Spring Weekends in the CLE Burbs

June 2, 2019June 3, 2019 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 1 Comment

Spring is definitely here in CLE! We had a beautiful weekend in the ‘burbs, filled with good food and pretty good weather. Friday night, B made us pizza. It had been forever since we had homemade pizza, and I was looking forward to it all week. I got to pick my toppings for my slices, too — it was pepperoni, eggplant, peppers and mushrooms. I love pizza with tons of veggies and also pepperoni on it!

After the kids went to bed, B and I stayed up somewhat late and watched Always Be My Maybe. It was just what I was looking for in my Friday night – a cute, funny romcom. I recommend it, especially if you already love Ali Wong.

Saturday morning FW got up early – like 5 something in the morning – so it was a long day. After breakfast, B went to Home Depot to get some stuff (it’s his second home these days) and then we went to our first event – a playdate with some friends who also have kids. FW had a blast playing on his favorite playground with LM and of course Celia, Maura and Maddie.

After the playground we headed home for lunch. B and FW hit up Home Depot (yes, again – 2x in one day!) while LM napped.. When he got back, it was time for our next adventure – Ruby’s birthday party! It was a party at a local ice cream shop, so I’m sure FW and LM had a good time. (we did too 🙂 )

After ice cream, we were going to try to watch soccer, but all the bars and restaurants nearby were overflowing and LOUD (aka not as kid-friendly as usual), so we just went home.

FW skinned his knees on our jog to the car, so he needed some extra care and wanted a special seat on the couch before dinner. Toddlers are a ton of work but tons of fun sometimes!

After FW and LM had dinner, it was off to bed semi-early and B and I had to figure out what we wanted. We had planned on going out after ice cream, but since it was too crowded, ended up not sure what to do for food. B was craving buffalo wings, so we ended up doing some takeout. I got a kids’ meal, which meant it came with a side (salad!) AND a drink.

Sunday morning, I got in a nice run – 6.3 solo miles. I had planned on taking out the jogging stroller, but B andFW and LM had breakfast and I got out semi-early (at least for a weekend). It was nice to still be out a little later than usual.

The day was somewhat productive. We did some meal prep, some cleaning, some playing, and some walking. It ended up being a nice day outside so B also got some outdoor chores in.

We ended the day with a jog around the block. FW ran pretty much the whole way!

And that was it. HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!

Some questions for you:

Do you like pistachio ice cream?
Was the weather nice near you?

WIAW: The Wrong Ice Cream!

March 29, 2017March 28, 2017 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 2 Comments

Today is Wednesday. But it feels like Thursday…which is good, because I’m off Friday for a bachelorette party so today is technically my Thursday as well. It’s pseudo-Thursday because tomorrow (Thursday) is my Friday. Make sense?

Okay, enough confusion. Today’s What I Ate Wednesday features some pretty good food, including treats from a new Mexican restaurant. And some mislabeled ice cream – which I’ve never seen happen before! Here we go…

Breakfast was a smoothie – it’s pretty ugly I know, but it was delicious. It was berry, banana, spinach, oats and brewers yeast.

Lunch was out with some of my coworkers! We went to a new Mexican place in the neighborhood and I had chicken fajitas – they were delicious. The chips and salsa that came with the meal were really good too. The best part? The food came super fast AND I had leftovers!

For a snack, I had some strawberries and pineapple.

And some homemade nut butter.

Dinner that night was great – it was a veggie burger, corn bread (there were more pieces eaten than this one) and a quinoa salad I made – it was quinoa, asparagus, peas, broccoli and feta.

For dessert, I had bought Mitchell’s peanut butter chocolate chunk ice cream at the store. Imagine my surprise when I opened up the pint and it was NOT the right ice cream! That, my friends, is a chocolate ice cream- not peanut butter. 😦 Luckily B likes chocolate ice cream but I was pretty bummed it wasn’t the one I was jonesing for. I guess it got mislabeled?

