So it’s the Sunday after Thanksgiving, and somehow you’re still noshing on leftovers (straight out of the fridge…late at night). The only question more prevalent right now than “what do you want for Christmas?” is “what am I gonna do with all this damn turkey?” Fortunately, CollegeCandy has your answer (don’t we always?) And that answer is: turkey soup!

The ingredient: Chicken Stock

There are two benefits to this soup, the first being that (more than likely), soup wasn’t one of the four billion side dishes you consumed last week, so it’ll be a change of pace for your taste buds. The second benefit is that the chicken stock used for the recipe is an immune booster that aids digestion and improves mineral absorption, all of which will be key to staying healthy for the end of the semester and that dreaded finals crunch.

The Recipe: modified from the Whatchagot Soup courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens (now college-student approved!) Read More »

Thanksgiving is almost here and I am so pumped. Yet, there is something about this holiday that I don’t look forward to: stuffing my face with turkey.  I just can’t bring myself to eat it given all that I’ve learned about what goes into producing that Thanksgiving Day bird of choice. I know Thanksgiving is only one day each year and if you want to eat Turkey on Thanksgiving I can’t blame you. At the same time, I just can’t sit back and let these facts go unshared.

Here’s an inside peek at some of my disturbing turkey knowledge:

(warning: stop reading here if you wish to continue consuming turkeys in naïve Thanksgiving Day bliss).

1.   46 million turkeys are raised every year just for this holiday alone. I like to think of these turkeys as big mutant cousins of the turkeys that the pilgrims ate. The turkeys on our tables are fed grossly high-calorie diets so that they grow unnaturally large at an unnaturally fast rate.  Today’s farm raised birds become so top heavy that their legs can barely hold them. Their beaks and toes are cut so that they don’t scratch each other. Mr. Modern Turkey cannot even breed naturally due to all of his malformations.

2.   Turkeys carry creepy pathogens. There’s this bug called campylobacter. It’s the leading cause of food-borne illness in the United States. Campylobacter is a dangerous little critter, estimated to infect more than 2.4 million Americans each year. Turns out a whopping 90 percent of turkeys produced in America are contaminated with our friend Mr. Campylobacter.  This is a consequence of birds being housed in super crowded cages with less than three square feet of space to move and being regularly dosed with antibiotics.  Speaking of antibiotics…

3.   Turkeys produced on factory farms are fed a disturbingly large quantity of antibiotics as a routine preventive measure to ward off illnesses between them.  When you eat turkey, those antibiotics don’t suddenly disappear like Harry Houdini.   They are transferred directly to you. Oh and the bacteria that the drugs are designed to kill eventually morph into stronger, more powerful versions of themselves.  Scarily, these bugs can transform into superbugs in which we, nor the turkeys, can form a natural resistance.

Read More »

Thanksgiving is a tricky holiday for college students. If you’re within commuting distance of home, you probably can’t wait to burst through your front door to wafting aromas of a decadent home-cooked meal. But if you’re one of the many students who opted to go to school out of state or far from Mom & Pops, you might find yourself stranded in College Town USA, especially if plane tickets home are too expensive to rationalize a short round-trip for Turkey Day when winter break is just around the corner. So don’t despair if you’re holding down the fort in your dorm with other grounded co-eds, here are some foolproof recipes that taste like home. Read More »

That's going straight to your thighs, ladies.

Ah, Thanksgiving. A time to seriously over-indulge in some delish foods without feeling like a total piggy. A time to eat until you can’t button your pants anymore. A time when the leftovers are better than the original.

But hold on a second – have you ever stopped to think about how many calories you’re ACTUALLY consuming? Between the piles of mashed potatoes and second helpings of pumpkin pie, you are most likely taking in enough calories to last you a week.

Yes, it’s true, Thanksgiving can definitely be a time when you can cut loose and not worry about your diet and exercise regiment, but do you really want to totally sabotage that healthy diet?

If you answered yes to that question, stop reading now and go indulge in a few plates of stuffing for me. Everyone says ignorance is bliss and that couldn’t be truer than at Thanksgiving dinner.

