Week One of the kitchen experiment - Pork Carnitas Tacos

In addition to my list of places to go in and around Austin, as an add on, I have made a 'general self improvement' resolution list. These are things I felt would enrich my life and make me a happier person if I stuck to making them part of my routine.
Tops on the list is to make one new dish every week, any day of the week, as long as I do it and it's new to me. I found this yummy looking recipe via Iowa Girl Eats who got it from one of my favorite blogs, The Kitchn. It was my first time EVER using a crock pot (no joke, and insert embarrassed face here) and boy am I fan! 20 minutes of prep and in it went. 8 hours later, I arrived to a wonderfully cozy smelling house and dinner was done all while I was out at a lady housewarming party drinking pink champagne and avoiding the cheese tray. Here is how it went down..

I started out by browning the pork shoulder on all sides for about 5 mins each. This process took the longest and isn't necessary, but I wanted to start out with a little crunchy color.

I only had to use my knife to trim off the fat and crush the garlic.

Both, my cutting board and the cutting mat are in the shape of pigs (totally not planned) but funny all the same. Oink!

Gotta have some veggies.

e voila! Into the mouth you go!