When I moved to NYC about 3 years ago I was basically alone. Of course I had my husband and our little dog to be with but I had no friends, no family. Also we stayed at this Airbnb for about 3 weeks until we finally moved to our first apartment.

In this beginning I had just a few things to lean on during my time: buying stuff for my new apartment and the internet. I came to NYC with no job and no career - my deepest desire was to change from advertising from something else, something related to food. So I started to follow Bon Appétit on Youtube. From the first video that I saw I loved the content. Also it taught me so much - from full recipes to techniques.

Still nowadays I count on BA’s recipes. It’s the first website that I check whenever I want to find out about a new recipe or if I have an ingredient which I’m in doubt of how to prepare - for techniques or just creativity.

Recently I acknowledge the fact that I have a sweet tooth. Between breakfast and lunch I crave something sweet. And very often between lunch and dinner I have the same cravings. Usually I rely on my favorite combo: banana and peanut butter, sometimes I add some chocolate chips, maple syrup and/or chopped hazelnuts. But I was getting tired of eating the same thing over and over again. So I would munch on chocolate! (Lindt is my favorite).

I know that people really like chia pudding. I tried a few recipes but didn’t like any of it. I believe the texture is what it makes that not so tasty for me. It comes as a surprise for me that I have this issues because I always had zero problems with texture.

Until on the beginning of this year I founded out this Molly Baz recipe for Chocolate-Cashew Chia Pudding. She blends lots of ingredients and then add the chia pudding. But since I was already using the blender I thought “why not blend the seeds with it?”. It was the best decision I had. The texture was super creamy and after some hours on the fridge it got even better.

Now I have a quart container on my fridge every week, just one step away from me to dive into it and have a healthy and delicious snack. It’s a good breakfast too if you are into sweet treats on your mornings - I’m not, I gotta have savory stuff for breakfast with a big cup of coffee and you guess… cashew milk!

For my chia pudding I like to add vanilla whey protein and chopped fruits on top. The combination of vanilla and chocolate really makes me happy. And adding strawberries almost makes me feel like I’m having Neapolitan ice cream. Other combinations that I like are hazelnuts with banana and coconut chips with blueberries. Just yummy!

When I moved to USA I was shocked when the fall season arrived. Everything was pumpkin. Pumpkin everywhere. I couldn't understand the pumpkin obsession. I hated pumpkins and squashes. In my country we have a few types of the vegetable and some very traditional recipes using it, but to be honest I never had them. The few times that I had squash at home I hated it.

I've been thinking about all the things that I (used to) hate about food. Gladly I've been changing it gradually. When I was a kid my mom tried to feed me sometimes with healthy food, and I used to hated it with all my body. I don't blame her. When she was a kid she didn't have access to sweet treats, frozen meals or fast food - everything was too expansive or it wasn't created yet.

Growing up in the 90's made me a kid that loved instant ramen, hot dogs, French fries, all kinds of fast food, cookies from packages and potato chips. Plus all the soda I could have. My mom knew how to cook and even tough she didn't like this chore sometimes she was very creative about it. But most of the times she was pretty basic. Until we had internet. I have memories of her printing recipes to do for Sunday lunch. Back in the time healthiness wasn't a concern for the world - no tips of how to hide vegetables into delicious recipes. Times have changed!

Last year I decided to buy a pumpkin and do something with it. I went to Union Square Farmer's Market and bought a Kabocha. I almost lost some fingers trying to open it. And it was SO big! I did a soup full of bacon - you can't go wrong with plenty of bacon, right? Also I added a very generous amount of liquid smoke. I really like the smokey taste.

Unfortunately I had to throw a lot of squash away since it was on my fridge so for long and I wasn't so sure about the taste of it. But now the good part: I am more conscious about my shopping habits and I didn't;t buy a big squash. This year I started with the Delicata squash. I bought, had no idea of what to do with it until a good friend gave me this very easy t do idea: roast it until very tender and do a spinach and blue cheese cream to put on top. I had some leftovers smoked sausages from another meal and added them on it as well. Check the final result here and follow me on Instagram!

I really liked the flavor of this squash so I decided to buy it again. And today I felt it was the day. Nothing much again. Just roasted with olive oil and salt and pureed. See the dish here.

But the reason I am doing this post is because I wanted to share my #zerowaste tip for the squash. I think roasted pumpkin seeds are not a surprise. I never did at home and today I took my chances. I did my homework and found this recipe. A-MA-ZING!

Here are some pictures of the recipe process. Guys, you should TOTALLY do this at home!

Delicata squash roasted seeds: yummyness!

1: Soak the seeds in water and rub them a bit to remove squash.

2: Separate clean seeds in another bowl.

3: Place seeds in a large pan with cold water. Bring it to simmer for a few minutes. Rinse and repeat if necessary (until all the squash if off the seed).

4: Place seeds in a tray with parchmeant paper and spray a little olive oil and salt.

5: Roast in the oven at 325F (160˚ celsius) for about 10 minutes or until golden.

6: Enjoy the seeds!