If you answered no, here’s a list of the average amount of calories in some of our favorite holiday dishes. Read it, learn it, know it, then choose wisely

Turkey: Thankfully, the centerpiece to any Thanksgiving dinner is also one of the healthiest parts – before you add that delicious gravy, that is. Four ounces of white meat is only about 180 calories, but if you go for dark meat, 4 ounces goes up at 323 calories. And with gravy, it can be as much as 350 calories. (And remember, most of us eat a lot more than 4 ounces, so these numbers obviously vary.)

Stuffing: My favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner, I usually take 2 or 3 giant scoops of this stuff. Or at least I did, before I realized that the average stuffing recipe has 165-190 calories per half cup. That means I’m probably taking in 600 calories in stuffing ALONE. Read More »

After pulling on your Nikes and adding that new Jason Derulo song to your iPod, you drag yourself to the gym for an hour. It’s hard to get started, you’re just so tired, but twenty minutes later the endorphins are kicking in and you’re feeling great. You finish your workout, do a little stretch, and walk home feeling happy as a clam.

But that happy feeling won’t last if you don’t eat a little something after all that exercise. You need something to replenish your body, girlfriend! You want to get stronger, not burn yourself out. Your friends have suggested everything from protein shakes to lemon juice.What should you really eat after you workout? I’ll give you a hint: it’s not lemon juice.

Let’s start out simple. First, drinking water is essential for replacing what you  lost in that intense cardio sesh! Everyone knows you should drink 8 glasses of water a day, but you should increase that to 10-12 on days you’re working out.

Now for food: when it comes to eating after a workout, the key is getting a snack in within 45 minutes of finishing. But that doesn’t mean chowing down on a piece of cake or snacking on a few celery sticks. Post-workout snacks should have both carbs and protein in them. The carbs help replenish glycogen, and the protein helps rebuild and rehydrate muscle tissue, as well as stimulate your immune system to keep you healthy. Read More »

I'm getting nauseous just looking at this spread...

Unlike the rest of the world, Thanksgiving is my least-favorite holiday. I know, I know—the food, the laziness, the time off from work, the family (well . . . maybe that’s not such a plus)—what’s not to love?

For starters, I am a near vegetarian (I say “near” only because I will eat meat if other people prepare it for me) and I just plain dislike the taste of meat. So while the turkey is the main event for almost everyone I know, it kind of makes me wrinkle my nose. No, thank you.

I’m not above tolerating a meal I don’t like for one day out of the year, but the smell of Thanksgiving food cooking actually makes me feel slightly nauseous. This isn’t just because of the turkey—it’s a long story. (Warning: If you are of the weak stomach, I’d recommend you stop reading now.)

In seventh grade, my family hosted an exchange student from Germany for a couple of weeks in the fall, and we thought it would be fun to make a “practice” Thanksgiving dinner to share with her while she was there so she could experience a new holiday. Read More »

With Thanksgiving around the corner, there is no doubt that most of us are more than ready for the holidays.  Although you’re taking a mental break from school, be sure to stay mindful when it comes to your environmental impact.

There are some easy ways to stay green over the holidays without having to ruin your traditional Turkey Day.  Take charge of your family’s eco-responsibility and convince your family green up their holiday.  Hey, you may even get Grandma Doris talking about something other than the fact that you “still” don’t have a boyfriend.

Getting home
If you drive: Carpool with friends to save on gas money and minimize pollution.  Be sure you all time your travels so that you don’t hit traffic and waste unnecessary gas in gridlock.  Leave with plenty of time so you or the driver doesn’t have to speed down the freeway.  Reducing your speed from just 70 to 60 MPH can severely reduce the amount of money and gas your trip guzzles.

If you fly:  Pay the extra money for a direct flight, as takeoff and landing require the most fuel of any other part of the flight.  If you have the resources, buy carbon offset credits along with your flight in order to reduce your footprint.  Many companies, such as Continental, allow you to easily purchase carbon offset credits online before your flight.

Eating Dinner
Buying the bird:  If you just can’t bear a tofurky, you can still buy a real turkey that is relatively environmentally friendly.  All you have to do is buy from a local farmer.  Go to this site to find a turkey farmer in your area.  If for some reason local just doesn’t work for you, look for the labels mentioned in my last post such as grass-fed, cage free, or free range to slightly improve your turkey decision. Read More »

[Every week, CC and John bring you some of the weirdest, funniest, saddest things he hears on his college campus. Join the Overheard revolution!

