How To Roast Pumpkin Seeds!

First things first: pick out some good pumpkins for carving!

Have fun and take goofy pictures while carving said pumpkins!

Pick through the fun gooey mess of insides and get the seeds out.

It's a messy job, but someone's got to do it!

It helps to have several bowls and containers for plopping this mess of pumpkin guts and seeds into. Boy oh boy did we have a ton of seeds! 

Be sure to clean as much of the stringy goo off of the seeds as possible. We soaked our seeds in cold tap water with salt. We used 3 Tbsp. salt to 6 cups of pumpkin seeds. We let them soak for about 8 hours. You can soak them for up to 24 hours if you want. 

After soaking, we laid our seeds out on clean kitchen towels to dry for about an hour. While waiting for the seeds to dry, we dug out every cake pan, cookie sheet, or flat cooking pan we could find. Make sure to have your seeds as flat and uncrowded as you can. This ensures they will roast evenly!

We set our oven to 250 degrees and slow roast for approximately two hours. We got four pans in the oven at once, and after an hour we rotated our top pans to the bottom rack, and the bottom ones to the top rack for even roasting. 

We needed another pan emptied for the next batch, so we dumped one pan of seeds into another, these were perfectly done! Crispy and perfectly salted on the outside, and pure deliciousness on the inside!

 All that's left to do now is enjoy the tasty goodness!

We hope you'll try it!

Slow Cooked Crock Pot Pork Roast!

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I would normally rub a small amount of olive oil on the roast before putting my seasonings on; but since this roast has a good amount of fat on it, I let it render as it cooked. I used the rendered fats and juices to baste the meat.

Use the seasonings of your choice. I kept this simple and used garlic powder, salt, pepper, and parsley flakes.

I added two small quartered onions. I usually use celery, but I wanted some cabbage, and decided that would be just as flavorful. At this point, I have the crockpot on high, and put the lid on. 

I went ahead and prepared my potatoes and carrots, leaving them in a bowl of cold tap water until I was ready to put them in the pot.

Once the roast has cooked on high for a couple hours, I added my potatoes and carrots. 

I left everything alone for another two hours. Then I basted the meat and vegetables. I basted them again about 45 minutes later. I did this again before the roast was done.

Total time in the crockpot was just over 6 hours. Mmm, I think Mister is going to be happy.

Just before it's time to serve this delicious medley of goodness, I took everything out of the pot, and poured the juices into a sauce pan and made a simple gravy. 

Mister gave it a two thumbs up!

Delicious!

It even looks yummy when Jake puts it all together in a heap. I spared you the picture after he smothered it with ranch dressing and hot sauce. 

Cheers!

Mel's Blackened Fish!

My boys & I really enjoy our kayak fishing in the Gulf, and we've been catching some amazing fish lately! This particular meal is some from some Redfish and Black Drum. We love our fish prepared numerous ways, but today we wanted our Mel to blacken it for us! It is unanimous in our house that Mel is THE best cook ever! And she was kind enough to share this recipe with y'all!

Blackening is the technique of dredging fish with melted butter, and then coating it in your favorite seasoning (usually a Cajun style seasoning, or something with a little spicy kick.) We have different preferences here when it comes to our seasoning; Me and the boys like Cajun's Choice, and Mel likes the Gator Sprinkles from the Gator Hammock line of seasonings and sauces. If we got paid by Gator Hammock to use their products, we'd be rich!

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For two pieces of fish, we melted 2 Tbsps. butter.

We dredge the fish in the butter, making sure to coat well.

Then we sprinkle our chosen seasoning onto a plate, and coat the fish well with the seasoning.

We make sure to coat both sides well. We love our fish smothered in seasonings!

Once the fish is coated with seasoning, lay it on a piece of foil that has been lightly drizzled with olive oil or more melted butter (your choice.) 

Lay the fish on the drizzled oil, then drizzle a small amount on top of the fish.

Wrap the foil around the fish. We wrap each piece individually so we get a good even grill on both sides of each piece.

Put the foil wrapped fish on hot coals. After about 7 minutes, we turn each foil packet over and grill for about another 7 minutes.  

Fish is done when it is opaque.

 

We enjoyed ours with Mel's foil grilled potatoes and onions, but it goes well with her rice too!

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Mel's grilled potatoes & onions.

Mel's no-stick rice.