Pumpkin Muffins (or cupcakes) - GREAT for Weight Watchers!

These muffins are SO easy and so tasty.

In a bowl, dump in:

• 4 egg whites
• 1 yellow cake dry mix
• 1  29 & 1/2 ounce can of pumpkin
• and as much pumpkin pie-style spices as you want (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves).  I usually shoot for around a tsp of these total, with about 1/2 of that being cinnamon, and only a small pinch of cloves.  The muffins also taste good without the spices, if you don't have them on hand.

Bake according to the muffin directions on the cake box.  

Yields 24 muffins (or 48 mini-muffins).  

For those following Weight Watchers, each muffin is 2 Points Plus, and each mini-muffin is 1 Point Plus.  Also, if you eat 2 normal-sized muffins, that counts as 1 fruit/veggie serving.  ENJOY!

Sweet Potato Casserole

(for future reference)

Sweet Potato Casserole3 lg. sweet potatoes
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs, beaten

Topping:
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans or oats
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup butter, melted

Remove skins and ends of potatoes. Chop into appropriate pieces and boil 'til tender. Whip with electric beaters. Add butter and sugar to warm potatoes and continue mixing. Add milk, vanilla, and eggs. Mix well. Put in a buttered casserole dish (about 8 X 12".) Mix topping ingredients and crumble on top of casserole. Bake 25-30 min. at 350 degrees. Serves 8-10.

Chinese Green Beans

This is my FAVORITE way to eat green beans, taught to me by a friend who was born and lived in China until she was about 40 years old.  It is packed with flavor and absolutely delicious.

• Buy fresh green beans from the produce section.  (1 pound will make one serving for a family of four.  2 pounds will give you enough for either a couple families, or to have a bit for leftovers.)
• 1-2 large yellow sweet vidalia onions, sliced.
• garlic (either 2 garlic heads or 2 Tbsp. of garlic), chopped
• Salt & Pepper
• Canola oil

(1) Take your green beans to a cutting board and line them up, 10-20 at a time, with the ends all pushed to the same height, and then cut off the ends.  Flip the beans, line them back up, and cut off the opposite ends as well.  

(2) Take each bean, and slice end to end in long lines (3-4 long, skinny slices to a bean pod).  Place in a separate mixing bowl/plate.

(3) Repeat steps 1 & 2 until you're through the whole bunch.

(4) Pour enough canola oil into the frying pan to cover the bottom of the pan, and heat over high heat for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

(5) Place the thin onion slices into the oil & cook until softened and they become more caramelized.

(6) Next, pour the green beans over the top of the onions, and carefully stir and fold the green beans until all are moistened with oil.  Then, top with a lid and leave to cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so (replacing the lid each time).   The heat should stay on high heat.   About 10 minutes into cooking, add in garlic and season with salt & pepper, and cook at least 5 minutes longer.  Once the beans are a nice dark green color and softened, and the onions are all browned, remove from heat and serve.

I hope you love these as much as I do!!!   Enjoy.

Spanish Rice

Long-grain rice

Vegetable oil

Tomato paste

water

garlic salt

chicken bouillion cubes

red pepper flakes

In a small omelet-size frying pan (or the bottom of a saucepan), cover the bottom in corn oil. (***If you have extra or want to include it, you can toss in one small chopped onion to the oil at this point.***) Then add in the amount of rice you'd like to use (we generally do 1-2 cups for our family if we're having it as an add-on to our meal). Saute just a minute or two until the rice turns clear and is coated in the oil.

Then, cook rice as you normally would, but to your normal rice & water pot, FOR EACH CUP OF RICE, add in:

• 2 cups water
• 1-2 tsp. tomato sauce
• 1/2-1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 chicken bouillion cube
• red pepper flakes to taste.

Pancakes & Syrup

Here are my go-to from scratch recipes for pancakes and maple syrup.

• Homemade pancakes
• Homemade maple syrup (yes, it's fake, but overseas, it's a great pinch-hitter)

Tempura Batter

This recipe is from my Japanese friend, Ai, who spent several family holidays with us during college, and taught us this basic recipe.

• 1 egg
• 2 c. ice water
• 2 c. flour

Combine, and coat fish, shrimp, veggies, whatever you want, in this batter, drop into frying oil, fry, and serve over rice! Delicious.

Kristy's Enchilada Sauce

This one is very non-specific, and I'm sorry about that. I just wrote down the basics when my friend made it several years ago, and I'm basically posting it here to remind myself.

• Sautee garlic & 1/2 onion in butter.
• Add: milk, sour cream, cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (is this the same as paprika? I can't remember...)

Use this to pour over whatever kinds of enchiladas you want.

For chicken enchiladas: Flour/Corn tortillas, each with shredded chicken & salsa inside.