Busy, busy, busy. As much as I love the Fall season I never find many opportunities to slow down! It’s always one thing after another, and before I realize, it’s 6:00 and I have no idea what I can cook for dinner.

I know Siri can relate. She writes on her blog, Siri’s Corner, that there are days when she is so exhausted when she finally gets home that she has no energy left to make an elaborate dinner. One thing always comes to mind to solve her dinner dilemma: couscous. Not only is this dish fun to say, it is actually quite tasty and healthy. Siri tells us that couscous consists of spherical granules made by rolling and shaping moistened semolina wheat and then coating them with finely ground wheat flour. Couscous has a nice neutral taste, so any flavor or seasoning will go well. Siri’s current flavor choice is sun-dried tomatoes with garlic and basil. Yum! How do you like to prepare your couscous?

Chiles Rellenos: it’s like a magic word. Say it, and you’ll instantly get a whole room of hungry people drooling. Translation: Stuffed Chilies, it just doesn’t evoke the same feeling. Chilies stuffed with what? You ask. Well, pretty much anything! But if you want your chiles rellenos to bring back memories of a meal served at your favorite south of the border restaurant, then you’re going to want to use some traditional ingredients, like rice and beans for instance.

Jennifer stuffs her Chiles Rellenos with rice and beans and other vegan-friendly ingredients we all can appreciate. She adds a bit of her own flair by stuffing the poblano peppers with anasazi beans and brown rice. Because a savory Mexican meal isn’t complete without a bit of lime flavor, at least in my humble opinion, Jennifer adds the juice of one lime. To ensure that her chiles rellenos are really good to the last bite and healthy, Jennifer also throws in a few mushrooms and squash.

Jennifer’s Blog Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings is the blog you’ll want to visit for more Veg*n recipes, especially if you’re in the mood for Mexican food…and c’mon, when are you not? :)

When Catherine from Blushing Hostess holds a mid-morning brunch, she treats her guests to a satisfying breakfast. You’ll be glad you didn’t fill up on cereal beforehand, expecting to only have a simple assortment fruits and cold cuts to nibble on, because Catherine will probably have her famous Brunch Souffle waiting for you.

What she calls a “light, fluffy version of a crustless quiche” you’ll call savory and gooood. Eggs aren’t the single spotlight ingredient in her souffle; seafood lovers will be delighted when they taste the crab meat. But if you want to prepare more than one version of Catherine’s Brunch Souffle, you can. She says that her recipe is adaptable, something we all like to hear, so feel free to use your favorite protein of choice, whether it’s chorizo or ham.

It’s hard to compete with this Brunch Souffle. The veggies and spices set it apart from sweeter breakfast foods. And I don’t see why Catherine’s Brunch Souffle couldn’t be served as an evening meal; why not give your family a pleasant surprise tonight by serving brunch for dinner :)?

The kitchen is a laboratory. It is a place for you to experiment and create. You may not realize it, but you are a gastronomical genius. How many times have you added a little of this, a pinch of that, substituted these for those, and sprinkled “just a little bit more?” Before you know it you have tweaked your favorite recipes just enough to be able to call them your own.

Chris from, Spice of Life Recipes, knows how to take a good meal and transform it into a great meal! Are you familiar with the traditional Italian pasta e fagioli? Well, Chris has taken the same basic concept, but tweaked it a bit to produce a healthy and flavorful dinner. He has traded the pasta for sauteed chicken, added some fresh vegetables, and swapped the white beans for garbanzo beans. Before he knew it, this “copycat” recipe had become a distant cousin to it’s Italian origin, and the result is pure delight!

What are some of your favorite dishes that have spawned from classic recipes?

We want to give a big thanks to all who participated in September’s KICK apple and peach recipe contest! The recipes were great, and it was quite the challenge choosing a winner. We would like to express our appreciation by featuring a link to your blogs below. Be sure to check them out!

First Place:

Apple Cider Ice Cream
By Wannabe Green Bean

Second Place:

Apple Coconut Macaroons
By Vegan Lovelie

Third Place:

Harvest Tea Bread
By Kate In The Kitchen

Thanks to all of our competitors!!

Peach and Grapes Tart
By Kopiaste


Peach-Apple Chutney Surprise
By Living The Justopian Life


Apple Almond Cookies
By Let Us All Cook


Konafa/Kneffe
By Dirty Kitchen


Cinnamon Apple Cake
By Tara Farms


Awesome Apple Carrot Cake
By Baking With Dynamite


Apple and Blue Cheese Clafouti
By London Foodie


Rheinish Apple Tart
By My Kitchen Stories


Apple Tomato Raisin Chutney
By My Diverse Kitchen


Rosemary-scented Apple Almond Dessert
By Foodycat


Apple Tart with Chocolate Ginger Crust
By Atx Veg’n

Gone are the days when only Popeye wants to eat his spinach. Jo, from The Adventures of Kitchen Girl, can get her kids to eat a healthy serving of spinach without needing to tell them that it’s the only way they’ll grow up big and strong like the cartoon sailor from long ago. Her alfredo will have kids and grownups alike licking their chops, and the bowl.

