So last night my buddy stopped by my Chandler Crossing apartment to show me her new cell phone she had just recently purchased, the Samsung Omnia II. The phone had a nice sleek design and what I loved most about it was the full Qwerty keyboard. The coolest feature on the phone had to be the Swype to text feature. Simply drag your fingers across the keypad to the letters and the phone automatically types the word, I was going nuts in my MSU student apartment when I tried it! SWEET! I found that it was a lot faster than the current way to text. Here’s a video to show you what I mean? Let me know what you think about Swyping.
Hey guys! Want to be the life of the party this weekend? Make this quick and easy chili cheese dip recipe in your MSU apartment, and become the envy of your friends!
When people think of tie dye, their minds usually go right to hippies and the 60’s. And while some trends from years past are definitely not cool anymore, some trends keep popping back up. In fact, I think tie dye is a trend that will never die. Haha, get it?
Tonight night at 7pm, the Village is hosting a free tie dye night. So, step outside your MSU Aparment and join us! We’re supplying the die, the rubber bands, and even a FREE t-shirt for you ! So invite your friends for a night of fun.
And even though we’re supplying everything you need, the fun doesn’t have to stop with all the free stuff. Look around your East Lansing Apartment and bring some of your own things to dye.Some ideas are:
A few basic things to remember as you look for things to dye: Tie dye works best on white fabrics, although light colored fabrics will work too. Tie dye also works best on cotton fabrics, and probably won’t hold on any other blend. Lastly, be careful when you first wash your dyed stuff…even though tie dye is cool, you don’t want your whole load of clothes to be a handful of colors.
You may not know this, but The Landings own Mucki Doezema is famous for her great recipes! Check out her first installment of her web series, “Just Try This”. Each recipe is something you can make with your roommates in your MSU student apartment.
I recently found a recipe for chicken parmesanthat I tried out and enjoyed. I made a few changes to the original recipe to share with you. So, gather your roommates in your MSU student apartment and try it out. Trust me when I say it’s a crowd pleaser!
Ingredients:
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper
A couple tablespoons of minced garlic
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes
Chopped basil leaves (as desired)
Parmesan cheese (as desired)
A few slices of mozzarella
Lightly pour extra virgin olive oil over the chicken breasts. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and any other seasoning as desired. Cook the chicken on an indoor grill pan or George Foreman grill until completely cooked.
While the chicken is cooking you can start the sauce. Put a medium sized pot over medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the tomatoes and begin stirring slowly. Add garlic and basil as desired and continue stirring for 10 minutes.
Preheat your broiler to high.
Layer the chicken and the tomato sauce in a small casserole dish. Place the sliced mozzarella on top of the chicken followed by some parmesan cheese. Leave the dish under the broiler for 3-5 minutes or until the parmesan and mozzarella is browned.
Hosting a New Years Eve party tomorrow night? Stressed because you don’t have any appetizers for your guests to enjoy? Well, take a deep breath, because it’s “Ryan to the rescue!” Below I’ve listed a bruschetta recipe I used last year when I was the party host that went over incredibly! It’s not hard to make at all, and you’ll make your guests think you’re a 5 star chef!
Ingredients 1 loaf French bread
sliced 1/2 sweet onion
finely chopped 2 cloves garlic hopped
1 (2.25 ounce) can sliced black olives
drained 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
divided 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
2 large fresh tomatoes
diced 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Arrange the bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. In a bowl, mix the onion, garlic, olives, 2 tablespoons olive oil, oregano, basil, and parsley. Gently toss in the tomatoes. Top bread slices with the tomato mixture. Sprinkle with feta cheese and Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with remaining olive oil.
3. Bake 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is melted and bread is lightly toasted.
For a gift to all of my MSU friends this winter, I decided to make lots of Holiday cookies. After receiving a lot of thanks and feedback I thought I would share a few of my favorite recipes. Enjoy!
The traditional sugar are always a big hit! You use cookie cutters to make cute holiday shapes such as trees and snowmen. I would advise you to buy the pre-made dough or the packet that you mix the ingredients with the Betty Crocker mix. This will save you time and it is a good inexpensive alternative if you don’t have a ton of baking ingredients.
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-Super Chocolate Chunk!
