Sweater Weather Tag 2014

Hello everyone, I was roaming the blogging world and found this. I thought it would be the best way to say goodbye to October, hello to November and thank you for the sweater weather that started today! I really enjoyed reading Kimberly's answers to it, so I am going to do it too.

1. Favorite candle scent?
       Sweet things that have a smell you can actually smell when it is burning. I hate buying a candle that you can't actually smell when it is used.

2. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?
       Well it wouldn't be tea. I HATE tea (I know, I'm a bad Southerner) so I guess its a tie between coffee or hot chocolate. I have just been drinking coffee for a few years but a good cup of hot chocolate is great, especially to curl up and watch tv or read with.

3. What's the best fall memory you have?
       Football games. Once it starts getting cooler, the football gets better. Maybe that is because I'm in the band and being in uniform in the hot sun is miserable, but fall weather that isn't too cold is the best. (Band uniforms hold heat in the summer and don't really keep you warm in the winter)

My senior year of high school

4. Which makeup trend do you prefer: dark lips or winged eyeliner? 
       Winged eyeliner. I use very little lip color because of band, but I love to play with eye make up.

5. Best fragrance for fall?
       It isn't really a fall fragrance, but I like the "Tease" by Victoria's Secret. It is my favorite smell.

6. Favorite Thanksgiving food?
       Ummm....not an easy question. Living in the south and having a bunch of people in my family that like to cook, Thanksgiving is the best time to go into a food coma. I would have to say my favorite is probably either Corn Casserole or Pineapple Caserole.

7. What is autumn weather like where you live?
       Well, in the south fall is really just about 2 days long. And it just hit. We have temperatures dropping into the 30's tonight and during the days will get up to the high 60's. That is just this weekend, but it will get warm again next week and then I will wake up one morning and it will be like BOOM! Winter is here!

8. Most worn sweater?
      Ummm..probably my blue stripe sweater that I am wearing today. I've had it for years and it is so comforatble.

9. Must-have nail polish this fall?
      I want to get a dark maroon color for Thanksgiving break so anything like that sounds good.
       
10. Football games or jumping in leaf piles?
        Football games. Making the leafs in a pile is too much work, and fooball is my favorite.

11. Skinny jeans or leggings?
       Skinny jeans. I love leggings but when it gets cold, I want the warmth of jeans.

12. Combat boots or Uggs?
        Well, I've never had combat boots (any suggestions on what to get) and Uggs have never been my thing either. So can I pick neither??

13. Is pumpkin spice worth the hype?
       I love pumpkin spice, but it has become such a big deal that it has lost the appeal. Now come Christmas time and the Peppermint Mocha is where it is at!

14. Favorite fall TV show?
       19 Kids and Counting. I know a lot of people who don't like this show, but I love keeping up with them. And with two girls getting married, it just feeds my love of wedding shows.

15. What song really gets you into the fall spirit?
       "This is Halloween" from Nightmare Before Christmas! 

Happy Halloween everyone! 
And stay hungry my friends!
Felecia

My Week in a Nutshell

Hi everyone, sorry that I didn't get a post this past week, it was slightly crazy. But I can't wait to tell you all about my week. It was a fun filled one for sure. So here is my week in a nutshell.

Really my week didn't go completely crazy until Thursday. While I had a bunch of homework and projects to do all week, the fun started Thursday. So I guess this is really a weekend in a nut shell, but I don't care.

Thursday: Well the sisters of Sigma Alpha Iota participated in Trick or Teke this year. It is a philanthropy event for Tau Kappa Epsilon (one of the fraternities at Troy) and while this was the first year we have done something like this, it was a lot of fun. Thursday was the final big event, the party. We made a banner and pumpkin for it (we won second in both of those categories) and Alex and I dressed up like Pikachu and Ash Ketchum. It was a lot of fun and a great way to start off my anniversary weekend.









Alex and I celebrated our three year anniversary this weekend, so that is what this is going to show a lot of, our anniversary shinnanigans.

