I went grocery shopping at the commissary the other day to restock the fridge after vacation and found that they had installed two huge bins of 'dinged' produce. These are the fruits and vegetables that have bumps and bruises - a little more damage than you're average cosmetic defect - with discounts to match.

There were all sorts of different items in the bins - zucchini, red delicious apples, bananas. The only item I was really interested in was the packages of granny smith apples.

Bumped and bruised granny smiths? Sounds like applesauce to me.

OK - it actually sounded like apple pie, but I convinced myself that applesauce was a much healthier alternative.

Less than two dollars for five pounds of apples later and I was on my way home to make some applesauce.

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Hearty dishes of beans and sausages are perfect for those last few wintry days before spring that just won't seem to loosen their grasp.

After spending the last two weeks in Hawaii it was easy to forget that there are still numerous parts of the country still firmly in winter's icy grip. Also, even if it's warmer here in North Carolina than when I left - it's still too chilly to check the mail in shorts and a tank top.

But, until the days when I'm begging for air conditioning and iced cocktails, I'll continue to find a place on the weekly menu for stick-to-the-ribs meals like this one.

It calls for soaking the beans overnight and then cooking them for several hours, but I don't think anyone will care too much if you just used canned. I know I'll be using canned if I make it again - I just can't get over the firmness of dried beans and don't have the patience to boil them for three days to get the mushy consistency I prefer.

In other words, cheating is OK.

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I've spent a lovely Thanksgiving at a gorgeous house in the Outer Banks of North Carolina with TA and his mother's side of the family.

I've featured a recipe or three of the MiL's in the past and though I was wary about the addition of Red Delicious apples in..well, anything, this stuffing was one of the best I've ever had.

The combination of the hot sausage and apples makes such a great pairing - I was truly surprised.

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A holiday dinner just isn't complete without a pumpkin pie. Now that I'm living in the South, I tend to hear quite a bite more about sweet potato pie than ever before - it's not exactly a popular dish in the Pacific Northwest.

However, no matter whether you prefer pumpkin or sweet potato, it can be a calorie bomb. The majority of those calories come from the crust. When something consists solely of flour and butter, though, that shouldn't really come as a surprise.

If you're like me, the crust is a mere nuisance anyway. Simply a vehicle with which to scoop all that lovely spiced squash and whipped cream into my mouth.

So why not do away with the crust as a whole?

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One of my favorite aspects of Fall is the sudden abundance of lush, leafy greens. Collards, Turnip, Mustard, Kale - all the greens you could ever want.

I'm a huge fan of greens, evidence of that here and here.

Anything that can still prove beneficial nutritionally when soaked in bacon and cream is my kind of vegetable.

This is an alternative method of using kale - in the traditional pairing of kale, potatoes, and sausage. I used chorizo in this version, but I wasn't crazy about how it all played together in the bowl. When I make this again (and I will be making this again), I'll use a kielbasa of some sort or maybe some ham.

This soup is full of flavor and, depending on the type of sausage used, delightfully low in both fat and calories while delivering a powerhouse combination of Vitamin A and all sorts of other wonderful nutrients from the kale.

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