Brilliant Ways To Use Leftover Lemons Around The House
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Discover creative and unexpected ways to make the most of your leftover lemons. From cleaning hacks to delicious recipes, we’ll show you how to utilize every last drop of this citrus fruit.
What To Do With Leftover Lemons
Lemons, Lemons, Lemons…… Too Many Lemons – Here is what to do!
Have you ever purchased lemons and had to throw a few out? You had all the intentions in the world to use them, but didn’t. After squeezing the lemon juice from the lemon, you toss the lemon peels. Let’s explore other uses for leftover or extra lemons that may be floating around in your fridge.
You can make more out of lemons than lemonade. Fresh lemon juice is a really useful liquid that can be used to clean your home, and can even be part of your beauty regimen. Let’s get frugal, stop food waste and use up those lemons in a great way.
I’d wager a bet that no other fruit works quite as hard as the little lemon. Let’s start using lemons to their full potential. Let’s make every lemon we use a success, an overachiever … a winner. We used to keep leftover lemons in a container in the refrigerator for lemon zest. But more often than not, I found that they would go bad before I even had a chance to use them.
Sad but true, and like many of us, I just can’t stand food waste. There are no savings in tossing out food. By the end of this list, you’ll see just how much this little citrus fruit can do!
Freeze Your Extra Lemons
After slicing lemons that I knew my family would not be able to use up, we started to freeze them. Fresh lemon slices are so refreshing and lovely in a glass of water.
A frozen lemon slice is like a lemon ice cube! You get the same effect as having a fresh lemon slice in your water. Over the summer, I sliced them up and froze all my lemon slices just to keep my water a little cooler and tastier.
Make a Tea with Lemon
When cold and flu season is upon us, nothing helps more at breaking down mucus than lemon. Squeeze that lemon juice into some hot water with a dash of honey – And there you have it – a sore throat remedy!
Freshen Up With Leftover Lemons – Beauty Hacks
Get rid of bad breath.
Squish a little lemon juice in a small bit of water and swish it around in your mouth for a few seconds. I know some may not like the taste of straight lemon juice. If you can, DO IT!!!
Then swallow the juice for extra freshening. Lemon juice will also aid in digestion, and will give you a nice jolt of vitamin C!
Lighten blemishes.
If you have some blemishes or you notice your face darkening in pigment in some spots, put some lemon juice on it every day until it lightens. The antioxidant content in lemon juice is known to help fight free radicals in the skin.
Whiten discolored elbows, heels, and knees.
Just rub half a juiced lemon over the spotty areas and watch them disappear. One reminder: Lemon juice increases sensitivity to sunlight, so don’t go gallivanting about in the daylight after using it on exposed skin.
Kick Start Your Morning
Drinking a glass of warm water with a tablespoon of lemon juice when you first wake up in the morning is a great kick-start to your day! Tahlia from Her Happy Heart goes into more detail here – healthy morning routine ideas.
Clean With Lemons Around The House – Kitchen Cleaning Hacks
No need to wait for spring cleaning. Skip the harsh chemicals and use a simple solution that uses lemons in unique ways.
Cut the grease & grime on that cutting board
Take extra lemon rinds and a little coarse salt (Kosher) to clean wooden cutting boards. If not taken care of properly, they can turn into a smelly (and in some cases, moldy) mess. Sprinkle the salt liberally all over the board, then slice your lemon and use it to rub the salt into the board.
The salt acts as an abrasive to lift stains, and the lemon juice leaves everything smelling great.
Throw it in the garbage disposal.
We also found out our garbage disposable LOVES lemon rinds (Nom, Nom, Nom). After dishes are rinsed, put half a lemon in the garbage disposal.
Run hot water for a few seconds and then run the disposal for a few seconds to lightly chop the lemon. Leave the chopped lemon in there overnight and finish the job in the morning.
Clean your microwave quickly.
Squeeze the juice out of half a lemon and put it in 1 cup of water in a microwave-safe bowl. Run the microwave for 5 minutes. The lemon juice steam majorly cuts down on wiping-off time. After letting it cool down for a few minutes, take a damp cloth and wipe down your microwave. SPARKLING clean!
Use as a multipurpose cleaner.
Vinegar is one of my favorite natural cleaners. I take the whole used lemon, lemon bits, or just the peels. Place them in a large pint glass and then fill the whole thing with distilled white vinegar.
After 24 hours, it will infuse your vinegar with lemon. Perfect for wiping countertops by using in a spray bottle, the stove, or cleaning your floor.
But the benefits of this all-purpose lemon cleaner don’t end there. Lemons are also known for their ability to cut through grease, making them perfect for cleaning kitchen appliances, stovetops, and even greasy dishes. You’ll be amazed at how effortlessly your lemon cleaner removes stubborn residue, leaving everything shiny and fresh.
I don’t own it, but happen to know about a book called Lemon Magic: 200 Beauty and Household Uses for Lemon Juice. My list has fallen short of 200. However, you can check out this book to give you more great ideas. They offer some great ways to use leftover lemons.
Next time you have leftover lemons, don’t let them go to waste. Try these surprising ways to make the most of them and enjoy the numerous benefits they offer.
From cleaning and cooking to beauty and health, lemons are resourceful fruit. Start incorporating these ideas into your daily life and make the most of this citrus treasure!
What are some other ways to use leftover lemons around the house? If you have any special tips, please let us all know.
Drop us a comment below we would love to hear from you.
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very nice article , thanks for sharing it with us
Nice article thanks a lot
I love using leftover lemons around the house! They are great for cleaning, cleaning up smells, and adding a little zing to dishes.
Nice post, Thanks for sharing!
I have a lemon tree that is over flowing with lemons so I need some ideas on what to do with the lemons before they go bad and drop.
