u/TarantulaFangs

I made this a while back for one of my cheat meals, I just forgot to post, anyway SUCH a great flavor. I got the pork belly on sale for $4.99 per lb, it was my first time making this and Im so glad I challenged myself. The noodles were had a spicy sauce packet, I added some japanese mayo and soy sauce for the base broth. Then I sautéed some Zucchini and mushrooms. I added some canned corn, sliced some green onions, cooked pork belly,some bean sprouts for crunch, a soft boiled egg and finally a radish. It was so good, I needed another bowl for dinner.

Went out with a buddy I never fished with before and I had an AMAZING time. We decided on going to Seal Beach Pier, been there before and didn’t much care for it tbh, but that was when I had first started fishing about a year ago, it was supposed to be 4 of us but only 2 made it, more fish for me. 😈

Well, this time around, I put my year of experience to the test. We stayed there from 6pm all the way to 11pm at night and man, I did fantastic. I caught a total of 7 fish and I caught my very first Stingray. So all in total it was 1 Stingray, 3 Smelts, 2 California Salemas and 1 Blenny (I keep getting different ID’s on it, Mussel, or Largemouth, I dunno)

Anyway, I also finally got to try my Penn Pursuit IV 4000 Reel and man, it was like night and day in quality! I might actually consider getting a 5000 or 6000 for my other rod, It was reeling in so smooth and felt great. I also tried my 10lb High Vis Mono Green line that I spooled on my reel for the first time and I was just so proud of myself cause Ive come a long way as a fisherman, It really was a great day.

I wanted to make my family a dessert so instead of going out to the store and buying cake mix or an already baked cake. I decided to make my own, I already had all the ingredients at home so why not?

Well, after all said and done, I did the math and utilizing all the ingredients I had at home and comparing it to a box of cake mix, it was slightly cheaper to make from scratch at home, but substantially cheaper than buying already store bought made chocolate cake AND arguably maybe even healthier from the lack of preservatives. But that’s a conversation for another day.

Interestingly enough, so here’s what I found out. With my home ingredients I made roughly around a 3.25lb chocolate cake. This included the homemade cake itself, the homemade chocolate frosting, and the shaved chocolate toppings. Total cost for the entire cake around $5.60 of all the ingredients. I cut it into 10 slices which made each slice of cake about $0.56 each. Looking back at it now, the most costly ingredient was the dark chocolate bar I used for making the chocolate shavings. Overall it costed $1.74 per lb. I could always skip that for next time, and it would have been $1.43 per lb. but this was my very first time trying that and Im proud because the cake came out fantastic. 🤤

In comparison a Betty Crocker cake mix and chocolate frosting bought from my local walmart would only yield about 2.65lb and cost about $1.50 per lb. So essentially, in this attempt it was technically cheaper making the cake from scratch at home ($1.43lb vs $1.50lb) but not by much AND that’s if I would have just removed the chocolate bar shavings AND it was based on the recipe I followed on YT. Now, if you can find cake mix on sale for close to $1.00 per box and another $1.00 for frosting then I’d say that’s the more economical choice and you’d be saving some time from combining all the ingredients together.

Overall, I’m happy with me trying my hand at baking this at home and then comparing side to side the expenses. Oh, lastly, I didnt add the cost of the cherries because I didnt pay for them.

Ngl, the cake quality came out fantastic though. The cake wash rich and thick, and the homemade chocolate frosting was actually MUCH better tasting than store bought imo, so much so that Id rather just buy the boxes of cake mix on sale and just make the topping at home. IT WAS THAT GOOD, I’m truly convinced of the quality difference.

My buddies have a pretty tall cactus growing on the side of their house. I don’t know anything about it, but they offered me some to take home. It was grown in Southern California, but I don’t have any other information outside of that. If anyone has any ideas, Id love to see them, thanks.

Me and a buddy did some late night fishing, I went 4 hours with absolutely no bites at all when suddenly, my rod just starts pulling hard and curved deep, but then returned to normal, like nothing happened, at first I didn’t think I hooked on anything tbh and wanted to wait another 5-10 mins before I checked, but my buddy convinced me to check my rod and he was RIGHT! As soon as I started reeling,l in my line, it did not want to budge and my drag was spinning. I definitely hooked on SOMETHING. It honestly felt huge, my buddy thought a fish had dragged my line on the pier pillar and he was probably right. Eventually, we were able to clear the line and boy, it was heavy, probably the heaviest my rod has EVER felt. I was shocked when I pulled this chonker 12.5” Spotted Bay bass.