Friday: This was our actual anniversary, but because it is the fall and it just always works this way, we had a football game, in Mobile. So while we didn't get to do anything on our actual anniversary, we did have a lot of fun. I gave him his presents through out the day with help from some friends. He got his gifts at random times and me being the smart person I am, I didn't take any pictures of his gifts. But I did get a picture of us together on the bus, because we're awesome like that. And there is a picture of the band on the field during half-time on Friday. We did the closer to our American-themed show and even though Troy lost (again) it was a lot of fun. The band got back to Troy around 2 am on Saturday.

Saturday: After getting some much needed sleep, Alex and I got up and went down to Dothan for the day. We went back and visited the Dothan Area Botanical Gardens, which is where we went for our first anniversary. This place is beautiful and I love looking around at all the flowers. DABG also has a lock gate, and we put a lock on the gate and got some great pictures around the gardens.

Our picture holding a picture of us taking the same picture last year.

The sign that someone put on the lock gate

The story behind the Lock Gate at the DABG

Alex with our lock. It is my favorite picture from the day.

 We also went to the mall and walked around for a while and took pictures with painted peanuts. Dothan is the Peanut Capital of the world, ironic I know. Then we went to Red Lobster for dinner.









Sunday: We finished out the weekend by going up to Montgomery. Alex wanted to get me a Pandora bracelet for my present, and this thing is absolutely gorgeous! I am so excited to have it, I have wanted one for a while and it just makes it even better because Alex bought it for me. He bought me a treble clef charm, a heart spacer, a present charm, and a charm that says "Forever Together." I am so excited to fill it up over time.



I had a great, fun filled weekend. Grab the button, link up and let me know what you did this week!

Stay hungry my friends!

<a href="http://www.atasteofthecollegelife.blostpost.com" target="_self"><img src=" http://s36.photobucket.com/user/fpayne100259/media/WhatACrazy2_zps04aa0fc0.png.html][IMG]http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e24/fpayne100259/WhatACrazy2_zps04aa0fc0.png " alt="A Taste of the College Life" width="125" height="125" /></a>

An InLinkz Link-up

Fall Dream Menu

Well today I am going to try something new, I am going to do a "dream menu" for Fall. This is what I would make if I had all the time and money in the world to just cook and bake. I might try some of these recipes at one point in time but who knows.

Appetizer: Crockpot Corn Chowder | Source

I have a love for warm, thick soups, they are just amazing. The warm just makes me think of fall, because eating soups during the summer is just weird, it is great to warm up when the temperatures start to drop.

Main Dish: Apple Spice Pork Chops | Source

I have grown up eating pork chops, and usually they are grilled, that is just how my dad has always cooked. He cooks more on the grill than my mom and I use the oven. It is a major appliance at my house, but this fried pork chops looks really good. To me the apples make me think of the fall, and I love cooking with them, they just add such a good flavor. The onion also adds a good flavor because it offsets the sweetness of the apples.

Side Dish: Vanilla Sweet Potato Fries | Source

Sweet potato fries is probably one of my favorite foods. Any time I go to Red Robbin or a resturant with  sweet potato fries, you can bet I'm getting them. This recipe doesn't look too difficult to make so I might try this one soon, if I do, I'll let you know.  But this looks like a great side to go with the porkchops. 

Dessert: Mini Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcakes | Source

This dessert incorporates too of my favorite desserts, cheesecake and red velvet cake. And these little cupcakes just look so adorable, who wouldn't want to eat them? They aren't too heavy and go with the rest of the food on my menu. 

Want to see the where all these recipes came from? You can go check out my Pinterest and see all the recipes that I find. 

Also you can go like my Facebook page and keep up to date on all the things going on with A Taste of the College Life.

What kind of food is your favorite for Fall?