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt
3/4 cup of unsalted butter
2/3 cup of granulated white sugar
2/3 cup of brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup chocolate chunks or chips
Mix all ingredients and place dough balls on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Cook at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes. (Yields about 18 large cookies)
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-Coconut Macaroons: A little fancy, but super easy to make and delightful!
Combine-
4 large egg whites
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour
3 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
Preparation: heat the egg whites, salt, and sugar in a stainless steel bowl over a simmering saucepan. Whisk ingredients until creamy. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Let this mixture cool in the fridge for about two hours. Line baking sheets with wax paper, and place the dough a few inches apart on the paper. Bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Allow cookies to cool for about 10 minutes on the baking sheet and then move to a wire rack.
Just like the majority of East Lansing residents, if you are reading this you are probably a broke college student. During the holidays we are already under enough stress with finals, let alone worrying about finding extra cash for holiday gifts. Well fret no more! I have found some awesome inexpensive gift ideas that are sure to be a hit, but not on your wallet! Remember that the holidays aren’t about how much you spend or what goes under the tree, but quality time with your family. The greatest gift you can give someone is your time.
Here are a few cute, cheap gift ideas:
Decorate ornaments- if you are creative and good at painting, pick up some plain ornaments from your local craft store and personalize them! This is a a cute idea that will last a long time, and you can make them really heart felt.
Candy mugs- buy some cute holiday mugs from the dollar store and fill them with decorative tissue paper and candy. Super sweet, and cheap!
Bake it!- Everybody loves baked goods, so borrow your grannie’s favorite recipes and make a few goodie baskets. Yum!
Mini Stockings- pick up a few mini stockings from the dollar store and fill them with candy, or little items such as coffee and tea samples, little hand lotions or chapstick. You can even find free samples online!
Etched wine glasses- all you need is two wine glasses per person and pick up an etching kit from the craft store. The wine glasses are super cheap, it it looks fancy and expensive. You can personalize them as much as you want, or keep it simple.
Books- usually pretty inexpensive and it is something that they can enjoy right away, no assembly necessary.
Chandler Crossings Apartments offer free gift wrapping days and holiday events for their residents, so if you are lucky enough to be one check it out!
You come home to your East Lansing apartment after a long day of classes. Dreading the eight page paper your professor asked you to write without any notice, you go to turn on your computer when you realize one of the most upsetting truths a Michigan State college student can have:
You have a virus.
More specifically, the virus known as the Blue Screen of Death (named after the popular Three Rings of Death X BOX virus). Once you have the Blue Screen, you may not get it again for a while, or it may never let you look at anything else again. For some reason it varies on frequency. Most of the time from my experience this problem is fixable provided you follow these easy steps:
1. Remove your computers hard drive and connect it to a different computer using a universal drive adaptor. Basically, this will make your computer’s hard drive into a USB drive, and you can put any files you still want on to a different computer for the time being.
2. Put your hard drive back in your computer.
3. Re-install whatever operating system you use (Windows Vista, XP, etc). This will serve as your “Do-Over” essentially, bringing your computer back to its original settings.
4. From there, you can take your old files and transfer them to your now working computer via either USB drive, CD, or email. I would recommend a large USB, as the other two hold less data.
I know this won’t solve every problem, but this seems to be a very prevalent virus in the past month. I spent about $35 on the adaptor, which I was thrilled to pay rather than buying a new computer.
I loved Mucki’s posting on fall recipes so I thought I would contribute my favorite fall food. CIDER! Yum. I love it at my MSU tailgates, on cool evenings and cozy movie nights. There are a few different ways of making it but here is one of my favorite ways to try:
Cinnamon Cider: Super easy recipe, it can be doubled or tripled for large crowds. Take 6 cups of apple juice, 1/8 cup of cinnamon candies and heat until candies dissolve. Put in a crock pot to keep warm.
Carmel Apple Cider: Sooo yummy! A little bit more detailed to make, but completely worth it! Cider ingredients, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 3 cups apple cider, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream. Whipped cream, 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar.
-To make the cider, combine sugar and 1/4 cup cream and boil in a saucepan then reduce to medium heat. Stir in cider and water. Continue to heat on medium-high until cider starts to steam. (About 4 minutes)
-Whipped topping, chill the remaining 1/2 cup of cream. Add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and whip until combined and the cream takes more of a solid form.
Serve the cider with 2 tablespoons of whipped topping for an extra treat. I find these recipes to be the perfect excuse to cuddle up with my roommates in my MSU apartment.
