Easy low-fat white sauce

So this was pretty good for what I was going for. Wanted a flavorful sauce for pasta without a lot of calories. I've made similar sauces, but this was my favorite combination. I was using flour for thickener, but it tended to burn on the bottom.

4 cups milk
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp minced dried onions
pinch dried peppers (for just a very little kick
enough corn starch to thicken it.
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the corn starch with a cup of milk and then combine all the milk together in a medium sauce pan. Slowly heat the milk to a simmer. While it is heating you can add the other ingredients. Make sure to stir constantly until at desired consistency. Add to pasta and toss to coat evenly.

edit: Originally wrote 2 tbsp minced garlic. Wow! That would be something! I like garlic, but that is too much. :)

Delicious, Vaguely Asian or Middle Eastern Any-Nut Sauce

Most of my cooking tends along the lines of Italian or Latin American type seasoning. Yesterday we had some leftover quinoa and wanted some kind of sauce and a change of pace. I derived this recipe from some suggestions I found on intertube. It was AMAZING! I think it would go well on pasta, rice, or any other kinds of grains, or even hot or cold vegetables. It's very taste-ful, so you only need a couple of spoonfuls over your meal.

As you might have noticed, my recipes tend to be very flexible. You can use more or less of any of the ingredients, according to your preferences.

2 Tbs nut butter (I used tahini, but you could use peanut butter or another nut butter)
Juice of a lemon OR 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp powdered garlic
1/8 tsp cayenne powder (or more or less to taste)
1/2 Tbs sugar
Water, enough for dissolving sugar and thinning to the right consistency

Dissolve the sugar in a bit of warm water, then mix everything up together! Add enough water to make a nice sauce consistency -- not pasty and not soupy.