Stay Hungry my Friends
Felecia

Weekend in Troy

This weekend was a great weekend. It was long and hot but so worth it. I know that it is Tuesday night when I am writing this, but it was a long weekend and I had a test today. But here is my Weekend in Troy!

Friday: We had our Homecoming pep rally on Friday night. This one was a lot of fun because the band sent people to play in the games that the SGA people came up with. And to top off the fun, the band actually won the spirit sword too! That has never happened before, so go band! Also, my friend Katie was on Fall Break at the school she is interning with so she came down and spent the weekend with us for Homecoming. So we had a fun girls night on Friday.

Hallie and I's signature pose ;)

Saturday: The big game. Homecoming is not like any normal football game, it is one of the biggest (and longest) days for the band. We start the morning with a parade through downtown Troy, then go do all of our normal routine for a game day and we also have a bunch of alumni come into town to play in the Alumni Band. It is great now that I am getting old that I actually know some of the alum who come. **Crazy thought: Next year I will be able to be in the alumni band. For the 50th anniversary of the Sound of the South. Yeah, this is mind boggling. Oh! And on an even better note, Troy finally won a football game! Hopefully the second half of the season will be better than the first one.

The three seniors in the piccolo section this year

After the football game, Alex and I went to dinner with some friends and hung out for a while. It was a lot of fun because we ate with some friends that we don't always get to spend a lot of time with. We parted ways after dinner and he went and hung out with a friend from out of town and did nerd things (I love you!) and I went home. I was hanging out with my roommates and we really did fall asleep before 10:30 that night. I know we are such big party animals.

Sunday: Not a lot of fun here, I had to study all day and work on a paper for class. I had a test in my Mass Media Law class today and a paper due in my Leadership and Interpersonal Skills class. So that was how I ended my weekend. But on a positive note, I think I did well on my test.

Alex with the conductor of the band, Col. Larry Lang

Monday: I know this is not technically the weekend, but I am writing this on Tuesday, so I am going to count it as part of my weekend because we had an awesome opportunity on campus Monday night.  The United States Air Force Band and Singing Sergeants came to Troy. This was hands down the best concert I have ever heard. (If you want to hear some of their music you can go to their website HERE) I mean they played fantastic music and did a huge Broadway medley that was just amazing. I laughed, cried, and got goose bumps all through the concert. And to make it better, members of the Troy University Symphony Band got to play along with them. While I didn't get to play with them, Alex did, and this is one of the things that makes me a super proud girlfriend. Nothing like getting to watch someone you love so much do something they love so much.

Me and Alex during the intermission of the concert

.

What did you do this weekend? Any fun things?
Stay hungry my friends,
Feleica

Peanut Butter Free Dessert

I have talked about before that I am allergic to peanuts (if you missed it, you can read about it here) and there are lots of recipes that I have to adjust so that I can have it. My rule of thumb when cooking is if it has peanut butter or peanuts in the name, then it is probably an important part of the recipe and can't be taken out or substituted, but other than that, I usually can find away around the nuts.

The dessert I made this week is one of these such recipes. My aunt Edwina has made it since I was young and it has always been one of my favorite recipes. Know that I know it is so easy, I will have to restrain from making it all the time. Sigma Alpha Iota and Phi Mu Alpha are having a joint recruitment event BBQ tonight and this is what I am making for a dessert to bring. After everyone tries it, I will let you know what they think of it.

It only calls for two or three ingredients, depending on how fun you get with it. 

Ingredients:

One package of butterscotch chips

One package of chow mein noodles

Optional- candy to be the "eggs" in the nest

I know that you are probably thinking, Chow Mein Noodles and Butterscotch...what? I know it is crazy but just trust me. They are delicious. 

Instructions: 

1. Melt the butterscotch. You can put the bag of chips in a small, microwave safe bowl to melt them. Put the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and then microwave in 15 second intervals till it is melted. 

**Trick** If you melt the chips too much and it burns, you can add a little bit of vegetable oil to make it smooth out so that you can use it. 

