I love cooking, but sometimes I find myself lacking culinary inspiration. This happens most when I’m craving something in particular, but either I don’t have the ingredients I need, or I don’t feel like making the same dishes over and over again. Luckily, I’ve found dinner-inspiration help from Gojee.

Gojee is a recipe search engine that features handpicked recipes from some of the web’s most popular food bloggers. Simply type in an ingredient or dish that you’re craving, and Gojee will return a photo slideshow of recipes to satisfy your cravings. You can also type in what ingredients you already have on hand to filter the results to show only recipes you can make right now. You can further filter the recipes by eliminating all those that contain ingredients you don’t like.

If that didn’t already sound awesome, the more you use Gojee, it learns what you like and don’t like, so you’re more likely to find recipes you love, without having to sift through things you’d never eat.

I’ve already found a ton of great recipes that I can’t wait to try! The only problem with Gojee is that the images are so delicious-looking, just browsing makes you hungry.

Also, as an added bonus for all you aspiring mixologists out there, Gojee has drink recipes too — ranging from the tried-and-true to the o-m-g!

Laura is a St. John’s University grad who spends way too much time watching TV and imagining the characters are her best friends. She’s addicted to online shopping, dessert, and Pinterest. Follow her life at @lkdondero.

Every Sunday, CollegeCandy attempts to show you how to cook easy foods. I have never been able to cook…I messed up when making hot chocolate the other day. Obviously I should never be near a kitchen, but these recipes are all so good and — best of all — easy that it’s hard to burn down your house when making them.

Take a look, make your grocery list and then start cooking. Watch out Bobby Flay, we are becoming cooking pros over here.

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I can’t promise you a spinach dip that will magically make you lose weight, but I can promise you a spinach dip that is delicious without adding a week’s worth of calories to your day. Spinach dip is easy to make, slightly healthy (it’s spinach, guys), and great for when you need a little nibble when you’re, say, finishing up your last finals (how are those papers coming!?) or getting ready to work in retail your way through Christmas. It’s the perfect blood sugar boost.

Spinach is packed with iron; combined with all these dip ingredients, you also get a bit of calcium, which isn’t too shabby. This isn’t a salad, obviously, and you probably shouldn’t eat the whole thing in one go – even though you’ll probably want to and I totally won’t judge you for doing so if you do.

Spinach Dip with Crostini 

You’ll need…

• 1 whole package of baby spinach (I use fresh and wilt it myself – I don’t like frozen spinach!)
• 1 block of low fat cream cheese
• about 1 tablespoon of sour cream
• about one palm full of Parmesan cheese
• about 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning
• about 1 teaspoon of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of minced garlic (feel free to use from a jar)
• 1 loaf of skinny French bread (a long baguette works!)
• about 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 whole clove of garlic

How to make it…

In a frying pan, warm the olive oil and add the garlic to saute a little bit until golden and the smell of garlic fills your kitchen. Add your package of spinach and wilt it. This should only take a few seconds, but stir constantly to prevent some from becoming too mushy.

In a bowl, combine the cream cheese and sour cream. The cream cheese should be at room temp, or left out for a little bit, just so it’s soft and easy to manage. Empty the spinach and garlic into the bowl and combine with cream cheese; add Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning. Combine completely, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to sit in the fridge for a little bit.

In the meantime, slice your French bread into about 1/2-inch thick slices and arrange on a cookie sheet. Heat the broiler of your oven to 350-degrees. Drizzle a tiny bit of oil on each piece of bread and put in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown (toasted!). Remove from the oven and immediately rub a clove of garlic on each piece of toast. Not a lot, just rub the garlic over the face of the toast and move on to the next piece.

Remove spinach dip from the fridge and enjoy with some garlicky crostini! Yum!

Note: Crostini are good, if saved in an airtight plastic bag in the fridge, for about a week. The spinach dip is good, if stored in an airtight container, for about one week as well. 

This Thanksgiving, impress all your friends with these 10 fall favorite recipes at your potluck! Mix up classic like apple sauce and cranberry with a hybrid of the two! Make banana bread decadent by adding a little peanut butter! With a few clever tricks of the trade, not to mention time-saving tips and easy-to-follow steps, your friends will be asking you when you’ll cook for them again.

Check out these recipes if you want to dazzle and impress. There’s something for everyone: healthy, savory, veggie-friendly, completely decadent. Whip out that apron and chef’s hat and stir up some Thanksgiving spirit!

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Well….uh….erm….that’s weird.

We want these shows back!

Mark Zuckerberg’s got a new job.

Would you wear a pubikini??

An ode to granny panties.

Make your man swoon with one of these recipes.

[There are over 100 million sites on the Internet. 100 million! You might think you know about all the important ones (CollegeCandy, Gmail, Google, TFLN…), but there are thousands of other sweet sites out there (like Dad's on Vacation, Covet, and Any Clip) and more showing up every day! We get it – it’s not easy or fun sifting through the crap and porn to find those gems, so we’re gonna bring the gems to you. Just sit back, kick up those feet and allow us to introduce you to the diamonds in the internet rough.]