I ended up finishing off the day with some Halo Top instead (unpictured). And B enjoyed the ice cream 🙂

Some questions for you for today’s What I Ate Wednesday:

Do you like chocolate ice cream? No! Ick.
Have you ever opened up a food item only to find it wasn’t what you were looking for/expecting?

WIAW: Will 2 Apples a Day Keep the Doctor Away?

October 26, 2016October 27, 2016 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 8 Comments

I have no idea what day it is. I’m in the middle of a cold fog (you know, when you’re sick and not sure which way is up?) and also a fog from taking care of a sick baby who is not eating and suffering an ear infection. Oh what? It’s Wednesday? Well there you go – glad I could resurface just in time for What I Ate Wednesday. This was Monday’s eats. Right when I really started feeling sick.

The day started off with … some meds! Yup, we had a trip to the doctor in store for FW so all I had time for was some medication.* For me, and for FW. Lame, I know, but even though my morning started earlier (the baby was up at 4 a.m. instead of my usual 5 a.m. wakeup) and the doctor’s appointment wasn’t until 9:30, somehow the morning went by too fast and that’s all I had time for. Deal with it.

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*I learned that if you’re breastfeeding, there are also very few actual types of cold medication that are approved. Which also is probably adding to my sick-head-fog…lack of meds!

When I got into the office, I had time to eat a muffin and an apple (this is apple #1) before heading into meeting after meeting.

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I had meetings through lunch, but luckily I had made some energy balls so I had a few of these before my afternoon of meetings. 20161024_112949

When my meetings were over I ate this salad. I didn’t realize the photo was so blurry, but it was spinach, roasted sweet potato and delicata, tomatoes, some broccoli rabe and leftovers from a salad I had eaten over the weekend – chicken, edamame, feta, corn. 20161024_153506

Afternoon snacks included another apple (apple #2!) and some almond butter. 20161024_153740

AND this delicious drink I made with the Swanson apple cider vinegar – it was water, apple cider vinegar, fresh ginger, cinnamon and some truvia. 20161024_173901

Dinner was taco night! We had leftover veal breast from an amazing dinner B had made Saturday and we decided to use the meat for tacos.

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This was my taco salad. I may have had a few extra bite after this salad as well. 20161024_192623

BUT I still saved room for dessert – ice cream! It felt good on my sore throat.

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And that was my What I Ate Wednesday eats!
Some questions for you:

What do you like to eat when you’re sick?
Have you ever had any spicy ice creams?

Ice Cream for Dinner after the Dentist

September 14, 2016September 11, 2016 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 2 Comments

Happy Wednesday! We’ve made it halfway through the week, and this Wednesday is especially special because tonight B and I are going out to celebrate his birthday. His big day was yesterday (and of course we celebrated with a great dinner from Mod Meals and a cake I made), but tonight we’re having Aunt Mary babysit so that we can get dinner out, just the two of us. Our second date night since FW was born!

It’s also What I Ate Wednesday! This day’s eats aren’t the healthiest – but that’s what WIAW is about, sharing our eats, for what they are.

Breakfast was pretty good – I’m on an overnight oats kick again, mainly because I don’t have granola anymore, am trying to not eat a gallon of yogurt a day (I think FW doesn’t like that, so I’ll keep my dairy to ice cream) and they’re easy to eat with a baby around. This time I had some cinnamon and almond and peanut butter in my mixture of oats, chia seeds, honey and almond milk. 20160908_090043

Midmorning, FW and I went to two farmers markets that are walkable from our apartment. We may have gotten a little overexcited and purchased a little too many peaches, nectarines, veggies and local bread.

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So naturally, I snacked on a peach (it was SOOO GOOD) and nectarine that morning. 20160908_114742

I also made some buckeyes that morning for a surprise for B’s birthday. So naturally I had one or two of those.

buckeyes homemade

For lunch, I had leftover grilled chicken (my parents had sent me home from NY with leftovers, yay!), half a baked sweet potato, sliced local tomato (SO much better than non-in-season tomato) and spinach.

