How to Watch Free Movies on YouTube

I’ve been on a movie kick lately. I’ve toyed with getting Netflix but I don’t know if I want to have money taken out of my account each month (especially if I have a busy month or get tired of watching stuff and I don’t get my money’s worth out of it).

If only there were a free way to watch movies online, with no downloading, no viruses and no signing up for strange sites?

Hello, YouTube!

I’ve watched several movies on the site that were uploaded by users, and while it may be kind of weird to watch a film divided into 9-12 different parts, you get used to it. It’s kind of the same as watching a movie on TV, with “commercial breaks” between segments.

That being said, there are some tips I’ve gleaned from the process that might help you out if you’re a YouTube Movie Junkie Newbie:

1. No, the latest No. 1 hit at the box office won’t be on there.

You have better luck if you’re looking for slightly older films that have been shown on TV, such as “50 First Dates.”

2. Search for “[movie title] part 1.”

This should get you what you’re looking for, but—

3. If the clip you find says it’s very short and it  and shows a production company logo, it’s not what you want.

If you go to the clip, it will only have a URL to a website to watch the film. I don’t trust or recommend these sites; staying on YouTube is much safer. The real segments of movies will usually be 9 to 10 minutes long.

4. Sometimes entire parts won’t have sound.

This is annoying and usually because “the WMA” wouldn’t allow a song to be played in the segment. In the past when this has happened, I’ve usually found the same clip from other users WITH sound (and possibly foreign subtitles), so sometimes you just have to search around again. But once in a while the clip you need is nowhere to be found, and that does suck.

5. Of course, there are more than just movies on YouTube.

You can also find deleted scenes, trailers, interviews with stars and more material.

Like I said in the first tip, not everything is on there. But a surprising number of full-length films are, if you’re willing to dig for them. Good luck!

What’s Cookin’

I used to be the queen of convenience foods (the Freezer Queen?). All I needed was a box and a microwave and I was good to go.

But then something changed (or maybe the Food Network rubbed off on me). One day, I no longer wanted to eat ingredients like “maltodextrin” and “canthaxanthin,” not to mention a bunch of preservatives and too much salt and fat. Things like “ammonium phosphatides” and “sucroglycerides” just didn’t sound tasty to me anymore.

So I found some recipes online and started … cooking.

And I actually liked it.

Yes, there are some downsides. Sometimes I cook too much (and eat too much). And I really wish I’d had to take home ec in school so I would have known how much sugar to use when my measuring cup didn’t have the exact marking for the amount I needed (I didn’t want to risk putting in too much or too little so I found that the measurement equaled 16 teaspoons – which I faithfully scooped out, 16 times. Sigh.).

But the feeling of accomplishment you get when you follow a recipe and actually create something good and tasty is priceless. And it’s also nice when you find a new recipe and know that you have all or most of the ingredients it calls for already in your kitchen.

Here are four of the recipes I’ve tried recently, and my reviews. They’re all on the Taste of Home website, which has a ton of recipes that usually aren’t too complicated or expensive to prepare (perfect for a newbie like me, and maybe you too):

Honey-Mustard Potatoes

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Honey-Mustard-Potatoes

These turned out great! I used small white potatoes instead of red, but they were still very good. And I bought green onions for the first time ever because of this recipe. Did you know green onions cost about $1 for 2 bundles at the grocery store and are wrapped together with a sticker that includes a UPC code (so you don’t have to worry about weighing produce and annoying the people behind you in line)? See, told ya I was a newb.

Italian Bow-Tie Bake

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Italian-Bow-Tie-Bake

This couldn’t have been much easier to make and it was so good. Only four ingredients are required, too, and you can try using whole-grain pasta to make it even healthier. This is amazing.

Golden Chicken Nuggets

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Golden-Chicken-Nuggets

These…didn’t turn out so great. (And the original recipe didn’t have a photo with it so I used a photo from a similar recipe.) I tried to make my own Italian seasoning to bread these with because I haven’t been able to find bottled Italian seasoning in a store, and it just didn’t taste good. I found an Italian seasoning recipe online and made it but I didn’t have any marjoram — I don’t know if that made a huge difference or not but the breading came out too herb-y and without a lot of good flavor. But this also could have been because I used too much breading. Anyway, sweet and sour sauce didn’t even save these nuggets, unfortunately.

Raspberry Coffee Cake

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Raspberry-Coffee-Cake-3

This. Was. Awesome!

I think this was the first cake I ever made from scratch and it came out really well, even though I didn’t soften the butter before I combined it with the other ingredients (after dealing with a lumpy mixture, I finally just microwaved the batter a little) and I didn’t make the glaze for the top, just to cut out some sugar. This is a really moist, delicious cake that I’m sure I’ll make again sometime. Even if you don’t like raspberries, I’m sure you could try blueberries, blackberries or pretty much any other fruit.

So that’s been my excursion out of the freezer aisle and into the frying pan. I’m proud to say that my last couple of trips to the grocery aisle have involved no purchases of frozen items — well, except ice cream, because I’m not perfect.

If you attempt any of the recipes above, or know of any more quick, easy dinners for me to try, please let me know!