BB's Grocery Outlet

I know I've talked about this before, but BB's Grocery Outlet in Lancaster County is awesome. The address is 581 Camargo Road, Quarryville. It's located just off Route 222. It's hard for me to get there because the hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

***Update: The hours are now until 8 p.m. weekdays (still 4 p.m. on Saturday and closed on Sunday)

I didn't work yesterday, so I visited my mom and sister in Lancaster and made a run to BB's. It's really hit-or-miss. If you find something you love, you better stock up, because a lot of times you go back and they don't have it.

For example, they have boxes of 48 granola bars for $4.99. When I went yesterday, none were to be seen. They still had bags of 12 to 15 for 50 cents, so I bought six of those for my mom. She also had me pick up a case of Propel for $7.99 and a case of Gatorade for $5.99. I buy Kashi granola bars when they have them...which is rare. I've bought bags of 10 for 50 cents. I checked at the grocery store and a box of 6 is more than $4.

They always have crazy sauces, spices and canned goods for 25 or 50 cents. I love that because you can try out a new seasoning without shelling out a lot of money. With the cold weather, I just recently entered the refrigerated section. I can buy cold stuff and not worry about it spoiling until I go home. They had packaged lunch meat for 99 cent to $2, which is super cheap and it keeps long.

One warning, I have bought stuff there that tasted stale and old (and I am not picky, so you know it was bad.) A lot of stuff is past the sell-by date, but is completely edible and good. My experience was with REALLY old snacks, so just steer clear of those.

I spent about $60 on what would easily cost me $150 at the grocery store, no lie.

The other BB's locations are:
20 Quigly Road, Newburg
Rt 419, Schaefferstown
6180 Morgantown Road, Morgantown

Freezing meat

This one is for Jen, because I know she is afraid of freezing meat. I live by it. I am a huge planner, so I buy way ahead at the grocery store. At any given time we have 48 rolls of toilet paper, five bottles of shampoo, eight cans of soup and 50 bottles of water and sports drinks.

When I lived in an apartment, I couldn't buy too much meat ahead because I only had the freezer attached to my fridge. I invested in a freezer when we bought the house, just a small used one that was my grandmothers. When meat is on sale at Giant for buy one get one free, I stock up. You can beat two 2-pound roasts for $10. I always buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts in bulk when they are buy one get one. For about $20, you can get 10 or more large breasts. When I get them home, I divide them into freezer bags, about two to each. I usually trim them down to normal size and freeze the trimmings as chicken tenders. I write what it is and the date on the outside of the chicken and pop it in the freezer. The day before I use it, I put the chicken in the refrigerator to thaw. If it's too much for the recipe I am using it for, I cook it off and save it for casseroles or chicken salad. The thawed chicken/pork/beef is no different than what you buy fresh. Once you add the seasoning, etc, you will never know the difference.
Today, I put a piece of pork that was thawed from the freezer in the slow cooker with beef broth, mushrooms, onions and seasoning. I'll serve it with mashed potatoes and a vegetable. YUM!

Planning dinner

Since I have been working earlier, I have had a lot more time to make dinners. I keep forgetting to take pictures when it looks all yummy and delicious. I opted for no pictures to pictures of leftovers (which we have a lot of.) I've been making a list of meals for the week, planning out what I will make and making sure I have all the ingredients. It makes life so easy. And if something doesn't work out, I just switch out days. It's hard to come up with recipes that I can leave in the oven or on the stove on warm for when Nate gets home late. But, this week I made something called a cassoulet, which according to the Web is a slow cooked bean stew. It was basically a lot of adding and cooking. Nate loved it. And I have to say it was pretty tasty.

Here is what I did:

I chopped six pieces of bacon and fried them in a dutch oven (which my mom tells me is just a large pan with a tight lid) until they were crisp on medium high heat. I cubed a 2-pound pork roast and added that to the pot and cooked it until it was white. Then, I added slices of kielbasa and cooked it for about 2 minutes. Then I added one medium onion chopped, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper as well as a can of diced tomatoes with onions and garlic. I think I added a little water and then to top it all off I added a can of Northern white beans and a can of black eyed peas. The recipe called for something else, but I had those random cans of beans that I wanted to use. Then you stir and let the whole pot warm. The night I made it at 5 p.m., he didn't get home until 1:30 a.m. and it was still good. I just put it on the stove's warmer on low. It makes great leftovers if you can get past the bacon fat that congeals on the side of the bowl when it gets cold.

