the giraffe life

Time for a goals update! Financial   •  Save $300 per pay  - Yes! Easiest goal ever because this was automatically deducted from my paychecks! Personal   •  Attend more than 67 yoga classes  - Nope! I stopped attending yoga classes in June because I was modifying so many of the poses to accommodate my growing belly that it seemed silly to pay to take a class that I wasn't fully participating in. I couldn't find any local prenatal classes so I switched to DVDs from the library until the very end when just cooking dinner felt like a work out. How do pregnant women who already have children do it?? •  Read 52 books  - Yep, a total of 70 . It was a banner year for reading actually, considering almost all those books were read before September. Now baby girl and I listen to audiobooks (electronically downloaded from the library to my cell phone) during some daytime nursing sessions when I want to read something. Plus I read a kids book to...

When it's chilly, I crave warm, cheesy dishes. And last week was particularly cold so I made some enchiladas to satisfy my desire for warmth and cheese. They hit the spot.  1° F = -17° C Usually enchiladas are tortillas filled, rolled up, covered in sauce, and baked. But after reading Bread & Wine last summer, I make mine in layers like lasagna because it's quicker. It allows you to be creative with "fillings" too . . liked sliced potatoes.  Sidenote: I borrowed my parents' simple slicer for this job. I would definitely lose a finger doing it the old fashioned way! Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas • 16 ounce can of enchilada sauce • 1/2 cup vegetable broth • 1  can black beans  • 2 potatoes, sliced thin • 6 tortillas • 1/2 medium onion, diced • 1 - 2 cups  Monterey Jack or pepper jack  cheese, shredded  Optional (I've tried all of these and they're delicious - just don't use more than 2 of them at the same time. You...

One of my goals for 2015 was to cook six new recipes with my husband, roughly one every other month. We hosted a big family dinner last weekend (well, large for us - twelve guests) and decided to give tiramisu a whirl. I find family parties a great time for a dessert trial run - I get honest opinions and there are plenty of people to share with so I don't end up eating 86 cookies by myself. We used the recipe from  Chop, Sizzle, Wow   because it was the most straightforward one I found. There are plenty of super complicated ones that estimate it'll take you eight hours start to finish. Hmm, no thanks!  Regardless, everyone was impressed (I think they had that eight hour extravaganza in mind) and kept saying things like, "It tastes like regular tiramisu!" which made me laugh. And I have a newfound respect for restaurant presentation - this was the best I could do! Would you cook a new dish for guests? I know some people only make their tried...

2015! It feels like a good, round number for some reason. I'm excited to share my goals for this year - a couple familiar carry overs and some new ones. Financial   • Save $300 per pay - Continued from last year . And to make it easier, I'm having it automatically deducted from my paychecks.  Personal   • Attend more than 67 yoga classes - Super random number, right? Last year I attended about 67 yoga classes (can't be 100% sure because I didn't start keeping track until late July) so I just want to beat my previous record. I'm going to use this daily goal calendar  - black Xs on days I do any kind of exercise (probably a walk), purple Xs for yoga, and left blank for no exercise. This method is quick and very visual so I think it'll work for me.  from the make29 shop • Read 52 books - A book a week (or so). Aiming for 50 books pushes me to make reading a priority without pressuring me to choose short books to inflate my numbers. So I just ...

I've mentioned before that new foods scare me sometimes . But I took the plunge on another one last week because my hubby was interested in trying it - black eyed peas. We used them in this tasty jambalaya-esque dish and now we both can add another food to our like lists.  Mr. G isn't a fan of anything spicy, but both vegan sausage and chili powder would be good additions, so they're listed as optional ingredients. Vegan Jambalaya Ingredients •  1 tablespoon oil (I used grape seed oil) •  1 medium onion, chopped •  1 chopped pepper/capsicum (I used bell pepper, feel free to also add hot pepper) •  1/2 teaspoon thyme •  2 cloves minced garlic •  3/4 cup basmati rice  •  2 1/2 cups vegetable broth •  2-3 tablespoons tomato paste  •  15 ounce can black eyed peas, rinsed •  1-2 zucchini optional:   •  1/2 cup vegan sausage, crumbled (I like Mexican Chipotle by Field Roast)  •  1/2...