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For dessert, I had a few spoonfuls of this deliciousness.

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AND of course, I had to try a slice of that cinnamon bread I had bought at the market. So good!

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B and I had dentist appointments that evening and after the dentist opted to stop by the local Dairy King for a quick treat to beat the heat. I had vanilla soft serve dipped in butterscotch. It was so good – but I was stuffed and not hungry for dinner after our 6 pm ice cream treat!
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So those were some of my eats from last week’s dentist appointment day to share for What I Ate Wednesday.

Some questions for you:

Do you have any traditions from going to dr or dentist appointment growing up? B’s family used to always go out for dinner or a treat after the dentist, which is one reason we went.
Have you been to any farmers markets recently? What did you get?

WIAW: Double Ice Cream Day

August 24, 2016August 22, 2016 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 3 Comments

It’s Wednesday already? Thank goodness – only three more full days until the weekend and it’s also What I Ate Wednesday – time for sharing and checking out a random day of eats. I love seeing everyone’s eats and sharing my own. These are my eats from Thursday – and it just happened to be a day with ice cream more than once a day.

Breakfast was a huge fruit salad.

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Followed by some more fruit. I had bought what I thought was a cantaloupe at the store, but when I cut into it – it was green! It wasn’t a honeydew either. No idea what it was – but it was delicious. 20160818_104248 20160818_164244

Lunch was a mishmash while FW slept. A salad and a black bean burger. Plus a sweet potato and some spaghetti squash with cinnamon, honey and a little bit of peanut butter (not pictured). 20160818_135450

Snacks that afternoon included some some chex mix – thanks to Cuoghi! Her mom made a ton and she shared some with me.

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AND ice cream#1. It was on sale at the store and oh so delicious. I had to have a few scoops 🙂 20160818_165308

Dinner? Some chicken, and farmers market/local farm fresh veggies. Tomatoes from B’s coworker’s garden, plus zucchini and potato and onions roasted (all veggies from the farmer’s market). 20160818_184229

And then, dessert! B and I took a walk to get ice cream sandwiches. Cathy’s creamery downtown is the best. Cookie dough ice cream, one chocolate chip cookie, one peanut butter cookie and white chocolate chips.

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Dessert was definitely a surprise, but SO GOOD. Ice cream #2= amazing.

Some questions for you:

Do you have dessert every night? Any go-to desserts?
Favorite kind of chocolate? White, dark, milk, etc.?

WIAW: Housesitting in the Suburbs!

July 20, 2016July 20, 2016 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 7 Comments

Happy What I Ate Wednesday! We are halfway through a crazy week- it is madness in Cleveland because it’s the RNC! Yes, the RNC is in Cleveland and all our favorite places have been taken over by groups and media – and there are barricades and security checks all over our neighborhood. SO – this week we have escaped downtown! We are housesitting in the burbs. So, today’s WIAW features some suburban eats 🙂 (yes it’s the same as downtown eats I suppose).

Anyway, I still haven’t gotten the hang of being productive and keeping a newborn happy. I’ll work on it – but I’m SO MUCH more productive and things are SO MUCH easier when B gets home from work.
Because we were planning on not being home this day, our meals were pretty much planned in advance. We brought over meals and just ate them at the house. So, here you go – day of pretty planned and delicious summery meals!

Pre-breakfast (yes, there was one) was some of Arman’s black bean brownie bars again. I got up at 5 am to feed FW and then B and I went for a walk to get some coffee, so I was needing some quick and easy fuel before my real breakfast.

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Here’s my iced tea I got at the coffee shop. I love Ruthie’s Tea at Phoenix Coffee and it’s not too bad iced!

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Here’s the real breakfast- I didn’t get a photo of it all together (life is hard with baby) but it was plain yogurt, tons of fruit and very delicious.

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Lunch was this great salad. I also had some dressing on it (not pictured) and cheese. And some bread and peanut butter because I love the two together.