My first wood project

I bought this sewing table at an Amish Mud Sale about 2 years ago for $1. No, that is not a misprint. The Amish mud sales get many used items donated from the community that often don't sell for more than a few dollars. I actually missed this one and no one bid on it, so it had a little tag that said "NB." I approached one of the auctioneers and asked if I could buy it for $1. SOLD.

I've always been intimidated by stripping, sanding and painting wood. I mean, it just sounds complicated. But, this table was in sad shape. Look at the top. After tackling my dining room floor, I figured I could handle a small table. I am trying to convince Nate to let me decorate our upstairs office where I keep the sewing table. I want to make it a 1950s-style black and white theme. He says that we have other projects to finish first. But, I press on. So, instead of completely refinishing it, I decided to paint parts of it black and keep some wood.

Since the top was the worst, I started there. I added the same stripping liquid that I used on the floor (Citrus strip). I did the same to the drawers, but removed the knobs to keep them the wood color for a nice contrast. I waited about an hour and simply took a metal scraper (even though the jug said to use plastic, if you are careful, metal works better) and off slid the goo and a decent wood shone underneath.

Then I used an electric palm sander (about $30 at the hardware store) as well as my good old elbow grease to sand out the bumps and dents.

To finish, I used many layers of black paint on the drawer faces and the top until I was satisfied with the look. It took me a few days. I topped it off with a spray clear coat (but if I had to redo it I'd probably try to find a brush on. If you look close, you can see the spray marks.)

Anyway, my project cost me a fraction of what a new sewing table would look like. And even though it doesn't fit into the room quite yet, I promise I'll have Nate convinced sooner than later. Any suggestions on what color to paint the walls of a black and white room? I was thinking like a gray, but that seems so blah for the sunny room at the front of our house. Who knows?

Got my feet wet

Today was my first day subbing for the IU. It was the whole feeding, bathroom, lifting kind of classroom. I can honestly say I didn't have a bad day. The student I worked with was a little fighter, but I didn't get mad. A little frustrated, yes, but not mad. I can see how that job can be tiring and rewarding all at the same time. I get home before 4 p.m., but I almost always take a nap now! I still love teaching and am so thankful that I finally made the leap.

I plan to return to posting about home projects, money-saving etc. very soon. I completed my sewing table project, so that should be coming up. I am also approaching finishing knitting an afghan I started nearly 5 years ago...so I think that deserves its own post, too.

My first night at Cracker Barrel

Last night was my first night at Cracker Barrel in Shrewsbury. Thanks to the weather, I made $14 from 5 to 9 p.m. Pathetic, yes. But for once, I was actually OK with it being slow. It gave me a chance to get acquainted with my new co-workers and learn that they keep straws and sugar in different places and sort the dirty dishes in a unique way.
And of the three tables I waited on, I actually knew one of the couples. And, one of the other waitresses met me when I was doing the Shawna Weil story. She is the mother of Shawna's best friend.
I realized that my time at the York Daily Record introduced me to SO many people in the community. And, I really can't hide!

So far, so good

Well, it's been one whole week since I left the YDR. I do miss it, but I am keeping in touch with my friends. Do I love teaching? Absolutely. I am sure there are hard days to come, but I haven't had a bad day, yet. Challenges? Yes. Like today I had to teach conversion of quarts and pints to gallons. That isn't easy stuff, even for an adult. But the students are helpful and understanding. The two classroom aides were understanding and accepting of my lack of math knowledge. But I got to read a chapter to the class. I LOVE reading aloud. Amy never let me do it for her ;-) It was just all around a busy, but fun day. I can't wait to see what's in store next week!

On the dinner front, Nate wanted to order out. I reminded him that our income has been bumped down a few brackets. I talked him into letting me make him a pizza. I use Betty Crocker crust. It's powdered and comes in a packet. It's 75 cents. All you do is mix it with water, let it sit for 5 minutes, then spread it out. I added sauce (I buy the Delgrosso sauce usually on sale for 99 cents. It only takes 1/3 of a jar to make the pizza.) Then I top it with cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions and peppers. It's a fraction of the cost of ordering out and probably much, much healthier. I ate leftovers...again!