To celebrate my dad's birthday, we took him to a live  America's Test Kitchen  event. It was a behind the scenes look at the TV and radio program by the same name. My dad has enjoyed the show for years (Mr. G and I don't watch it, so we were clueless). We learned that the test kitchen's mission is to help everyone cook great food at home, and they try to help people accomplish this by testing kitchen equipment, comparing food products, and perfecting recipes.  The TV and radio show's host, Christopher Kimball, was also our host. He was excellent! So funny and a great storyteller. He highlighted different parts of the show for us (a relief for this newbie) and they did some live demonstrations of the show's typical parts.  One such part was a recipe experiment. The match up was between burgers made with store-bought ground beef and those made with freshly ground meat that is immediately cooked. They found the freshly ground meat was superior in ease of cook...

Sometimes I shy away from recipes with unfamiliar ingredients because I don't want to waste time or money on something gross. But this Hello Fresh recipe tempted me because the new ingredient was just a type of cheese. Grilling cheese to be exact. I'm so glad I took a chance on this one because it's delicious.  You cube the cheese and pan fry it, so it has a slight crust on the outside and remains gooey on the inside. Mmm!  It also calls for sprinkling pumpkin seeds over the top (which I never would've thought to add to a pasta dish), and I loved it. Adds a nice crunch :) Hello Fresh says the recipe serves 2, but we each ate this for dinner, plus I got a lunch out of it. If you try it, let me know what you think! :) Do you like to cook with new foods? linking up here and here

Vanilla is one of my favorite smells and flavors. So much so, that whenever I bake, I double the amount of vanilla the recipe calls for. A few years ago I read Make the Bread, Buy the Butter , a book about which foods are worth it to make from scratch at home, and which foods you should just buy ready made (an excellent book - well worth the read). The author made her own vanilla extract and blew my mind! I was shocked to find out there are only two ingredients.  So I made my first batch of vanilla that week, using vanilla beans from amazon.com and cheap vodka. Delicious! (And much cheaper than $12 for the 1/4 cup or 60 mL bottles they sell at the grocery story.) I'm on the last dregs of that original batch so I made more over the weekend. Now, to wait patiently for 3 months! :) Basically, you cut 8-10 vanilla beans down the center and scrape the insides into the jar. Throw in the bean pods and 1 1/2 to 2 cups vodka. The vodka will still be clear when you first pou...

My family always makes cookies for Christmas. It's one of my favorite traditions. This year, we ended up baking 5 batches of cookies - peanut butter, chewy chocolate chip , Black-Eyed Susans, oatmeal (minus the raisins), and chocolate chip . While that's certainly not setting any world records, we had fun without the stress (which is what happens when we try to make 12 batches in one day). My ever-present inspector I thought I'd share one of my favorite cookie recipes - Black-Eyed Susans (I also love  the plant ). They're made with peanut butter and chocolate so this is just the perfect recipe for me. They'd be great for spring parties too. Aren't they adorable?! Black-Eyed Susan Cookies • 1 stick melted butter (1/2 cup) • 1/2 cup sugar • 1/2 cup brown sugar • 1 egg • 1 1/2 tablespoons warm water • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 1 cup creamy peanut butter • 1 1/2 cups flour • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda • chocola...

Yesterday was Thanksgiving here in the US, and I thought I'd share what I ate. (I usually get a lot of comments from meat eaters about what I can actually eat at Thanksgiving.) As an appetizer, we had tortilla chips with salsa and corn dip . I was little worried making the dip because it looked nothing like the recipe picture, but it turned out just fine. Everyone ate it so fast I didn't even think to take a picture. For dinner, I had carrots, vegetarian stuffing , basmati rice, mashed potatoes, corn, vegetable soup (not pictured - but it had vegetable broth, peas, lentils, carrots, and barley), a roll with butter, and cookie dough truffles . My truffles also turned out nothing like the pictures, haha. At least they tasted good :) Yum! I definitely didn't feel deprived by not eating turkey. I had plenty! And probably too much starch now that I look back over the pictures . .  How was your Thanksgiving? Anyone going out today for Black Friday shopping? My husban...

