Left-overs Have Feelings, Too

For anyone who has seen me the day after Thanksgiving, they know the most disgusting part of the holiday is my version of a turkey sandwich.
It is epic.
Here is the rundown:
Bread. Gravy. Turkey. Gravy. Stuffing. Gravy. Fill the stuffing cracks with potatoes. Finish with gravy. Bread.
Leftovers are a gift from little tiny baby Jesus laying in the manger. ESPECIALLY Thanksgiving leftovers, because they last at least a week and no one is ever sick of stuffing. But you can get sick of turkey. But then you should just eat more stuffing. And sweet potatoes never seem to go bad.
But did you know there are meals you can make out of leftovers that aren't just disgusting, gravy slathered turkey sandwiches? ITS TRUE. Here are some of my personal favorites.

1. Shepherd's Pie: Delicious and fairly easy. This recipe is just a base, don't feel like you have to follow it exactly. Just cook up some meat and vegetables in some flour and enough broth for it to absorb, slap it in a baking dish, and put all those mashed potatoes on top. Bake that shit. With cheese.
2. Stuffing Casserole: This recipe calls for chicken, but just switch it to turkey. Or bacon. Or turkey AND bacon. Take your stuffing, add two eggs and some broth to remoisten it up, add whatever the hell else you want, slap it in the oven until it looks delicious. Once again, I suggest an addition of cheese.
3. Pot Pie: Don't make your own pie crust and just buy some of those ones at the store, because making a pie crust is too much of a commitment for leftovers. Put the pie crust in the plate. Load the effer up with all your leftovers, including gravy. Lots of gravy. Top it with the other pie crust. ADD CHEESE. Bake it until it smells good.

And then, because I know you're all lazy asshats, here's a page of just turkey sandwich recipes.
HA! THOSE ARE FANCY SANDWICHES.
Enjoy your gravy, because if you don't I'll come find it.

-C

Perma-Losers Go to the Movies

Last night could've been awesome. And free. And involving children's literature.
But here's where free things get complicated: the possibility of failure can be large.
And I am, in fact, prone to failure. And tripping. And getting tears in every single pair of stockings ever. And dropping my glasses.
But besides that, mostly I'm prone to failure. I have a bad sense of timing, I have horrible luck with cars (hit a house, got one incinerated, my new car just stops running every couple of months for some reason), and I'm easily distracted.

But I'm convinced that I am a winner, and win at everything, so I forget all these things. Often. Because I'm awesome.(PS, I'm using this graphic all the time)

So of course when our roommate told us that she had a buttload (literally a buttload, like 12) free passes to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox last night, I was sure we had this ON LOCK DOWN. I was stoked! Roald Dahl + George Clooney X FREE = FANTASTIC LOOKING MOVIE.
But of course that's not how it worked. The movie started at 7, they started letting people in at 5:45, we arrived at 6:15, and already we're not allowed entry.
So instead we went to dinner.
And payed for it.
Because while we're desperate, we are also hungry, and sometimes that overshadows our desperation.
Thus why we are losers.

-C

Call Me Dr. Free Love

One of my secrets that isn't that much of a secret is my white-trash style love for the greatest rock band of all time, KISS.
I've been listening to them since high school. Friends of mine (one being a co-blogger) still tell stories about hearing me coming to pick them up from blocks away, KISS blasting in my stereo. Ah, memories.

WELL I GOT TO SEE THEM FOR FREE. And now I can die happy.
And you could've seen them for 79 cents, and that is less than a soda, so I feel like this is something everyone should know about.

USE YOUR RESOURCES. I was given this opportunity for being an employee at the Seattle Center. Make sure to always step up to the plate when there are free tickets, free food, or free insurance at your office. Its good for your health and good for your ability to GET DOWN!Gene Simmons is insisting that you must rock out with your appropriate genitalia out.