I had never caught one before so it felt amazing seeing that big boy on the end of my line. He was hefty, I guess it had to be over a full lb. In weight, it honestly felt super heavy, while it was in the water I thought I hooked on something gigantic! Lol. Me and my buddy thought it might have been like a big bottom dweller. Anyway, I was so excited cause this was my first “big” catch, most of the fish Ive caught seem to average in the 10” so this was a PB AND it was my first Spotted Bay Bass. I always get excited when I catch something new.

I also managed to hook a tiny Barred Sand Bass and my buddy caught a stingray. Overall it was a great night and a great time. Super fun, I will for sure do this again.

Yea, I know I could have saved more money on this one. I also could have gone for a cheaper cut of beef, BUT I love ribeye and one of my local grocery stores has it on sale for about $7.99 per lb and that’s the lowest Ive seen anywhere. Plus, it’s nice for me to enjoy myself once in a while since I don’t eat out as much as I use to so balancing it out is necessary for me.

I cooked a full 16oz steak but only used up 8oz and sliced it up, that made my total of $4.00.

Then I boiled 2 cups of penne pasta but only ate half which totaled around $1.26. I bought a higher protein and fiber pasta so it was more expensive than I typically spend, but I need it for my diet.

Next I added 5tbsp of heavy cream which costed me $0.46, but I found another place for cheaper.

My neighbor has been trying her hand at growing Thyme and she was nice enough to give me a few, so cost was $0.

The premade garlic bread was on clearance for $0.99 (regularly $2.99 or $3.99, cant remember), I only used half of the full loaf so it cost me about $0.50.

I have some really good ideas on how to save even more next time, but comparing my costs for a delicious steak pasta dinner to one at a restaurant is really substantial difference. Im sure I would have easily paid $25+ for this meal, and maybe not including tip and a drink depending on where you go. Overall, this was my first time making this and it came out fantastic! I will for sure be making this again soon.

About a week ago, I had posted how I wanted to use paddle tails and just artificial lures to successfully catch fish and I’m not going to lie, I was STRUGGLING at first, boy oh boy was I getting frustrated. BUT tonight was the first time it ACTUALLY proved successful, I managed to catch a California Scorpionfish and a Barred Sand-bass using paddletails and jig-heads. I was getting skunked day after day and finally my 3rd or 4th day I finally managed to score both of these beauties back to back! Like no joke, within 5 mins of each other, I was actually surprised. I did a few modifications everyday, changed up my set-ups to adapt to my environment and BAM! 💥 hooked these beautiful specimens right here. So the moral of the story is? Sometimes the fish bite and sometimes they don’t. 😂 The point is have fun and just give it your best.

I just bought a food vacuum sealer from online for like $20, and I have to admit it has been a GREAT investment. One of the biggest problems I had was that once I froze any food, I noticed the quality would drop over a month and I tend to be a bit selective with quality of food. I NEVER thought of vacuum sealing my food, ngl until recently when it just clicked.

I literally bought some boneless ribeye steaks at a local grocery store for $7.99 per lb. and I bought 4lbs worth. My total cost was around $31.80 AND it gave me roughly about 5 steaks so that costs averages about $6.36 per steak. Compare that with a steak dinner at a local restaurant and be EASILY paying over $30.00 for an 8oz steak. All I need to do is make a side salad, roast some potatoes, and make and bake my own bread.

I dont plan on eating the steak right away, but mostly want to have them whenever I get a good workout in and craving red meat. I also could just take it out and cut it in half if I dont want to eat too much; I could always reseal it. So hence the vacuum sealer is the perfect choice. It also saves me soooo much space in my freezer. I literally stacked up all my steaks on one little corner of my side of the freezer, easy peasy. Also, I found the bags on amazon for like $8.00 for 2 rolls, I think it’s worth the investment if it means I have less spoiled food and the quality of the food stays nearly the same.