Jo’s alfredo sauce is completely fresh and, like she says, very thick. The creaminess comes from the heavy cream and nearly one cup of parmigiano-reggiano. You might think that’s where you’ll find all the calcium, but don’t forget about the spinach! It not only acts as a thickener, but it’s full or more nutrients than you can imagine.

Jo further enhances the flavor of the spinach by cooking it in bacon grease, it’s hard to say no to that! To make the alfredo extra filling, Jo adds grilled chicken breast. So if your kiddos are unwilling to clean their plate of spinach or drink their glass of milk, you can be sure they won’t object to finishing off a bowl or two of Jo’s Spinach Alfredo with Chicken.

When the term Sugar and Everything Nice comes to mind, I now think of Jo’s blog. When we think of everything nice, I’m sure coffee enters the picture. With coffee shops opening all over the place, they seem to be replacing, or even competing with, the fast food industry. These days, we can get coffee whenever we want it, however we want it. Jo can even prepare it however she wants it.

Many of us share Jo’s appreciation for the little brown bean that keeps us going on a busy day. Some of us with a keener sense of smell can spot it a mile away, and when it’s presented to us in a dessert, the flavor is hard to ignore. It’s almost comforting. Though I’m not one to drink a cup of coffee in the morning, I do appreciate it in a dessert, which is why Jo’s version of Homemade Black Coffee Jelly caught my eye.

She says it can be prepared in about 15 minutes and tastes great with ice cream. She first tried the dessert at a nearby coffee shop; it left such an impression on her, that she couldn’t resist making it herself. This is an irresistible dessert. Whether or not you add the liqueur is completely up to you, but it goes without saying that the coffee is what makes this a tasty and memorable sweet treat.

When she isn’t busy coming up with award winning contest recipes, Tara, from Tara the Foodie, tries out recipes that are sure win your taste buds over. Impressed by Anita Lo’s from-scratch dumpling recipe, Tara decided to recreate her Pork and Chive Dumplings with Dried Shrimp. Tara was more than pleased with the results and made dumplings that were grand in every way, especially size!

You’ll probably want to make your dumplings like Tara’s; you’ll be able to cut them open with a fork and savor more than just one tiny bite–these dumplings will fill you up. It’s easy to appreciate this recipe because it incorporates traditional ingredients. In fact, Tara waited to put these dumplings together until she could get ahold of the dried shrimp.

Even if you don’t usually follow the recipe, I won’t be surprised if this is the one that makes you change your ways, at least temporarily :). Like the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Remember, that also applies to the Pork and Chive Dumplings with Dried Shrimp!

Its almost that time. You know what I’m talking about. It’s time to start making room in your fridge for holiday meals and treats! Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and that turkey sure knows how to hog an entire shelf in your refrigerator, not to mention the various side dishes that I’m sure you have prepped ahead of time ;)

What better way to clean out the fridge than with Jen’s spicy seafood stir-fry! I know how it goes…. you see all of the beautiful produce at the market and fill up your basket determined to cook a healthy meal every night. Ha! Those veggies have been sitting in the crisper for almost a week now, and you’re not one to waste, so what do you do? Dice up those peppers, zucchini and mushrooms and throw ‘em in the wok. Jen’s recipe is bursting with flavor and is perfect if you are trying to stick with that “pre-holiday diet.” To keep the carbs low omit the rice or substitute brown rice for white rice. If you aren’t too keen on shrimp throw ‘em out and increase the amount of tofu. This dinner is sure to clean out your produce drawer and free up a little space on the shelves for all of your holiday left-overs!

Pull up a chair to Jen’s Table For Two to find more great recipes!

Summer might be long gone, but it’s always the right time to collect recipes for desserts like Alice’s Rose Flavored Watermelon Jellies. A cool Sicilian dessert that’s reminiscent of a jiggly childhood treat, Alice’s jellies are what you’ll want to make when you’re craving something sweet but not too heavy.

Still, this is a dessert that’s more than okay to serve at a dressy dinner party. Alice elegantly presents the desserts by sprinkling them with pistachios and dark chocolate flakes. Not only do these garnishes brighten up the jellies with their vibrant color, but their texture and unique flavor will provide just the right amount of contrast without taking away from the summery taste of the watermelon that shines in the background.

Alice’s blog The Cooked and the Raw features recipes and delectable photos that will definitely leave you drooling. Stop by her blog for your daily dose of healthy desserts and nutritious snacks!