benefits of lemon

Brighten your drinks by putting twists of the peel into ice cubes. Perfect for summer parties. Use a vegetable peeler (like this) or knife to make long strips, cutting away from the white pith which can be quite bitter. Again, these can be frozen.

Also known as lemon vinegar, this stuff is awesome at cutting grease and disinfecting. To make, simply place a bunch of lemon peels in any sized glass jar (mason jars would work great). Pour white vinegar over. Put the lid on and let it sit for 2 weeks (I promise, it?s worth the wait). Then strain the liquid. Combine this with water (using a 50/50 ratio) and then use as you would your normal all purpose cleaner.

Place small slices of lemon peel along thresholds, windowsills, door entrances, or near cracks or holes where ants or pests are lurking about. I haven?t tried this one yet (living on the third floor does have some advantages? no big ant problem where I live), but apparently ants do not like lemon and will not enter your home. Lemons are also effective against roaches and fleas.

Place a lemon peel or two inside your fridge to absorb smells and bring a bright citrus scent.

To clean mineral deposits in your tea kettle: Fill the kettle with water and add a handful of thin slices of lemon peel. Bring it to a boil then turn off the heat. Let is sit for an hour, drain, and rinse well.

Lemons natural acidity provides great antibacterial properties to home cleaning. After properly cleaning your cutting boards, rub the surface with half a lemon. Let it sit for a couple of minutes before rinsing.

This will really perk your skin up. Go here to get the Skin Brightening Scrub recipe from Mommypotamus.

Lemon peels can be very lightly rubbed on your face for a nice skin tonic; then rinse (be careful around your eyes).