Frugalista?

I have a really bad habit of paying all my bills in the first 2 weeks of the month. Actually- revise- the first week of the month.

Which is why today is the 7th and I have no money. I payed All my bills. For the entire month.

What was I thinking!?

And this seems to happen every month. But part of starting this blog was about reinventing myself as a productive happy person. A person who does things. All the time. And is happy about it.

Part of being broke is that you can't go as many places- but certain things are already paid for. I can (and do) call my mother to talk for hours- the bill is paid! Hulu is certainly a much needed present. And my house is full of crap. Strike that- potential craft materials!

So, Martha, I took pictures of my lunch today which I will post with the delicious recipe (Fall Pasta with an onion, leek, butter ricotta sauce over whole wheat tortellini!) at a later date. But today, on my brokest of days, I was stupidly awesomely productive.

Today I:
-cleaned out my craft closet!
-Sold things on craigslist!
-Listed a ton of things on craigslist I didn't sell! But might!
-Baked a white cake with hand-shaved chocolate flakes inside and a chocolate ganache topping
-Baked banana nut bread
-Made an amazing lunch
-Watched a lot of Hulu
-Watched a lot more Hulu with my best friend Jenn
-Started an incredible fall wreath using recycled magazines (pics to come of this too!)
-Ate dinner with my favorite man (he cooked) and roped him into helping me work on my wreath
-Spoke on the phone with several interesting people

That feels very productive.

Martha Stewart, I can make broke into glam and crafty and productive- let's hang out!

Burlesque 101

My new burlesque class (yes, there is such a thing, and no- it's not as scary as it sounds, and yes, my mom knows, and yes, she's so proud!) is awesome, amazing, and forcing some really fun craftiness.

I made my own dance panties! Super high waisted and goldgoldgold! More to come on those later.

For my routine I start in a stunning fishtail skirt suit, and black flats. Those don't cut it so we toss on some huge orange heels and strip down to a glittered corset and pasties. But before the pasties: the bra.

Initially it was all going to be sewn on. Then I realized that because my bra cup is SO CURVED I can't do it- that gave me Four Boob Syndrome (FBS is commonly caused by having G-cup boobies.) So I got to hot glue EVERYTHING!

If you want to make your own burlesque bra find everything in your entire house that sparkles. Put it in a pile. Figure out what your dominant sparkle color is (mine was gold, but pink, red, green are all lovely!). Put everything that is not representing your dominant color away (you'll have enough of a mess without it!)

Then use your knee as a stand in boob and use it to curve out the cup- start at the top of the cup when you're cutting and covering fabric for it. Remember that the bigger your boobs, the more gussets and curves you'll run into, so be prepared! Layer fabrics over each other as you work your way towards the bottom of the cup. Then hot-glue something pretty over the seams (ribbon, trim, ricrac, gold chain, a favorite necklace, a least favorite necklace, a watch, your son's plastic snake for some Medusa flair.) In any areas you can't easily cover use a tacky fabric glue to attach super fine glitter to cover the original material.

Great places to get bras for this are discount stores and purveyer's of used goods (my favorites are Ross, Marshalls, Goodwill, Salvation Army- just wash them first. It doesn't matter how ugly the bra if you can shove your boobs in it. Doesn't really even matter if it fits- you're going to cover it in crap!)

Martha Stewart, this is day 4 of my petition for a visit on your show. Let's talk Burlesque, glitter, crafting, and life!

Slowcooker Tuesday!

One of the interesting things about working retail is the schedule. Always interesting. Keeps you busy. Teaches you a new routine, unlike any you've had before.

Because of that- on Tuesday nights I work until midnight and on Wednesdays I work at 9 am.

I sleep for usually about 6.5-7 hours that night. Which, coincidentally, is awesome timing for the crockpot too! So when I get home from work on Tuesdays I put together slowcooker food to cook overnight, and enjoy for lunch the next day. (Part of my thrifty new life plan to pack a meal every day!)

So tonight I am making (still cooking, no picture) green chili chicken.

Set the crockpot on low- let it cook for 6 + hours. Simply add all ingredients at 1 time and stir.