I love to cook, but sometimes I have trouble trying to figure out what to make–I get sick of the same old recipes over and over, and there are times when nothing sounds good.  Thankfully, I’ve discovered Yummly, a site that helps me find recipes based on what I feel like eating…. or more realistically, what I’ve got in my fridge.

Yummly is part search engine, part foodie community–and it’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

The site’s front page contains a giant search box (the “FoodFinder”) that asks simply, “What are you in the mood for?”  Type in “cookies,” and 13,806 recipes come up.  You can then narrow down your results by using Yummly’s extensive filters, which include: course or meal, ingredient like & dislike (for example, you can choose to see only recipes that include chocolate, but not nuts), type of cuisine (such as American, Chinese, Italian, etc.), diet and allergy restrictions (such as vegan or gluten-free), nutrition (calories, fat, cholesterol, and carbohydrate levels), price and time involved, the recipe’s source, and taste (such as sweet, savory, bitter, sour, or salty).

Once you find a recipe you like, you can click on it to get the ingredient list and directions, as well as nutrition information and options to save the recipe to your favorites and share it with friends.  You can also edit the recipe by adding or substituting ingredients (and view other’s variations) and add your own pictures.

In order to save and edit recipes, however, you’ll need to create a profile.  On your profile, you can add  info about your favorite types of foods and cuisines and find and friend people with similar tastes (“TasteBuds”).  Also, Yummly learns your what you like based on your favorite recipes and your searches, and then offers customized recommendations on your profile.

I just can’t get over how cool Yummly is! It will totally change the way we all eat (meaning, no more boring grilled cheese 5 nights a week) and expose us to tons of new foods we never new existed.

My belly thanks you, Internet.

Warning: Insanely Addictive.

The edges are crispy and savory while the insides are soft and piping hot. They’re so much better than the fries you buy at the concession stand or a fast food restaurant, because they’re actually made from potatoes. They’re easy to make and even easier to devour. Just writing this makes me want to whip up a batch and chow down. In my bed. While watching an ANTM marathon.

You can use regular or sweet potatoes for this recipe, or even mix them up in the same batch, which I do here. These fries are already healthy (and totally natural!), but you could make them have a lower glycemic index than starchy russets by choosing waxy potatoes, such as new potatoes or red potatoes. Really, this is the perfect college recipe – healthy, easy, tasty – so memorize it. It will get you through the rest of your college career, I guarantee it.

Ingredients:
1 pound waxy potatoes, such as red potatoes
1 pound sweet potatoes, cut in half crosswise
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of salt (coarse sea salt works best)
Paprika and cayenne pepper
Baking pan lined with aluminum foil

Potato Time:
1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Yes, 500.

2. Cut the potatoes into wedges that are about 1/4 inch thick at the thickest point. The shape doesn’t matter, so don’t worry if everything comes out a little lopsided.

3. Place wedges in a large bowl, and toss with the olive oil, salt, paprika and cayenne pepper to taste. (Or throw in your own spices. Garlic salt works well, too!)

3. Spread the potato wedges on the pan in an even layer. Put them in the oven, and roast 20 minutes or until tender.

4. Remove the pan from the oven, and loosen the potatoes from the foil using a spatula. Return to the oven and cook for another five minutes.

5. Serve at once, seasoned with more salt, pepper, or ketchup if desired.

Note: These are best served right away (and good luck trying not to house them all immediately), but can hold in a warm oven for about 30 minutes.

Like Reese’s? Yeah, me too. Honestly, I’m not sure I can ever trust someone who doesn’t. The problem is that a girl can’t subsist on peanut butter cups alone . . . but it’s fun to try.

No, seriously, the problem is more that those things are crazy unhealthy. Not only will they set you back more than 200 calories and 13 grams of fat for a pair, but they’re full of artificial flavors and preservatives. And that, my lady friends, is why I make my own. (Well, that and the fact that the CVS lady looks at me funny when I come in and buy, like, 12 Reese’s packs before 10am.)

Now, I need to be clear here—these homemade treats aren’t really much healthier, but they do taste better, they don’t contain any weird artificial stuff, and they are far more effective at impressing your friends. Plus, it’s a heck of a lot cheaper to make a dozen of these than it is to buy six packs of Reese’s. So what are you waiting for?

What You Need:
(The recipe is based on this charmer from AllRecipes, my go-to recipe source.)

• 1 (11.5-ounce) package semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup of all-natural peanut butter (you can use Jif, but I prefer the hippie stuff)
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar (that’s the powdery stuff)
• 12 muffin-cup liners
• Muffin pan

What You Do:
1. Place the muffin liners in the muffin pan.

