Nut-Free Granola Bars

August 23, 2021August 21, 2021 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / Leave a comment

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but my firstborn starts kindergarten THIS YEAR. I could (and should) write a full post on how fast time flies, how I’m not ready for him to go to real school (during a pandemic nonetheless) and also how amazing he is. So instead, I’m taking out my anxiety and emotions by baking and making sure we’re prepared and ready to start! One of the ways we are doing this is by making sure we have snacks, since FW has a morning snack he must bring every day. Snacks (and all foods) must be tree nut free, so that leaves out so many of our usual go-tos, like PB&J, or energy bites. Luckily, I found a recipe for granola bars that FW (and the rest of the family) enjoys, so this is going to be part of our new rotation.

If you’re seeking a snack recipe for school (or home) that has no tree nuts or peanuts (read: no almonds, etc.), then you must try this!

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Peanut Butter Lovers Blondies

August 18, 2021August 17, 2021 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 2 Comments

We had a few rainy days in Cleveland last week, and B was busy, which meant that I was trying to find ways to entertain 3 (!) kids inside our house. One of the things that we all love to do – well, except for GM, but we’ll find out about that soon enough! – is bake. And luckily, I’d been dreaming up these bars for a while, so when we had one rainy day and I asked the kids if they wanted to bake (and they said yes!), I knew exactly what we’d make.

I love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter. Especially when there’s not TOO much chocolate involved. Which is probably why I love Reese’s peanut butter cups and pieces. Thus, this recipe.

This recipe uses my standard blondie recipe, plus a few additional add-ins to make it perfect for peanut butter lovers! If you wanted to use a peanut butter cookie base, you could make this EXTRA peanut buttery! But this is perfect if you want a chocolate chip cookie with some added peanut butter candy.

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2-3 Weeks Postpartum Workouts

August 15, 2021August 14, 2021 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 7 Comments

As you may have seen, we have a NEW addition to our family! GM was born three weeks ago, and our family is adjusting, adapting, and we are so smitten with him.

There are so many ways we’ve had to adjust, and one of the few ways that I have personally had to adapt recently has been with my workouts. After giving birth, you are unable to really work out for 6 weeks. Your body is healing, and even before you’re clear to workout, you’re exhausted! But if you know me, you know that I have a hard time sitting still. In fact, on a call with a friend to catch up earlier this week, she said to me, “You must be going crazy not running!” And my response was, “Not really – I’m so tired all the time!” And it’s true – being home every day with a newborn (who is waking up every 1.5-2 hours at night) and 2 kids ages 3 and 5 is tiring! But I’m still getting in some activity each day. Here’s a look at what this past week looked like, at about 2-3 weeks postpartum:

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Introducing GM (and his birth story)

August 12, 2021 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 4 Comments

Reader Advisory:

The following may be TMI for the average reader who comes here to hear about my race training and workouts. It is a post about our newest arrival – GM! Before having kids, the thought of reading a birth story was strange to me. I didn’t understand why people shared them and what the point of documenting them was. But I’m so glad I captured LM’s (here), and I’m happy to share GM’s too. So, if you aren’t interested, please feel free to stop reading now 🙂

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