Photo challenge, Week 2: Guilty pleasures

I didn’t realize until late in the week that the Guily Pleasures theme could apply non-edible items—like Marvel’s Runaways, a show that is somehow simultaneously compelling and unremarkable. This means that we’re stuck with food and food-adjacent subject matter.

This week: Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend, Miller High Life, Tarrant’s (where you can get an excellently cheap slice of pizza to go), and my first attempts at making a loaf of crusty bread. Ultimately, the loaf didn’t turn out great, so you’ll have to wait on a picture of the finished product.

Also, a creepy picture of me with a Babybel in my mouth for some reason.

Photo challenge, Week 1: Time

In 2018, as part of my annual goals, I decided to get a Fracture of my favorite photo taken each month. This was, in part, to encourage myself to take more photographs, and, in part, to get a bunch of cool pictures hanging next to my bed. It was definitely one of my more fun and successful goals.

I’m going to keep up with this goal in 2019 but have added two new photography-related goals:

  1. Participate in a weekly photo challenge
  2. Use my blog to share photos

I’m sure there are a million and one photo challenge websites out there, but I found this one: Trevor Carpenter PhotoChallenge. Weird domain, but sure.

This week’s theme was “Time,” and I kind of forgot about it until today which meant I almost ran out of time! Here are two shots I grabbed while running errands. The first, our grandmother clock as I headed out there door, and the second, a 5-hour Energy Drink display at Staples.

Pork butt carnitas recipe, courtesy of my good friend Jeremiah

My good friend Jeremiah, or more likely his wife and also my good friend Leah, gave me this recipe for carnitas made from a pork butt. It’s super cheap, super easy, and gives you the base protein for a week’s worth of meals:

Carnitas

  • 1 pork butt
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • Salt, pepper, cumin

Put all of these things into crockpot and cook it on low for a bunch of hours. When you feel like it’s done, pull it into a pan and broil it for a couple minutes to get some crispy bits.

I like to make this on a Sunday so I not only have dinner waiting for me when I get home from church but the raw materials for later lunches of pork tacos, pork burritos, pork sandwiches, pork pasta—whatever.

Talk about being on a roll while saving money, too, I think our last massive pork butt cost less than $10. The thing was too big to fit into the crockpot, so I had to cleave it down the middle, giving us another whole week’s bounty whenever I decide to pull it out of the freezer.