Ingredients:

1 package of chicken tenders (or breasts or thighs if that's what's on sale this week- just long biggish cuts of chicken skin off)

3 cans of green chilis

2 cans of cannelini beans

1 can of Hatch green enchilada sauce (important because the town of Hatch and all Hatch products are made of the world's best green chilis. The entire town is made of green chilis. Including the houses. The people of Hatch wear dresses made of green chilis a la Lady Gaga's meat dress. But they smell better.)

If this doesn't look wet enough toss in a half a can of chicken stock.

Martha Stewart, even awesome urban apartment dwellers and workers of odd shifts love the crock pot and I serve them amazing recipes. Invite me to New York!

Fall Foods- Polenta!

So to start... I learned a lot about cooking polenta today!

By doing it wrong!

So I'm super excited to tell you my new favorite ways to eat polenta that don't taste icky.

I started by pan-frying the polenta. Cook a little chunk at a time at first- cut off just a bit of the loaf (yes, loaf!) and test temperatures. It should crisp on the outside and get a little transparent but it should not be see-through (that's when you know you're doing it wrong! Turn up the temp!)

Toss a thin layer of oil (I used plain old vegetable oil because I wanted to taste the polenta not a heavily flavored oil like rich olive oil) in a pan that's big enough to hold a few slices of polenta but not so tight that you don't have room to flip the polenta with a spatula. Test your temps. If you over cook it you can use a towel to pull some of the oil out but it's still greasy polenta.

My new favorite way is to broil it! I tossed it on a layer of foil in the pan and broiled the polenta on high. When the polenta gets a round puffy top that is lightly toasted pull it out and flip it and toss it back it. The polenta will get a little airbubble between the polenta skin and the inside and it's awesome.

I tossed a ton of butter (really, when you've added 2 tablespoons... you might as well add 2 more!) with spinach, onions, mushrooms and basil and caramelized. The sauce is from a jar (Classico was on sale!) and tastes so good with the other flavors. I also like to cold with the warm polenta and veggies. Nice mouth contrasts.

Martha Stewart- this is day two of my petition: Invite me to New York, let's make a MSL episode and have fun! I can cook, dance, and am a hell of a lot of fun!

October Page 142

The butternut squash pizza on page 142 looked AMAZING from the October edition of Martha Stewart Living (MSL)- but I was starving!

So before I even had time to make the (amazing looking) hazelnut pizza dough I had broken out the Boboli.

My take on Martha's pizza involves roasted garlic, goat cheese, basil and ham.

To start this 10 minute gourmet pizza:

1 boboli pizza crust

2 tbsps olive oil

1 tspn diced garlic

butternut squash

2 thick slices of ham (spiral or deli cut lunch meat)

2 tbsps goat cheese

7 basil leaves

Brush the crust with olive oil and diced garlic. (I keep a giant jar in the fridge for all purposes!) Broil the crust for 3 minutes on high to cook the garlic into the oil.

I sliced the butternut squash into 2 mm (ish) slices. They got fatter in some sections- doesn't matter. Make sure you cut the edges off! Using a tiny spiral ham (or thick cut lunch meat would work) I sliced it into 1/3 inch squares. Spread these both over the pizza as evenly as possible. Roll up about 7 basil leaves and slice them into long thin slices- toss on top. Broil the pizza for another 5 minutes.

Once the edges of the squash start to curl and the ham looks toasted add a bunch of goat cheese crumbles to the top and broil for the last 2 minutes to melt and toast the cheese.

10 minutes cook time, 3 minute prep time (including cutting open the Boboli package)

Martha Stewart, dear, I can make your gorgeous pizza into an awesome 10 minute urban fall feast! Invite me to New York!

Starting Fresh

I spent too much money last month on eating out.

I love eating out.

My new goal is to reinvent myself as the urban crafter that's inside, rather than the super glamorous lifestyle I was trying to afford. And to keep me motivated, I want Martha Stewart to invite me to visit her in NYC and have me on her show.

My reasoning is that short term goals are good, and this one is particularly achievable.

So I am doing 15 crafts/recipes a month from Living and posting all of them, and all my side projects, here! These will be done to the best of my abilities (and intentions, which are sometimes different) and meant to keep me busy, happy, productive, creative, constant, entertained and entertaining.

As a 22 year old retail manager for everyone's favorite big box retailer living in Seattle I have a different point of view from Martha- so expect my take to be inspired by, but not copies of, my idol's.

So 365 days begins today and ends October 3, 2011. I expect a lot to change between now and then...