I’ve been eating raw grated beets on my salads for a few months now. When I can find them in the stores, that is. I love them! I’m glad the lady at the health food store suggested them to me, as I probably wouldn’t have tried raw beets on my own, even though I like cooked beets.

My problem was getting them to last. I no sooner put them in the fridge and the would go soft. I tried cutting the greens off and leaving them on. It always produced the same results, soft beets, in just 1 days time.

So this week, when my husband came home from grocery shopping with 2 bunches of beets for me, I tried leaving them out on the counter.

These beets have been laying on the counter since Saturday afternoon. So that’s 4 days. They are not soft, and the greens haven’t gone bad. You can eat the greens by the way, I just haven’t tried them yet. The rabbits and chickens love them, though!

So that’s my kitchen tip. Leave your fresh beets on the counter, instead of putting them in the fridge. I think I’ll make sure and leave at least one out for a week and see how it does. I might even try it for 2 weeks, as we can’t buy them weekly at our stores.

For more Kitchen Tip Tuesday ideas, visit Tammy’s Recipes.

For more Works For Me Wednesday ideas, visit We Are That Family.

I tried 3 new reicpes last week from Homestead Momma. We liked every one of them! The Crockpot Cabbage Unrolls were great. I used hamburger, instead of turkey, because that’s what I had. The apple cider vinegar does have a distinctive flavor, so if your family doesn’t like acv, then you should leave it out of this recipe, as you can taste it. I will make this again, as the family loved it, acv and all.

The Cream Cheese Crockpot Chicken was absolutely delicious! I served it on homemade tortillas with grated cheddar cheese. Everyone loved it. I will definitely be making this again.

For our Friday Night Fire, I tried her Sweet Asian Slaw. It was easy to make and so delicious. There were a couple of kids who didn’t like it. But I’m not sure they even tried it! The next time I make it, I want to try adding some grated carrots. I think they would be good in it.

Now for this weeks menu:

Saturday – beef – Husband brought home Pizza for Pizza and a movie night

Sunday – sandwich day – Dinner out for Mothers Day

Monday – chicken – salad with chicken, hard boiled eggs and cheese

Tuesday – beef – meatloaf, baked potatoes, green beans

Wednesday – leftovers – with salad, if no left overs, we’ll have Jag.

Thursday – chicken – chicken pasta salad

Friday – Friday Night Fire – hamburgers, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, macaroni salad, and probably something else

For more Menu Plan Monday ideas, visit I’m an Organizing Junkie.

I love to have good chicken in the freezer for quick meals. Even soup can be a quick meal, if you freeze the chicken and the broth.

When freezing chicken, whether for sandwiches, tacos, or just serving plain, the one problem that I have found is sometimes the chicken dries out. This goes for Turkey as well.

A solution that I have found, is to add a couple of tablespoons of chicken broth to the chicken before putting it in the freezer. Of course, a larger bag needs more than a smaller bag of chicken.

It keeps the chicken (or turkey) moist and flavorful. If your eating it cold, just drain the broth off before serving. If your eating it plain, you can leave the broth on while warming it up. If your using it in a recipe, you’ll have to decide whether to leave the broth with it, or drain it. It should be fine in most recipes, though, and add extra flavor.

For more Kitchen Tip Tuesday ideas, visit Tammy’s Recipes.

I got this recipe several years ago off an email recipe list. They are so good. I have used half whole wheat flour, and half white, and also used brown sugar instead of white., and they are still really good.

Hotel Peabody Vanilla Muffins

2 cups sugar
4 eggs
4 cups all purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 TBSP baking powder
1?2 cup butter
1 TBSP vanilla extract

Beat sugar and eggs together. Add remaining ingredients. Mix until moistened. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup as a scoop, I get 30 muffins.

Visit 11th Heaven’s Homemaker Mondays for more tips, recipes and how-to’s.

I’m trying two new recipes this week, both are made in the crockpot. So should be an easy week for me. I’ve used recipes from Susan before, and the family has loved them all.  I’m looking forward to trying these new ones.

Saturday – beef – son made stir fry

Sunday – sandwich day – Meatball Subs

Monday – chicken – Whole Roasted Chicken, baked potatoes, salad

Tuesday – beef – Crockpot Cabbage Unrolls, carrots

Wednesday – leftovers – with salad

Thursday – chicken – Cream Cheese Crockpot Chicken, salad

Friday – Friday Night Fire – hot dogs, potato salad or macaroni salad, carrot sticks