Banana-Pineapple-Spinach Protein Smoothie (Vegan option)

On July 13, 2015 By The Golden Graham GirlIn Breakfasts, Fitness Foods (Meals), Gluten-free, High-protein, Low-fat, Nut-free, Nutritious Noshes (Snacks), Smoothies, Vegan3 Comments

This “green” smoothie might be a verdant colour and it might feature some decidedly good-for-you green ingredients, but the taste is nothing but sweet yellow summer sunshine! Ripe bananas and tropical pineapple will wow your tastebuds and your body will thank you for all of the extra goodness of GREEN tea and GREEN spinach. Packed with protein, potassium and quick-acting carbohydrates, this is the perfect pre- or post-workout pick-me-up. It also makes a great “any time” summery snack or meal.

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Tuna & Spinach Dijon Stuffed Peppers

On April 27, 2015April 29, 2015 By The Golden Graham GirlIn Dinners, Fitness Foods (Meals), Gluten-free, High-protein, Low-fat, Lunches, Meals under 350 Calories, Specialty Diets2 Comments

My very first recipe on the blog is something I’ve had for lunch no less than four times in the past week. It might be fair to say that I’m stuck in a lunch rut, but I think it’s a testament to the simplicity, ease and tastiness of this particular dish (I should mention at this point that I pull longer-than-average office hours in a cubicle and I bring my lunch in a pretty, striped insulated lunch bag every day – a habit going all the way back to the hard-shelled plastic lunch boxes my mother lovingly packed for me and my brother when we were in grade school. Thanks for the napkin notes, Mom!). You might think that after years (literally decades) of bringing my lunch to school or work every day that I would finally want to break out of my comfort zone (or blandness zone, as some people think of brown-bag lunches), or that I might have *finally* saved enough pennies to splurge on a restaurant lunch. But I get excited with all of the POSSIBILITIES when I am preparing my lunch the night before, and I try to make sure that my choices have me excited about what I’m going to be eating that day. I’m often the envy of my co-workers!

Also, it is worth noting that I was just finishing up a pretty intense powerlifting 12-week strength training block and I needed my meals to be protein-packed and bursting with nutrients to help my muscles recover from my intense noon-hour (or noon-two-hour) workouts.

So what was I eating? Let’s get to it!

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Genesis: The Origin of The Golden Graham Girl Blog

On April 27, 2015April 28, 2015 By The Golden Graham GirlIn Random, Uncategorized2 Comments

First things first, this blog is NOT about Golden Grahams (and my sincere apologies to any fans of the band Genesis who inadvertently stumbled across this post due to its title – rock on, Phil Collins, rock on), the deliciously sweet and cinnamon-y breakfast cereal rival to Cinnamon Toast Crunch. (As an aside, my brother and I were not allowed to have either of those cereals in the house when we were kids – they were on the “too sugary” list – and we were relegated to the relatively tame, albeit still delicious, Honey Nut Cheerios. It was always the highlight of a sleepover at someone else’s house if that someone else DID have either of those in the pantry. Or Cap’n Crunch. I think that one fact of my childhood alone explains a lot about why I now have a blog connected, however loosely, to fitness and nutrition. And funny that I called it “breakfast” cereal, seeing as I used to (and still do) consider cereal to be a perfectly acceptable snack or meal at ANY time of the night or day.) No, this blog (and this food blogger) is(are) indeed attempting to join the glamorous (or is that auspicious? Or both?) ranks of *FOOD BLOGGER*.