When Life Hands You Lemons...
Angela Beck
We might be past the days of giving ourselves “natural highlights” with lemon juice and unabashed sunbathing, but having a bowl full of lemons on hand is always a good idea. They’re beautiful to look at, particularly in a glass or our bamboo cane bowls, but also incredibly useful for everything from cleaning your microwave to making pancakes. Read on for our favorite lemon uses, from the sublime to the… pragmatic.
[Pro tip: roll a lemon on the counter for 30 seconds before cutting—it will double the amount of juice you’ll be able to squeeze out of it.]
So hold on to your lemons, ladies and lads...
10. Freshen your dishwasher: stick half a lemon on the upper drawer of your dishwasher to help sanitize and add a fresh scent to the dishes.
9. Clean your microwave: put a whole lemon’s worth of slices in a bowl of water. Run the microwave for 5 minutes and you’ll be able to wipe down stains and grossness with ease.
8. Remove stains: combine lemon juice and cream of tartar to get permanent marker stains out of clothes.
7. Refresh your garbage disposal: fill an ice tray with white vinegar and place a bite-sized piece of lemon in every segment. Throw a couple "ice cubes" in your garbage disposal a few times a month and run it to deodorize.
6. Make exfoliating scrub: combine white sugar with an oil of your choice (coconut oil smells lovely) and a few tablespoons of lemon juice. Your skin will thank you!
5. Light a fire: add lemon peels to your fireplace fire to keep the flames going and bring a light lemony scent to the room.
4. Preserve lemons: make your own preserved lemons to use in any number of recipes, both sweet and savory. Here are instructions from an expert and here are some recipe ideas.
3. Make pancakes: add lemon juice to a pancake recipe in place of buttermilk. (Because when does one ever happen to have buttermilk on hand)?
2. Chop a salad: make a batch of your favorite lemon vinaigrette salad dressing and store it in a squirt bottle in the fridge for easy access.
1. Mix up (sugar-free) lemonade: make a pitcher of lemon water to keep in the fridge—add cucumber slices or mint leaves to kick it up a notch.
