a dollar store nearby, you may want to think of going there for odds and ends decorations, favor bag goodies or even your paper goods for the party. You would be amazed at some of the affordable, fun items that you can get for a scream of a deal for your party. By saving money in all of these areas, you can put the rest of your budget into some of the food and beverages that you would like to serve up at your Halloween party!

For the food at your party, you might even want to ask some of your guests to bring some ghoulish treats as sort of a potluck style event. This can add both variety and a festive twist to your food table! You can always fill in with a variety of dips and goodies to dip with such as veggies and chips. If you would like, you can even get creative and make food items that are shaped like body parts or eyeballs to remain within the Halloween theme!

When you are in a pinch and you need to throw together a costume at the very last minute, you can go as simple as cutting out eyeholes on a white sheet to getting more elaborate and putting together a scarecrow costume or even a vampire if you have the resources. The great thing about Halloween and choosing a costume is that you can really let your creative side shine. Additionally, if you have a cool discount store nearby, you should be able to wrangle up a bunch of great accessories without spending your entire paycheck in the process.

If you are a female, then you may want to take the route of a witch or even a black cat considering the fact that you may have a number of the clothing and/or accessories already in your closet. Black is the key for these costumes, and if you have black tights, boots, nail polish and more, then you are already more than halfway there. You will really only need to purchase a cat tail and ears for the cat costume and hat, broom and cape for the witch costume. Get as creative as you can with makeup and you have a fast costume that will look amazing!

One of the other great last minute ideas that you can use and transform into several different costumes would be that of a hobo or bum. If you think about it, you could even take mismatched clothing from a clown costume from last year and put it together for a hobo costume this year. Dressing up in a variety of clothing that is brightly colored, putting on makeup and spiking up your hair can also give you an instant punk rocker costume! With so many great things you can find at a discount store or within your home, you should be able to find a last minute costume for Halloween with ease.

If you have the time and you would like to create some of your own healthy Halloween treats, then you might want to look in some of your favorite magazines or even online for great recipes. There are a number of cookies that you can bake up or even create your own candied fruits in shapes that will help you celebrate the festive Halloween season. Of course, popcorn is always one of those holiday staples that you can use to snack on or even shape into popcorn balls to give out as treats or pack up for your kids as a healthy snack option.

Do you plan on throwing a memorable Halloween party for your children or even some of your adult friends? If so, then you can put your imagination to work while creating healthier treat options that everyone will enjoy. Instead of serving sodas, think about flavorful punch created with juices! You can even freeze plastic bugs and creepy crawlies into ice cubes for a nice touch that everyone will be talking about.

When it comes to Halloween inspired foods and treats, you may want to think of making a pasta dish with rigatoni and a tomato based sauce. As you serve it up for a dinner treat near Halloween or even at a theme party out of a crock pot, make sure that you tell everyone to take a heaping helping of your creation called “Riga-Boney”! You can even follow up with a dessert of a jell-o mold with mixed in fruit that you chilled inside of a mold that is shaped like a giant brain for an extra touch!

Halloween is a fun holiday that is filled with plenty of options for treats and celebration. All you have to do is use your imagination and put your creative spin on the treats that you provide to your family. With a creative twist, you can come up with plenty of healthier Halloween treats that everyone will love.

To start with, you want to make sure that you choose a Halloween costume for your toddler that they will enjoy but will also be easy for them to walk around in. Keep in mind that you do not want to have any embellishments on the costume that they could trip over while walking. Depending on the neighborhood that you live in or the route that you choose for trick or treating, you may also have to take them in and out of your vehicle. A costume with wings may not work so well as you try to put your toddler into their car seat or try to strap him or her into their booster seat.

In order to have some fun with the costume, you can always involve your toddler in the selection process. Take a moment to ask your toddler if there is any sort of animal or Halloween themed creature that they would like to dress up as. Looking through pictures in books can give you plenty of great ideas, or if you have a costume catalog, you can pick one out with them and then order it to be sent to you in time for stepping out on Halloween.

If you happen to be a crafty parent, then you can always think of creating a fun and festive Halloween costume for your toddler out of items that you already have in your craft supplies or around the house. Be patient and work with your toddler to see if they would like to help you during the creation process as well. This can be a wonderful time to bond with your little one and make a one of a kind costume that is sure to be the envy of all of the other toddlers and parents who live on your block!

For many people, Halloween is one of their favorite holidays. When you have a family with a baby, it can be a fun time to dress the baby up in a cute Halloween costume to take pictures, head out for some treats or even visit with your relatives. Whether you are thinking of purchasing a costume for your baby or making one, there are a couple of great ideas that you can keep in mind!

As far as purchasing a Halloween costume for your baby, you can find a number of incredible designs in local stores or even through a variety of online shops. You can choose from sleeper styled costumes to separates that you can dress your little one up in. Whether you are looking to dress your baby up as a pea pod or a naughty little devil, there are plenty of cool designs that you can choose from. When ordering, simply make sure that you order the next size up if you happen to live in an area that tends to be cold on Halloween. This way your little one can remain snug and warm while you begin the trek to see all of the ghosts and goblins about town.

When it comes to making a memorable Halloween costume for your precious baby, you still have a world of options. You could make the costume from scratch using items around your home or even get more involved by purchasing a pattern and the materials so you can sew one up! There will still be plenty of options to choose from in terms of patterns, so if you are good with a sewing machine you can end up with a great costume for your baby at a fraction of the cost of buying one from a retail store or online.

No matter what kind of Halloween costume you end up deciding on for your baby, it is important that you make sure that there are not any choking hazards or even loose string or fabric that the baby can get caught up in. A good rule of thumb is to simply look over the costume to make sure that there are no loose threads or embellishments that are of choking size that a baby could put into his or her mouth. Once inspected, your little one should be all set to get dressed up and hit the town with you for a great time exploring and seeing all of the sights on Halloween.