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And a peach for a snack.

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For dinner, we grilled some vegetables and halibut steaks that we had gotten at the West Side Market. They were so good! It is nice having a grill to use because we don’t have one downtown.

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And it dessert? Coffee ice cream. Eaten a few spoonfuls a time while the baby was crying. That’s life I guess?

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But who can complain when he mostly looks like this?

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And that was my What I Ate Wednesday eats. Some questions for you-

New moms and stay at home moms- do you prepare your meals ahead of time so they’re easier to eat during the day?
What’s your favorite type of yogurt? And favorite yogurt toppings?

Is it still called brunch if you already had breakfast? Or is it just breakfast for lunch then?
When was the last time you had Swedish Fish?

WIAW: Postpartum Eats

July 6, 2016July 6, 2016 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 4 Comments

I’m back for What I Ate Wednesday! It has been a few weeks since I participated and I took off last Wednesday for good reason – I had just had a baby! That’s right, FW was born June 23 and I’m now a new mom. SO this week includes a random day in the life of a new mom on maternity leave, but with help. B was home this week so I had some help around the house, help with FW and time to prepare my own meals. It was great!

The reason I’ve been blogging less than usual

Breakfast was some yogurt, granola (my mom had made it and brought it when she came to visit) AND a huge fruit salad. I’m still on a fruit kick and my parents bought me a ton of fruit when they came and visited and we were given leftover fruit salad from our Fourth of July bbq, so of course I had to have some.

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I had a midmorning snack of some sushi. I ended up eating only 3 of these pieces that were leftover but they were good!

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B and I then went for a walk with FW. We’ve been taking daily walks with him and enjoying the sunny weather and being home during the day.

For lunch, I couldn’t decide what I wanted. Something sweet? Savory? Leftovers? So I had a bunch of random stuff in our fridge – veggies and hummus (B’s mom had made some hummus and brought it over for us), fruit and cheese, bread and peanut butter and a runny egg with toast. It is SO NICE to eat runny eggs again!

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For an afternoon snack I had a peach.

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For dinner, I decided to once again use some of the supplies we had in the fridge and made ginormous salads and flatbread pizza. We had pizza Friday night and still had some cheese, homemade sauce and cheese – AND still had some naan from when B’s mom brought it over (to go with aforementioned hummus), and it made for a really good homemade dinner. Oh, and while preparing dinner I snacked on some fresh super soft mozzarella and pepperoni. Only mozzarella is pictured – sorry it’s not super photogenic 🙂

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And for dessert? B and I shared some Mitchell’s ice cream – this is one of my favorite flavors!

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Some questions for you:

What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Pregnant people and moms – did you have cravings during or post-pregnancy? Did they stay the same?

WIAW: Day Off and Date Night

June 22, 2016June 18, 2016 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 8 Comments

What do you eat when you’re not following a routine? Are your eats messed up? Are they healthier? Less healthy?

I find that I eat relatively healthy Monday through Friday when I’m at work. I like to meal plan or at least sometimes prepare my lunches ahead of time. And most of the time, these lunches include plenty of veggies. Other days, however, I’m less inclined to eat my veggies. Why? For me, it’s convenience – they just take time to prepare and when I’m not at work, I’m not usually preparing food. As you can see – today I’m sharing with you What I Ate Wednesday meals from a day I was out of the office. And yes, I’m still eating a ton of fruit – it’s still a major pregnancy craving.

Breakfast was a smoothie from Restore! I was never into smoothies until pregnancy. Maybe it’s for hydrating or maybe it’s my love of fruit – but I love them now.

Restore smoothie!

And some fruit.

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I took a three-isa mile walk in the afternoon so fueled up right afterwards with some more fruit. This time, a giant bowl and a dollop of whipped cream I had made as well. See those delicious cherries at the bottom?

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Lunch was a mismatch of food that was in my fridge. Part of B’s leftover sandwich, a tortilla with peanut butter and honey (YUM!) and an assortment of cheese. Because, why not?

