Food Discovery of the day - Pepita Seeds

Again, apologies to those of you who can't eat seeds. My daughter can and I discovers these little gems and plan to add them to her snacks, smoothies (ground up of course) etc. High in protein and an excellent source of many of the minerals our little Crohnies need.


Serving Size and Calories

One serving of raw pumpkin seeds is a quarter cup and is 187 calories.

Fat

Each serving of raw pumpkin seeds contains 16 g of fat, 24 percent of your recommended daily value. Of these 16 g, 3 g come from saturated fat, another 5 g come from monounsaturated fat and 7 g come from polyunsaturated fat.

Carbohydrates, Fiber and Protein

One quarter-cup of pepitas provides 6 g of carbohydrates and 1.35 g of dietary fiber, or 2 percent of your recommended daily value of carbohydrates and 5 percent of dietary fiber. They are high in protein, with 8 g, or 17 percent of your recommended daily value of protein.

Vitamins

Pumpkin seeds pack a variety of vitamins. They are particularly high in vitamin K, with 22 percent of your recommended daily value per serving. But they also provide good amounts of vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6 and folate.

Minerals

Pepitas are even better sources of minerals than of vitamins. They have 52 percent of your recommended daily value of manganese per serving. They also have 46 percent of your recommended daily value of magnesium, 41 percent of phosphorus, 29 percent of iron and 24 percent of copper.

Oh Jack loves these but we only do them at Halloween and roast our own. I have never looked in the store for them maybe I should would be a good compromise over sunflower seeds which while he could probably eat just worry me about getting stuck in some tiny spot.
Do you get yours at grocery store?

Are they pumpkin seeds then?

Ha! Yes pumpkin seeds. I got mine at Whole Foods but I am sure your grocer would have them. I got the raw ones to avoid the added salt. They are sooooo delish!

They just opened a whole foods here not too long ago. I haven't been because it is on the other side of town maybe I need to go on a field trip to Whole foods and I really shouldn't complain because "the other side of town" is only a 20 minute drive.

Oh for sure you have to take a field trip there but fair warning...they have lots of fun stuff and a lot of their things are expensive. After you go there enough, you learn what is worth the prices they are charging and not. I like it there because they have every odd grain, rice, bean, etc that you could ever want. Don't buy the packaged stuff if you don't have to. Go to the bulk bins first. It is way cheaper that way. Also, if you only need a half cup of garbanzo bean flour you can buy just that much for under a dollar and not have to buy a whole bag of it when you might not ever use it again! The raw pumpkin seeds are in that bulk section. I got 2 pounds for $8. The packaged stuff sold by another company found in the aisles was $14 for a pound!

Sometimes the same products can be found at your grocer cheaper sometimes not. You just have to look at both. For example those hemp seeds I keep telling you about...cheaper at Whole Foods than my local grocer (Stop and Shop)...go figure! Whole Foods must sell more of then and get a better discount.

crohnsinct said:

but fair warning...they have lots of fun stuff and a lot of their things are expensive.

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And how!!

Expensive, yes, but better quality than most chain grocery stores. I've never been able to figure out why people spend hundreds of dollars on cell phones and iTunes yet cringe at spending an extra buck on high quality, healthy food.

Of course, I've been forced to buy $7 loaves of gluten free bread and read ingredient labels in detail for the last five years so my opinion is a bit lopsided.

Yes, grocery shopping changed with diagnosis. I still haven't been to Whole Foods but I plan on it. I usually go to a little local store (The CO-OP) that sells all organic stuff and local fruit/veggies and local farmer free range chickens, grass fed beef, eggs. We usually split a cow with my sister's family that we get from a local farmer so for about $300 we get a lot of beef, I can also get milk delivered from a local dairy of grass fed cows - no growth hormones and it comes in old fashioned glass milk jars

O.K. JM...you are making this city girl a tad jealous for that lifestyle you got going on there!

Totally agree Mehita...my mantra these days whenever hubby or friends cringe at what I spend...pay me now or pay me later! And my other mantra when they say all that stuff doesn't make a difference "I would rather buy it and find out it didn't than not buy it and find out it did".

You figure it out...First lesson: don't bring kids when all the suppliers are there with their young cool salespeople giving out free samples!

Mehita said:

Of course, I've been forced to buy $7 loaves of gluten free bread and read ingredient labels in detail for the last five years so my opinion is a bit lopsided.

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Also very true! The only pre-made brand we've found that EJ will tolerate is Udi's. He does like the Glutino Favorite Sandwich Bread mix but it's difficult to slice and keep it together!...and it's not much cheaper anyway!! Any tips??

We also have a brand called Goodbye Gluten that DS really likes. Not sure if its available nationwide though? I vaguely remember something about being a test market here. It's only $5.

I used to make Pamela's brand bread in a bread machine every week, but now the Goodbye Gluten bread is cheaper than Pamela's mix. Pamela's holds up pretty well. Unfortunately, DS only gets through 1/2 a loaf before it starts getting moldy.

Love Udi's for hot dogs and hamburgers though. That's also what they offer at school.

For those in the US, see if you are anywhere near a Trader Joe's. Many natural/wholesome (even gluten-free) products at a fraction of the price at Whole Foods
http://www.traderjoes.com/stores/

And, yes, they have pepita seeds there