And the best thing about this is, from the small amount of research I did, a vacuum sealed steak can last nearly 2 years in a 0°F freezer—-but why would you not eat a steak within 2 years? Lol, just sayin. Also, quality stays consistent and you dont get as much freezer burn on your meats because—-in theory—-there’s less moisture leaving the meat so your meats tend to stay more tender and be less tough.

Lastly, you buy meat in bulk at a good price and just vacuum seal it and span it out to get the most in savings. Hope this was informative and helpful. Let me know if anyone else uses vacuum sealers and what for, or just any tips in general. ✌🏻

So, I’ve been using a jig-head and paddle-tail set up recently and the ONLY time I had a strike at my softbait was by a big bass looking fish. It was a good size, I saw it swooping in right at the borderline of the rocks I was fishing at. Outside of that, I havent gotten ANY other bites and I’ve must have casted out and retrieved like 130 times in a span of 3 days.

So, I’ve been thinking, IF the only fish that attempted to take my lure was a huge fish then maybe my 4” Paddle-tail might be too large for the area, so I revisited my strategy and decided to go with a smaller soft bait.

I went from 3/8oz Jig heads + 4” Paddletails, to 3” Minnows + 1/9oz weighted weedless hooks to see if that makes a difference, if it’s too light, I’ll add a split shot for extra weight. Not sure if it will help, but I theorize that maybe a smaller presentation will entice more fish to bite, SINCE the only bite attempt I had was a big sized fish, the weedless hooks seemed like a good idea since there can be some kelp and reduce some snags, BUT we will see if I have any luck with this. I still plan on continue to try the paddletails but for now I feel like a change in strategy is needed. I’ll also be trying a different area.

I think I’ll be buying some 3” and 2” paddle-tails in different colors to see what works best. I just love the idea of being to effectively use artificial lures without having to resort to using cut bait or live bait all the time. So I plan on getting good with this.

Anyway, let me know if you have ANY tips or ideas!

I’m trying to catch Halibut and Bass mostly at the moment. Here’s my current set up. :

7’ Ugly Stik Medium Power GX2 Fast Action
Lure rating 5/8oz
10lb. Mono line (Will upgrade later)
3000 Reel (will upgrade later)
4” Paddle-tail
3/8oz Jig-head
3” Minnow
1/9oz Weighted weedless hook

Alright, so recently I decided to try my hand at artificial lures, I think they can be such a useful tool once you can effectively use them and I REALLY want to get good with them and understand how they work and be able to catch fish with them, but before that I was just using cut bait every time I would go out to fish.

Anyway, I recently bought myself the Ugly Stik 7’ Medium GX2 spinning rod and I have it currently paired up with a cheap stock 3000 reel that came with another rod, it has 10lb mono line, eventually, I’ll be replacing it with something of more quality, but in the mean time, it’s what I have.

Anyhow I bought some 3/8 jig-heads to pair with some recommended pearl white 4” Paddle-tails which meet the requirements of the Rod Lure rating of 5/8 oz.

So, I went out 2 days in a row at some rocky structure just experimenting and casting out and retrieving and I must have had like over 50 casts and I didn’t catch a single fish. HOWEVER, I ALMOST got a bite. As I was REALLY reeling it in quickly and I was LITERALLY at the border of the rocks and water, a huge—-what looked like a calico bass—- swooped in from the left and attacked my lure like a swift ninja, BUT I could not hook it, not sure what happened, not sure if the fish missed the bait or just couldnt get the hook, or what but it was INSANE, it happened in a split of a second and I was shocked by how close to the rocks that fish was at to go after my paddletail. I was upset at myself wondering if I did something wrong or what I could do better next time, however it really would have been the biggest fish I would have caught. That fish was massive for me, I suspect it was around the 14” give or take a few inches.

Anyway, I really need to know, am I doing anything wrong?

🔹Is there a specific technique that anglers use?

🔹Any tips or advice using paddle-tails or soft-baits.

🔹What kind of lures do you use?

Like I said, I really want to get good with these kinds of lures because I just want to avoid constantly using bait.

Ngl, I tried using Jig-heads a while back but they would always come out looking wonky, and I would never get any bites from them. So I gave up on them for a while and just focused on using good ol’ cut bait. But I knew that I would eventually go back to learning how to use em as I just thought they were such a useful tool for fishing since you can reuse them and I’ve seen people catch bass and Halis with them.