2. Add the noodles to the melted chips and mix them up.

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture with all of the noodles and butterscotch in the bowl. This is after I had most of it already scooped out.

3. Scoop out the mix onto wax paper. Use a tablespoon or an ice cream scooper to scoop it out in small clumps. 

4. Once you have them scooped out, you can add candy to make the eggs in the nest. I used whoppers because its is near Halloween so they have a ton of Halloween candy out. It is usually made with the Robbin Eggs you can get at Easter, but I made it work with what I have. 

So here are my rating for this recipe: 

Deliciousness- 10/10: the idea is sort of crazy but the results are awesome. I let my roommates try it and they all were very surprised how good it is. And like I said earlier, once the brothers and sisters and potentials try it tonight, I will post their responses. **UPDATE** everyone at the event really liked the food. By the time I got home, I didn't have anymore.
Easiness- 9/10: the trick is not over melting the butterscotch and burning it. After that, it is really easy. 
Affordability- 8/10: While the chow mein is very inexpensive, the butterscotch can get a little more expensive depending on how much you have to buy.
College Friendliness- 10/10: Two ingredients and a great crowd pleaser. Something easy to make for any function that is a pot luck, BYOD.

Have you ever changed the ingredients to a recipe? Do you have a go to dessert recipe?

I would love to hear from you,

So Stay Hungry My Friends!

Felecai

1 Dish, 1 Hour Chicken Dinner

Follow my blog with Bloglovin While I have seen this recipe floating around Pinterest and Facebook, I was first introduced to it by my best friend. She made it for me last year and since then I have made it several times. The pictures that I have are actually some she took when she made it for lunch one day so that I could use the recipe here. It is one of the simplest and most delicious quick dinners. Who doesn't love a meal that only uses one pan? Hello easy clean up.

May I present to you 1 Dish, 1 Hour Chicken Dinner.

One of the great things about this recipe is how easy it is to set you to make. It only takes a few ingredients (most of which we had at the house) and is so versatile that you can change stuff up and make it completely different.

Ingredients: 

Boneless, Skinless Chicken- to fill you pan, I think we used about 10 of the small pieces. 

Vegetables of your choice- we used red potatoes, carrots, and green beans

Butter- one stick

Dry Dressing packet- we used Ranch dressing but Italian is good too

How to make it: 

Take your chicken and lay it in a pan like this. We used a casserole pan so that everything would fit in it. You want your chicken to be completely thawed out for the best results. 

Next, open your cans of vegetables  and cut your potatoes if you need to. We used red potatoes and just cut them in quarters. 

Next is the fun part, making it all fit in the pan. Put them all of either side of the chicken. And if it gets on top of the chicken, that is fine. It won't hurt it, I promise. 

Now, you have two options with the butter and dressing packet. You can either melt the butter, mix with the dressing and pour over the chicken and vegetables, or you can cut the butter into small slices and lay over the food and sprinkle the dressing onto that. I typically melt the butter so that I get a more even spread, but it doesn't matter which way you do it. 

Once you have the dressing on the chicken and vegetables, just put it in the oven at 350 for 1 hour. 

Your whole house will smell great while it is cooking and after an hour, take it out. The chicken should be fully cooked through (if it isn't you can put it back in the oven for a few minutes). Serve it up on some plates and enjoy. It also saves very well to make as left overs for the rest of the week. 

Deliciousness- 10/10: This is one of my favorite go-to recipes because it is so good

Easiness- 10/10: just put it in a pan and in the oven
Affordability- 9/10: Anything with meat can get expensive, but considering how many meals you can make out of one pan (if you are feeding yourself or friends and family) it is very cost effective.
College Friendliness- 10/10: This is something that is great for when friends come over or we have a house dinner with my roommates. It is simple to make and feeds a lot of people with a little cost. 

Does anyone else have a go-to quick dinner recipe I should try? What was your favorite meal in college?

Stay hungry my friends,

Felecia