SNOW DAY!!

I. LOVE. SNOW! Seriously LOVE snow! I literally woke up this morning screaming because there was "icy snow" outside! This NEVER happens in South Carolina. EVER. So this is so exciting!!

Our palm tree this morning.

It's not much... but it's there!! 

I cannot remember the last time I had a legitimate snow day! It's funny, when it snows here, almost everything closes because this is very unusual for this time of year! I am from the Midwest, so this is normal for this time of year. However, I will say it is nice living here and having "winters" with no snow and just cold-ish (keyword: -ish!) weather! This was definitely a treat to wake up to this morning! The only thing that would make today absolutely positively perfect, is if it was Christmas! Oh one can dream....

Cold icy mornings make me want a nice warm mug of tea, and waffles! I have a delicious waffle and pancake mix I stumbled upon a couple years ago, and I'd like to share it with you today! 

Here's what you'll need!

Prep Time: 5 minutes 

2 cups all purpose flour

3 TBSP sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

2 TBSP melted butter

1 1/2- 1 3/4 cup milk (depending on the humidity) 

Optional: Chocolate chips, fruit, nuts, the list is endless!

Sift together all dry ingredients into a large bowl. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the eggs and butter. Add 1 1/2 cups milk. Combine all wet ingredients into the large bowl and whisk together until smooth. Add more milk if needed, and then add your other optional ingredients!

Pour into your waffle maker and cook until golden brown, or grab a skillet and pour for pancakes! Flip pancakes when the top starts to bubble all over and the bottom is a light golden brown. Top with your favorite toppings!

This recipe makes 8 pancakes, or 4 medium size waffles!

Have a wonderful snow day everyone! 

-A

Homemade Granola Bars

Hey Everyone!

I hope you are having a fabulous start to your 2014! Can you believe were already half way through January?! Where is the time going? It really needs to slow itself down. Who's with me?

Today I am going to share with you this amazing, easy breakfast staple, granola bars! I am the guilty one here, almost every time we go to the grocery store, I can't leave the breakfast isle without stopping at the granola bars. Have you ever looked at the ingredients on the labels? They include a very long list that most of us cannot pronounce correctly. Yuck!

I really did not realize how many things we were eating that have really weird and disgusting ingredients, GMO's, and MSG. Now, every time we go to the store I make sure to check the labels, and if I can't pronounce the ingredients on the label, I either buy the organic version, or look for another brand of the same product. Lately, I've been on a cooking from scratch kick, and it has been pretty successful! Yesterday I made an amazing crock pot dish from Paula Deen, and can I just say it? FAB-U-LOSITY! Amazing! It was SO tasty, the house smelled absolutely wonderful. Anyways, that is another post all in itself!

Here we go with the granola bars! The thing I love about this recipe is that you most likely have all of these ingredients in your house already. I looked all around Pinterest, and Google search for a basic recipe. I couldn't find one that I absolutely liked, so I made my own!

You'll need:
2 cups of old fashioned oats (if you don't have these, you can use quick oats)
1/2-3/4 cup of whatever nuts you like, depending on how crunchy you want it to be. I used walnuts!
1/3 cup honey (local, pure raw honey is best!)
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
Optional: A loose TBSP of brown sugar

Now, this is the basis of this recipe. You also can do different wet ingredients too! Be creative here!

Add all your dry ingredients into a bowl, mix well! Then melt your peanut butter in the microwave, it should only need about 30 seconds, and add honey. Mix well then pour over your dry ingredients. Mix well again, making sure all your dry ingredients get well incorporated. Take a sheet of parchment paper, and spread out your granola mix, making sure you pack it firmly together! This is a very important step, otherwise they will fall apart on you. I put mine in a square shape so they are all the same size when you go to cut them up! Chill them in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour!

 The first batch I made included 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips I ran through my food processor to make the pieces just a tid bit smaller, and I also used crunchy peanut butter instead of creamy to give it more texture and flavor! On top, I added softened Nutella. Is your mouth watering yet? Needless to say, they may not have been as healthy as I would have liked, buttttttt... they were AWESOME. And I love chocolate.And I don't feel bad about it.

I just made a new batch of these last night, this time I added 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips, and about 1/4 cup pomegranate Craisins!

I hope you all have a great week & enjoy using your creativity with this recipe!
-A

Welcome 2014!

Hello & Happy New Year All! (Only 6 days late, no big!)

I hope all of you had a wonderful and relaxing holiday season with family and loved ones. We had a wonderful holiday! We made some absolutely delicious food, which I am currently going to try, try again to perfect to share with you all!

I am so excited for 2014! We have so much to look forward to this year. We can officially say we are getting married this year now! CRAZY. Where did the time go? It's really time to kick this wedding planning in the rear and get going! A couple of my nearest and dearest friends are getting married this year, and I could not be happier for them! It is so much fun having your friends engaged at the same time, and being able to share the joy and excitement of planning with them!

As we all know, this is the time of year where we all make resolutions, and try to stick with them as long as possible before we lose track and are on to something else. Here are a few of my resolutions this year!

1. Stick to my weight loss plan. I only have about 5 more pounds to go to my goal weight! (You can find my weight loss plan here.)

2. Post at least once a week to The Savory Homemaker! I have been seriously lacking in this department lately! I have SO many great ideas for future posts, and I've been working really hard developing my own new recipes!

3. Let go of everything in the past. Live in the present. Don't stress about anything, it will all work out how its suppose to! Become more carefree and say "yes" more often! Also included: Do NOT become a bridezilla, be the fun relaxed bride everyone enjoys working with!

4. Eat out less. This is something I am absolutely terrible at! This year the fiance and I have decided we are going to be more frugal than before, so this means more cooking, and less eating out! I'd eventually love to have our freezer full of leftovers from meals, so on rushed mornings we can grab something out of the freezer and go!

5. Get off my phone. Seriously, I'm on it wayyyy to much.

6. Be more punctual. Simply stated.

7. Last but not least- Stick to our monthly budget, pay off some bills, and save, save, save! I have found some really great articles lately on how to save money, and how to pay off bills quickly to avoid paying annoying amounts of interest. I'm ready and willing to give them a try!

I think all of these goals are manageable and not too hard to keep! Here's to a great 2014!

What are your new years resolutions, and how will you stick to them? Leave some comments below!
-A