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B and I went out for dinner in Little Italy and had a delicious meal. We started with some buffalo mozzarella and prosciutto and then I had the special – a lobster on top of pasta with tomato sauce. SO AMAZINGLY GOOD.

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And for dessert? I passed by the cannoli and instead opted for some ice cream made with liquid nitrogen at Piccadilly. There were so many choices it was hard to decide, but I ultimately went with goat cheese with fig and honey – was so creamy!

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And that was it! A delicious day off and date night 🙂

Some questions for you:

When you’re not following a routine do you eat differently?
What’s the most interesting flavor of ice cream you have had? AND/OR what flavor would you have had from the list above?

WIAW: Rhubarb Crisp and Ice Cream

May 25, 2016May 22, 2016 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 5 Comments

Happy What I Ate Wednesday party people! Hopefully you’re enjoying a great week and it’s feeling more and more like summer where you are (if you’re in one of those places that’s lucky enough to enjoy seasons and in North America … BIG if I know). It’s finally feeling warm again here and it’s only fitting that on this WIAW I had a rhubarb crisp dessert with ice cream. Because that just SCREAMS summer, doesn’t it?

Yes, I had other food too. The day started with a smoothie slash smoothie bowl.

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And a snack- a cut up apple. 20160519_135402

Lunch was breakfast! Or brunch I suppose? Egg whites, lentils, spinach and a veggie burger. VERY satisfying.

But I also had some toast and a peach. We had no more nectarines and I really wanted something juicy. 20160519_131642

Some Swedish Fish for a snack! When was the last time you had these bad boys? It had been YEARS and someone brought them in for a meeting we had in the office. They were so good! 20160519_134935

For dinner, I had plans to go out with a coworker who was celebrating her 20th anniversary at our office. We were also celebrating my future bebe 🙂

We went to Spice, one of my favorite local places. I had an amazing goal cheese tomato salad, flat brea and we split this rhubarb crisp. With ice cream. 20160519_183520 20160519_190556 20160519_194758

I got home around 8 and normally would have gotten ready for bed, but had to play catch up with some work things. I was up until around midnight, so it called for a midnight snack – some homemade granola!

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Don’t worry – I ate it before midnight so it still counts as my Thursday, right? And that was my What I Ate Wednesday eats.

Some questions for you:

Is it still called brunch if you already had breakfast? Or is it just breakfast for lunch then?
When was the last time you had Swedish Fish?

WIAW: TGIFriday Eats (Yes, there was ice cream)

April 27, 2016April 22, 2016 / Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 9 Comments

I love Fridays. I often have quite a few meetings on Fridays which makes the day go by fast. Plus, it’s a day I know that even if I’m tired, I can almost always sleep in the next day, which helps me get through the day. No, it’s not Friday yet – sorry! BUT I am sharing with you my Friday eats for this week’s What I Ate Wednesday. And yes, it ended with ice cream 🙂 But it started with a run!

Friday morning started with a run with B. The weather was in the 60s when I woke up, and B had said he’d run with me the night before. So we started with 5 miles. Don’t worry – at 8 months pregnant, I stopped many many times.

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I was starving for breakfast. I enjoyed a modified version of my overnight oats (no yogurt or nut butter on this version), with cinnamon and a banana. And then some fruit on the side – an orange and a mango.

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For lunch, I had some leftover roasted veggies – cauliflower, zucchini and sweet potato, plus a few bites of avocado and a veggie burger. 20160422_125453

Also had a bunch of cashews and a few almonds. 20160422_131249

Snack time that afternoon meant some strawberry tea (from our Mexico City trip) and some granola/cashew clusters. Disclaimer – i had more than just these 5 bites. 20160422_144430 20160422_165629

B and I had a date night planned and we opted to go to a bar and watch the Cavs game. So we had the ultimate bar food – pizza and wings! 20160422_193046 20160422_194443