Because of hook-ups through work I've been able to see the ballet for free, I've gone to plays for free, I could've gone to the Seattle Home Show for free but I'm not currently thinking about remodelling my kitchen so I let someone else grab those. Not to mention the 5 pounds I've gained due to the ridiculous amounts of baked goods this office offers. Dear sweet jesus its bad for me, but so delicious.
On top of that, some employers offer discount programs through the internet. The one my company offers me lets me get $5 movie tickets, provided I purchase them on a credit card and through the internet. But that's so much cheaper than the movies anymore!
And, I knooooow, its not actually KISS. Ace Frehley and Peter Criss have been gone for awhile, and I guess Peter Criss has been battling breast cancer which is ridiculous, and now they have some faux-Ace guy and some faux-Peter guy, which sucks but they both rock so I guess that's okay. Honestly, after telling you about my love for KISS, I feel safe telling you that were it not for the freeness of the ticket I would not have attended. I love Ace. I love Peter. I love original KISS.
But I also like doing shit. Fo' FREE. Just like you do. Especially when it involves Gene Simmons spitting blood and flying up to the top of the lights. And Paul Stanley. And his nipples.

-C

Crafting Christmas

You can probably guess from our hungry. desperate. losers. status that all 3 of us losers are working on, oh, about a pile 'o' debt. And let me just say, nothing quite says "how bouts a little more debt?" than Christmas.

Don't get me wrong! My love for Christmas is deep, fanatical, and never-ending. I start listening to carols well before I even know what I'm wearing for Halloween. But this crazy love often translates into ridiculous money spent on gifts, and if you're sitting on 100K+ of student loans, that probably isn't the right decision.

So this year I'm crafting Christmas.Correct, mi amigas! I'm learning to just say no to the store bought, and usher in hours of free time spent 1800s style on crocheting, sewing, and other versions of handiwork. I'm friggin vintage, suckers!

Digression, whatevs, back to the subject. Now, for me this crafting is almost entirely free because my folks' have an entire attic full of beads, yarn, felt, fabric, and other miscellaneous crap that's left from Girl Scout troops long since past. Look around, figure out what you've got and what you can get for nuthin', and figure out the crafts from there.

What am I making? Well, I'm deeply into SECRETS so I can't really post too much about the gifts on this PUBLIC BLOG that two of my good friends help me co-write. But I will direct you to some fabulous crafting blogs that can really get you some great ideas about low-cost alternatives to expensive store bought crap.

• Design Sponge: They have an entire DIY section that's exclusively easy and gorgeous things.

• Zakka Life: Fun and easy crafts for kids and adults - that means a lot of the crafts are sparkly. CASE CLOSED.
• The Purl Bee: This website is AMAZING. Have you forgotten how to do a simple stitch? Do you need a tutorial on some sewing techniques? WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW HOW TO SEW YOUR OWN TIE? Its here. WITH PICTURES.
• Lion Brand Yarn: Free crocheting/knitting patterns. FREE. PATTERNS. FREE. Should I say free again? FREE.

Enjoy! And please, don't drink and craft. Those scissors be sharp! Craft safely!

-C

It's almost like going to a concert

If there are two things in life that should be free and on the big screen, it's porn and karaoke. Hula Hula on Queen Anne has both — combined! Now, technically, this one is only free if you're drinking at home (or rubbing up on someone with money) but those are just details. There's free parking at night, no cover, and it isn't so crowded you'll be worried about your air supply. Oh — and did you hear about the porn? And if singing isn't exactly your thing, then just sit back and watch the karaoke superstars because, yes, this is the type of place where you will embarrass yourself on stage.

So when your ca$h is low, just remember — making fun of people is free, hitting on people is free, hooking up with someone in the bathroom is free, getting rejected is free, stealing half-drank drinks and combining them to make questionable, new drinks is free, seeing Carly's boobs is free, and being the only fool on the dance floor is always free. If you happen to feel a little spendy, there's a bowl of liquor, deemed The Volcano, with a flaming shot of 151 in a ceramic volcano in the middle of the bowl for $22. Two people can share one and be pretty taken care of for the night. But, that's only if it's payday and you've donated plasma already (a future blog).

Welcome to our blog. We're gonna tear Seattle up and tell you about all the free/cheap stuff you can do, make you jealous with all the free/cheap stuff we do, and just generally lament about life. Salud!

-CKJ