{LITTLE POTATOES}

I went on a potato diet a little while back (see Dr. McDougall's website over in the links). I had these at least once a day. Even my children like them.

20 (or so) fingerling (also called "finger") potatoes. (These are the potatoes that are very little and all different shapes.)

• Put the potatoes on a baking sheet and broil them until the skins are crispy. You might want to flip the potatoes once to crisp the other side. Test potatoes with a fork to make sure the insides are soft. They usually are, by the time the skins are crispy.

Note: We dip them in ketchup and eat them with the skins still on. You can also sprinkle a bit of salt over them.

This is really another one of my non-recipes. Can you tell how I "cook" at my house?

{HASH BROWNS}

These hash browns are super easy to make. They're no-fat also, and they take care of the veggie for dinner. I've never really measured the ingredients--I just use whatever I have in my fridge, but I'll do my best to describe what I do.

1 package hash browns (I'm lazy). I buy the kind that only has potatoes as an ingredient. (They have zero fat.)

• Spray frying pan with Pam, pour hash browns in, and cook until potatoes are getting brown and a little crispy. Flip potatoes every once in awhile so they don't stick/burn.

• In another frying pan, saute (*in a tiny bit of water) the following *chopped ingredients:

Sweet red/yellow/green peppers

Zucchini

Mushrooms

Tomatoes

Sweet onion

Green onions

• Cook until desired consistency. *I don't even usually add water to the frying pan because the juices from the mushrooms and onions are usually enough--I do have to flip the veggies over to prevent burning, though. *I add enough veggies to equal the potatoes.

• Add the veggies to the potatoes. Eat. The end. (I put ketchup on them.)

{FROZEN BANANA DESSERT}

This is a super easy treat/snack that is surprisingly tasty. It fills my need for ice cream just about every time. You do need to have frozen bananas so a little advance preparation is necessary, but usually we have those ready for smoothies anyway.

frozen bananas

cocoa or carob powder

nuts of choice (walnuts, pecans, almonds)

• Slice up the frozen bananas
• sprinkle on a spoonful of cocoa or carob powder
• add chopped nuts

*I don't freeze bananas until they are pretty ripe (starting to get a few brown spots) because they won't be sweet enough until then. In my freezer, it usually takes overnight before they are really frozen.

{WHOLE WHEAT CARROT CUPCAKES}

I combined and altered Mom's carrot cake recipe and a recipe my mother-in-law uses. These aren't terribly sweet (maybe more like muffins if you're used to really sweet stuff), but we enjoyed them. This recipe makes 15 cupcakes.

I like cream cheese frosting on these, but Oklahoma does not know about vegan cream cheese. So I made up a lemon glaze instead. It turned out great, I think.

1/2 c. applesauce

1 c. vanilla soymilk

1/2 c. sucanot + 1 smidgen stevia (or 3/4 c. sucanot or other sweetener)

1/2 t. vanilla

1 1/2 T. egg replacer

2 c. whole wheat flour

2 t. baking powder

1 t. soda

1/4 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

1 pinch nutmeg

1 pinch cloves

1 pinch ginger

1 pinch allspice

4 carrots (1 c. processed and smashed down)

1/2 c. raisins

• Mix wet ingredients.

• Add dry ingredients and combine.

• Process raisins in food processor.

• Peel and cut carrots into chunks. Add to food processor and process with raisins until desired size/consistency.

• Add carrots and raisins to batter and mix well.

• Spoon batter into muffin tins. (I used a heaping 1/4 cup).

• Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

{LEMON GLAZE}*

1 c. white beans, drained and rinsed

3/4 to 1 c. evaporated can juice

2 T. vanilla soymilk

1 T. lemon juice

1 t. lemon zest

1/2 t. vanilla

• Blend until very smooth.

• Chill before spreading on cupcakes.

*I also think this would make a great maple glaze (mostly because of the color); just use maple flavoring instead of lemon.