Happy Friday! I'm so ready to sleep in tomorrow :) Have anything fun planned? Mr. Giraffe and I recently had a date night and went out to dinner. My appetizer was nothing to write home about, but my salad? Amazing! Houlihan's bills it as the Asian Chicken Chop Chop Salad, so I used one of my vegetarian eating-out tricks and asked for the chicken on a separate plate. (Mr. G gave the chicken two thumbs up.) Unfortunately, at $15, it wasn't the most affordable meal, but I plan to make it at home for much cheaper.  It's lettuce, cabbage, carrots, snow peas, bell pepper, jicama, peanuts, sesame seeds, and wonton strips or tortilla strips. All fairly normal (except the jicama - this was my first time trying it, tastes like a raw potato), but I never would've thought to combine them myself. (The asparagus was part of my husband's meal that he kindly gifted to me.)  I didn't sample the salad dressing - see more of my weird food aversions  here  - but it was s...

This series, wherein I feature recipes from other blogs that I've made and enjoyed, is an idea that I completely ripped off from Kiersten at ohmyveggies .  She does one every Friday. I originally saw this over at cleaneatingveggiegirl . I didn't have bell pepper, so I used celery; I didn't have chili powder or cumin, so I used cayenne (whew - and I paid for that choice with a burning tongue!); I didn't have vegan sausage, so I added an egg at the very end and it turned out kinda like vegetable fried rice. All those changes - and it was still delicious! (Oh, and when I ate my second helping, I poured tomato sauce over the top, and that took the heat down a notch.) Uhh, tomato sauce and some vegetables? Okay, you caught me - this isn't really a recipe. But it was yummy and I figured this is as good as place as any to include it. These were leftovers - pasta, corn, carrots, green beans, and tomato sauce - but so good, and a great way to use up all those rand...

I'm not a huge fan of zucchini. Sure, I'll eat it hidden in treats like zucchini bread, but I've never been one to enjoy a side of zucchini. This recipe changed my mind. I think the difference is that the seeds are removed (which vastly improved the texture over the watery zucchini dishes of yore) and that the zucchini is cooked separately from the filling.  This is also a really quick meal - about 30 minutes in all - so I'm a little biased. I liked it so much I may plant zucchini in my garden next year (although I've been warned it'll take over even worse than the cucumber vines). So basically, it's zucchini combined with all kinds of good stuff - basmati rice, corn, onions, tomatoes, black beans. Then I topped mine with cheese and cilantro, while Mr. Giraffe went the cheese and sour cream route. Customizable toppings make everyone happy!  But that's enough blabbing, check out the recipe for yourself (it's easier than all those steps make it lo...

Mr. Giraffe and I hosted a family gathering at our place a few weeks ago. You may have seen the  dirty dishes  :) My main contribution was homemade macaroni and cheese. This is my grandmother's recipe, so I may be biased, but I think it's delicious. Rich, cheesy, and creamy. In other words, not a health food, but scrumptious! It was gobbled up and raved about, so I thought I'd share the recipe here.  Homemade Macaroni and Cheese • 2 1/2 cups pasta • 2 tablespoons butter • 1/4 cup flour • 1 teaspoon dry mustard • 1 teaspoon garlic powder • 1 teaspoon onion powder • 1 - 2 teaspoons pepper • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 1 - 1 1/2 cups grated American cheese • 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese • 1/2 cup half and half (feel free to use milk) • 2 cups milk Directions Preheat oven to 375º. Boil water and cook pasta according to package directions. Put cooked pasta in a 9x13 baking dish. Over medium heat, melt butter and add flour to make a roux. Cook for 1-2 min...