2. Put half the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl, and zap the chips in the microwave for 1 minute on HIGH. Take them out and stir them, and continue to microwave them in 30-second increments on HIGH until you can stir them completely smooth.

3. Distribute the melted chocolate evenly among the 12 muffin-cup liners. Then use a flexible spatula or a spoon to creep the chocolate 1/2 inch or so up the sides of the liners so it’s not all stuck in the bottom (creating a little bowl for the PB).

4. Put the chocolate shell bottoms in the fridge for 15 to 20 minutes or until they are firm.

5. While those little cups of goodness are chillin’, use a whisk and a small bowl to combine the peanut butter and confectioners’ sugar. (This is where the natural PB comes in handy – it’s a lot thinner than the other stuff, making it easier to stir.) Leave it at room temperature until the chocolate shells have firmed.

6. Take the shells out of the fridge and distribute the peanut butter mixture evenly among them.

7. Melt the remaining chocolate chips in the microwave in the same way you melted the first half of them.

8. Spoon the melted chocolate over the top of the peanut butter cups, spreading the chocolate to the edges of the liners. Refrigerate the finished cups for 15 to 20 minutes or until they are firm.

And that’s all there is to it! Soon you’ll be chowing down on homemade peanut butter cups in your bedroom where none of your roommates can find them on the couch with your girls while you catch up on the first season of Glee. I know – total girls night perfection.

But I’m also a self-confessed foodie, and I want my food to taste GOOD. If it doesn’t, it’s out. So I have been searching high and low for months now in an effort to find the perfect pancake recipe—one with both taste and health benefits. Most pancakes aren’t bad for you, sure, but I wanted a recipe that really packed in the good stuff and had a flavor that couldn’t be beat.

Well, you guys, I’ve finally found it. All Recipes saves the day once again! This time, though, I modified the recipe to make it even yummier by adding extra flavor to these bad boys. As if that wasn’t good enough, you can also whip up all twelve of these pancakes in just about 15 minutes. It may not look it, but this recipe is SUPER easy.

Sunday mornings never tasted so good.

What You Need
• 1 1/2 cups regular oats (NOT quick oats)
• 1 1/2 cups white whole-wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/4 cup skim, 1%, or soy milk
• ¼ cup canola oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 6 tbsp chopped walnuts
• 2 bananas, sliced thin

What You Do
1. You’ll need a food processor for this. Put the oats into the processor, and pulse them several times until they’re ground like a coarse flour. Transfer them to a bowl, and mix them with the whole-wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

2. Use a second bowl to mix together the buttermilk, milk, canola oil, egg (whisk it slightly first), sugar, and vanilla until they’re smooth. You can use a whisk instead of an electric mixer as long as you put some power into your strokes.

3. Heat up your skillet. Coat it with a thin layer of butter, oil, or cooking spray. Let it get nice and hot before you pour on your pancakes.

4. Combine the wet and dry mixtures, and stir in the nuts and banana slices. Use a 1/3-cup measuring cup to scoop portions of batter onto the skillet.

5. Cook each pancake until it’s getting bubbly and dry at the edges. Then flip it and cook for another minute or so, until both sides are browned and the middle is no longer raw.

6. Keep pancakes warm in a 200-degree oven until you’re finished cooking the whole batch.

7. Eat up!

1. Those who turn anything edible into sheer brilliance just from their touch.

2. Those who can follow directions pretty well and make things that taste OK.

3. Those who are absolutely hopeless and are seriously challenged by even our “Intro to Cooking” series.

It’s you guys in the last category that I’m targeting with this post. That’s right! If you want to pull out some culinary skills for your sweetheart and totally wow him/her on V-Day but can’t seem to even make a box of mac and cheese without burning down the house, you can still make this fondue recipe. Really – it’s that easy. Plus, it’s chocolate. You can’t go wrong.

This recipe will make enough fondue for two people, with some left over (to do whatever you want with….)

What You Need:
• 5 ounces chocolate (chocolate chips will work)
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• Pinch of vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons hot water

What You Do:
1. Since I know you don’t have a double boiler, you’ll be making this with a saucepan and a bowl. Simmer an inch or two of water in the pan, and set a heatproof bowl over it. Don’t let the bowl touch the water (so small bowls are probably best).
2. Put the chocolate and cream in the bowl. The hot water boiling in the pot will heat the bowl from underneath. Stir the mixture constantly until it melts.
3. When the chocolate is melted, smooth, and blended with the cream, remove it from the heat and add the vanilla, sugar, and water.
4. Whisk until smooth.
5. Keep warm (perhaps on top of the saucepan with the heat turned to low) until you’re ready to serve.
6. Once your honey bunny on a farm (or your single girlfriends with a chocolate craving) are ready, grab that chocolate and serve it with your favorite dippers: fruit, marshmallows, cookies, graham crackers, pretzels, body parts….

Romance and impressing the one you love has never been so easy!