Leave your own overheard convos in the comments.]

1st girl: “I had a really nice, lovely, normal New Years’ kiss. No drama.”

2nd girl: “Yeah. Well, I ended up getting a kiss from my rabbit. He’s man enough for me.”

1st girl:”Cute!”

3rd girl: “I sat by myself and read Wikipedia while the ball dropped. Then my cat threw up.”

“Hey! Do that voice again! It’s like we’ve got two dads. The best Christmas party ever!”

“Bacteria turkey. That’s the grossest thing you can say. The way the words line up in your mouth. The subtle alliteration. It’s like, I want to vomit, but it’d be the most fascinating vomit ever. Think about it.”

“You know, there were plenty of other parties we could have gone to tonight.”

“I don’t think my sexuality is even a question any more. The only physical contact I have with other people is carrying drunk girls home from parties. I think my orientation is ‘transportation equipment.”

“Secretary? Yeah, can’t watch that with the folks. I don’t know what’s worse; the way my dad gets flustered and has to leave the room, or the way my mom starts taking notes.”

“Is this mulled cider? That means it’s cut with E, right?” Read More »

Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday here at CollegeCandy; we even made little hand turkey pictures and hung ‘em up in the office! Yeah, we’re festive! Even thinking about tomorrow makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside (although that could just be the spiced apple cider we just drank).

Here are our Top 5 Favorite Things About Thanksgiving:

1. The Food: Um. Duh? All of our favorite things on one table, in one night? Heaven! From the stuffing to the sweet potatoes to the millions of desserts, there is nothing better than that feeling of so-full-you-wanna-die that comes after a good Thanksgiving meal.

2. The Conversation: Who knew grandpa had such a dirty mind? The man can tell a sex joke like no other. We don’t know why it all comes out at Thanksgiving, but one minute you are complimenting Aunt Susie on her awesome pumpkin bread and the next minute your Great Uncle Frank is doing inappropriate things with the cornucopia in the middle of the table.

3. Friends: Or, even better, enemies. Thanksgiving is a family holiday, which means everyone is comin’ back home. That also means that you will most likely be running into those a**holes from high school who thought they were too cool for school. Well look who’s on top now, bitches.

4. The Booze: My mom is always giving me a hard time about my drinking: “Honey, you drink too much,” or, “It is not lady-like to chug a beer like that!” But not on Thanksgiving. I don’t know if she’s too drunk to notice, or if she just doesn’t care because it’s a holiday, but the booze is flowing…and I enjoy every last drop.

5. The Parade: Yeah it’s cheesy and really not as cool once you are over the age of 6, but it’s tradition. And it’s a cute tradition. And your mom won’t yell at you if you turn it into a drinking game!

Thanksgiving is probably one of my favorite holidays. The food, the family, the festivities…the food.

Normally, I go home to visit my family for Thanksgiving. But they are all the way in California and I’m in New York. With the economy in the dumps and hardly any money in my pocket, going home for a couple days wasn’t worth the trip.

So this year, I’m spending Thanksgiving on my own. My brother will be visiting me from Boston (he’s also too broke to fly home) and we will be having a lovely low key Thanksgiving meal together.

There are just a couple problems…1) I’m broke, remember? 2) how the eff do you prepare a Thanksgiving meal?!?!

Well, I did some research and here’s what I found on how to make a d’lish Turkey Day meal without throwing away too much money:

1) Campbell’s Kitchen — so we already know Campbell’s soups are ‘M’m M’m Good’ but they are also M’m M’m cheap. If you check out their website, it’s full of great Thanksgiving recipes that definitely won’t burn a hole in your pocket. Like green bean casserole, and creamy mashed potatoes! *yum*

2) DIY — you may THINK that buying already made pies and desserts and other T-day goodies is cheaper, but doing it yourself may actually save you a couple bucks. Sure it’s a little more work, but hey, it’ll be fun! Here are some savory pumpkin pie recipes to get you started.

3) Get your turkey from the supermarket — there are a ton of grocery stores that have ready-to-make, and sometimes ready-to-eat birds available. Some stores, like this one, have the entire meal, fixings and all, ready for pick up. And it’s not as pricey as you think!

Enjoy!