Anyway, I’m planning on trying my luck going for some Halibut—-since I haven’t caught any in YEARS—-this weekend and I decided to get me some jig-heads and paddle-tails to learn with. I even got a medium fast action ugly stik rod a couple of weeks ago that I’ve been dying to try out. I see a lot of people so effectively use Jig-heads that I vowed to learn how to rig and use them efficiently. Well, I FINALLY figured out how to rig the lil suckers. Those Halis wont know what hit em’, lol.

I’ve been researching on matching the right oz jig-heads for my rod lure rating and soft bait size with techniques and IN THEORY, I’m confident that I’ll snag a Hali this weekend.

You can see from the pictures the improvement, went from a hunchback jig-head to a much more straight one. I’m pretty happy now that I know how to set them up, but actually using them out in the water will be exciting and a good learning opportunity for me. Wish me luck, ladies and gents.

Man, I’ve been working out a lot, going to the outdoors and just watching my diet all this has been having me crave some steak. Decided to buy a few lbs. Of Ribeyes for $7.99 a lb. And I made the absolute BEST steak tacos Ive ever had. The steak was seasoned perfectly at a medium-rare, can’t wait for the next one. 🤤

Dude, I caught 6 fish today, that has been the BEST record for me. They just kept bitting and bitting but finally hooked a total of 6 fish despite getting nibbles, I couldnt believe it tbh.

1x Spotted Barred Sandbass Hybrid?
3x Smelts ( Not sure what kind, maybe Topsmelt?)
1x Baby Octopus
1x Mackerel

It was a great night of fishing, can’t wait to go back. Are Topsmelt good live bait?

This was my OMAD meal, after a great day of fishing, I got home and was so hungry that I could eat a whole Brontosaurus.

They had a special on Boneless Ribeye steaks for $7.99 a lb. At my local grocery store. This steak was 10oz, with 2 air fried potatoes, eggs, crema and queso fresco, a small avocado and half a cucumber.

Total calories 2,100 and this meal cost me $7.50 to make.

I read the reviews on this game and saw so many negative remarks. I didn’t know what to expect from this game tbh, I love survival horror, love the RE franchise, love the Dead Space franchise, so why not?

I’m about 3 hours into this game and so far I’m REALLY loving it, it’s not as scary as Dead Space in my honest opinion, YET, however I love the creepy horror theme of it. I think this game is definitely worth getting IF you don’t try to compare it so harshly to Dead Space. I know people say the action is repetitive, but I feel like all games can become repetitive later on—-to a certain extent. I dunno, maybe I’m more open minded and less critical when it comes to this genre as it is my favorite style of game. Also, this game looks fantastic, I love when companies pour so much amount of details into games, it really makes them pop.

Over all, I’m pretty curious to know what everyone’s thoughts on The Callisto Protocol is. I think it’s a great addition to the Action/Survival Horror games. Especially as I wait for my Resident Evil : Code Veronica fix, But time will truly tell. What do you think?

Ngl, I don’t gravitate towards side platformers much, however the LN franchise does it well. I love the Creepy/horror vibes.

But boy, Little Nightmares for me was the BEST one of the series and I’ve played them all. I loved despite the characters lacking dialogue the developers did so well bringing so much character from these little guys. I truly felt engaged and connected with them and was rooting for them all the way through. The visuals were stunning, from the dark woods to the abstract, it left me taking it all in and just taking my time absorbing the backgrounds and left me wondering the meaning of all of it.

I can definitely see now why number 2 is the highest rated LN game because the way it was done was spot on.

I still have my criticisms for the LN franchise, mostly lacking replayability, and too short, BUT if you’re like me who loves taking their time getting immersed into the world of the game then I highly recommend LN2. Still not the scariest game, and wont leave you scared and crying to your mommy like a little kid, but still an enjoyable atmosphere and horror themed vibe, imo.

So glad I got this on sale, completely worth it and I’ll be buying the DLC in the near future.

Total rating : 9/10 for me.

Boy have I changed so much as a man, the past 5 years have been nothing but personal growth, I hardly recognize myself anymore.

I went from eating fast-food and restaurants daily to making my food from scratch at home. I learned so much about nutrition, portions, and balancing out the right meals.

I’ve lost a total of 73lbs, it hasnt been easy but the more I learn about myself and all these other things the more tools I have to really achieve what I’m after.

Anyway, I realized that I was a pretty picky eater, I liked only certain foods and wasnt open minded enough to try different foods and ingredients.

This was my first time cooking sweet potato and it was so easy and simple. I just cut it in half, seasoned it and threw it in the air fryer to roast for 40 mins, didnt have to do anything more to it than that.

I cooked 5oz of ground bweef and some fried eggs, chopped a nice cabbage, cucumber and tomato salad with lemon juice, salt, pepper, and some vinegar. Served it with some avocado and a jalapeno for that spice. 😘 Next time I’ll buy some 90/10 ground bweef to help save on the calories, but I needed the extra calories today because I had only 500 for the whole day and the beef was on sale.

Total macros roughly :

1,200 Calories
55g Protein
82g Carbs
93g Fat
22g Fiber

This tasted fantastic and I now love sweet potato, I’ll be eating the other half tomorrow and I’ll be stopping by the store to buy a few more cause this Sweet Potato Bowl smacks!

And it only cost me $5.13 to make.

Well, I had such a great time fishing on a boat that I wanted to do it again soon. I dont want to keep renting out their spinning rods so I decided to try my hand at learning how to use a conventional reel and I wanted something heavy duty that I can grow with. Did some research and the Penn C3 seems to have everything I’m looking for. It’s my first time really investing in a good quality rod, all my past rods are VERY economical and I’ve been catching all kinds of cool fish, but now I felt if I needed a boat rod, I wanted something that could really hold some heavy sinkers for bottom fishing and still be able to go after some Yellowtail and Tuna later on. The C3 is the most I’ve ever spent on a rod and I’m happy with my purchase. Can’t wait to pair it up with a Fathom 2 Level Wind 30.

So what kind of rod(s) do you use for fishing deep sea out on a boat? I’m curious to know.

First time cooking my catch

I really got into fishing the end of last year and just recently have I really been hitting my stride. I try to fish when I can, but I wish I had more time to devote to fishing and the outdoors.

Well, recently I REALLY wanted to go fishing on a boat and I did that, none of my friends are as outdoorsy as I am, BUT they’re slowly starting to come around. However none of them wanted to go boat fishing, I don’t like waiting on anyone so I just booked a ticket on a fishing boat for a few hours and it was amazing.

We kept catching Sculpin left and right, I musth have caught 9-10 of them. Anyway, I love challenging myself and fishing on a boat was a unique quest for me. I also wanted to cook my catch and set out to make fish tacos from the sculpin meat I managed to get.

So, I heard a lot of good things about sculpin meat but I was skeptical, mostly because I’m not much of a seafood guy myself despite loving fishing.

Anyway, I made some nice homemade cilantro lime rice, a baja style slaw, home fried tortilla chips, black beans topped with queso fresco and crema; and the beer battered sculpin fried fish tacos were fantastic! It was the absolute best fish I have ever tried, beats the store bought Mahi Mahi and Cod tacos I’ve made in the past.

One of my picky friends was weary as well, but I told him about the whole trip and he seemed curious to try the tacos and once tried them he loved them. Gave them a 10/10, highest rating to date. I’m truly proud of myself, I went out on an adventure, did well, came home and cooked my catch. I’m really learning a lot and just having fun, this is what it’s all about for me.

What’s your recommendation for a boat fishing rod set up?

Went boat fishing for the first time a few days ago and I had a blast, I definitely want to do it again soon, but I would rather invest in my own gear and buy a good rod setup that will last me a long while.

Now, here’s a few things that I noticed while fishing out at sea. We used a really heavy weight, I believe it was a torpedo 12oz so I’d assume that I’d have to get a rod with the capabilities of being able to hold a weight that heavy.

The ship used a 8000 reel on their rods and it looked like it was a great choice as we dropped our lines straight to the bottom with no problem.

Secondly, I would want a heavier powered rod since I would love to catch bigger sized fish like Stripers, Yellowtail, etc.

And lastly, I was doing some research and despite the rental equipment on the boat had spinning reels, I read that conventional reels are better designed for this kind of fishing as theyre able to withstand more weight like lures, sinkers, and fish.

So, I guess I’m really confused here and just need some ideas on what kind of reel and rod combo I should consider getting for boat fishing and for bigger sized game.