I made a big batch of limoncello and gave it to friends. I think I’m going to make lemon curd with some of the lemons, then probably juice, zest and freeze them
WOW, Melanie! How wonderful you have a lemon tree. Living in the northeast I am a little envious. I am so happy you are able to make so many wonderful things with lemons. How many on average does your tree produce every year?
Its awesome way that you explain , am gona try this soon give feedback to you .
Thank you so much for sharing this with us .
Living in FL with a big lemon tree, we always have more than we can use. After gifting all of our friends who want them each year, we juice the remainder and freeze the juice in regular old ice trays. When set, we pop them out and collect them in a gallon freezer bag that we keep in our freezer. Whenever a recipe calls for lemon, I figure two tsps per ice cube and so far recipes have turned out good. I also zest some of the rind in another freezer ziplock type bag and can take a pinch out each time I need some. Hate to waste anything that God has given us!
AMEN to this!!! Thank you for sharing your tips with us. I can only imagine how many lemons you get each harvest.
I’m going to try freezing them more and make my own ice cubes for that. I definitely use it for cleaning a lot!
Wow! These are such great tips to save the lemon from wasted. Thanks a lot for sharing this!
those are awesome ideas. we have used them for warding off bugs.
Absolutely going to try the lemon in the microwave. I use lemons in the garbage disposal but the other uses I have never thought of.
That’s a good idea to freeze them. I love lemons.
It’s interesting that it can whiten discolored elbows, heels, and knees. I’ll start keeping and preserving left over lemons then!
These are excellent tips. Leftover lemon is very common in almost all houses. I use it for reducing the black marks in my elbow and knee.
Your tricks are great ? love lemon too. Good article.
Thank you!!! 🙂
Steve
I had a brother named Steve Morrissette, lived in Mesa Az
Wondering if we are related!
oh my gosh!!! i am totally going to be using your tip for cleaning the microwave!
RIGHT!!! and the smell…. YUM and clean at the same time
Lemons are actually the best and most functional multiuse food item I’ve come across. I never thought about freezing them! Best believe I’m doing that for the rest of the summer!
This is why I love lemons. They have plenty of uses aside from being used as food ingredients in dishes. Those are some great uses you got compiled and thanks for sharing.
I knew about the cleaning properties, but had no idea it could lighten blemishes! And now I’m going to go buy lemons for that and then use them to eat/make lemonade as well!
I enjoy sliced lemons in a drink of water and knew about their properties for cleaning but was surprised to learn a few more applications here that I hadn’t considered. Throwing it the garbage disposal as well as using it to lighten blemishes on the skin were both new to me. Just goes to show how versatile and useful lemons are compared with other foods we buy.
So many awesome uses for lemons. Besides lemonade haha. I love using the zest from the peel in dishes. And I have been putting the peel in the disposal for ages now. Also, you can make candied citrus peel as well.
What a great Post. I never knew lemon can be use to clean microwave. Soo interesting. I will have to give it a try. Thanks
I clean with lemon all the time, and I put it in my water, too. I didn’t realize you could use it for beauty purposes.
Didn’t know that lemons can help with bad breath! Will take note of that. Have been using it for my dark spots though and can attest that it works!!
Yes! Lemons have so many wonderful uses. My sister has always put lemon juice on her face and her skin is beautiful. I need to try to do that regularly.
I need to get better at that too…
Love the idea of freezing them up. I never tried that. 🙂 Also, it’s true that it can whiten skin. Been doing it for months and I saw a difference now.
I love lemons but I didn’t realize all of the purposes that they serve. I put lemons in my disposal and slive and freeze for drinking water. But, I never new about the microwave and water boiling trick? Makes sense!
Leftover Lemons are great for cleaning. I hear they take rust off well too.
I like making lemonade honestly with leftover lemons, I’m an old fashioned gal.
thank you for sharing these suggestions, I love making lemon cookies or muffins
These are some great ideas on how to use leftover lemons. Will try them out.
I will try the tip for cleaning the microwave with left over lemons. I also use the lemon rinds to ward off the stray cats from my flower garden. It works well for me. I guess cats just don’t like the smell of lemons.
ive read a lot of articles about the use of lemons, but not of the leftovers. very interesting post. thank you for sharing!
I like these tips. Never though to freeze them and I should clean my cutting board with them!
I grate for zest…use when a recipe calls for zest then
Cutt, squeeze and freeze to use the juice in recipes too.
So useful.
Great ideas!!! Thank you for sharing.
Leomns do make a difference when you use them to clean your home and space.
I always hated wasting what was left of lemons. There are a ton of great things you can use them for.
wow. now i want to go buy a bag of lemons. thanks for all the tips!! i would love to try it for my face. joy
great tips, just need to remember all of them LOL , look for new tips. thanks
Hhhhmmmm….the garbage disposal idea is totally new to me! I am yet to try it out. Lemons never cease to amuse me. So small but yet so useful to us and in our lives.
Supersmart advice, thank you 🙂
Lemons are so useful! When I was younger I don’t use it that much but when I knew how to use in different ways. We rarely waste even a single piece of it.
I always have lemons on hand because they truly are a wonderful fruit to add to water, then you can clean the house with them, and so on. It’s amazing the list of ways to use lemons around the home.
I had no idea that lemons could be used for so many things! Can’t wait to try some!
Awesome ideas! You can also make a candied lemon peel with the leftover peels. So yummy. 🙂
Love that suggestion. Thank you
You can also use left-over lemons to make lemon cookies. You can grate the lemon and squeeze the juice for some delicious cookies, cake, or icing.
That is another GREAT tip! Thanks, Alissa for sharing!
I was checking out this page because I wanted to know what to do with lemons after I had made Lemon cookies. I have lots of zested lemons and left over juice.
You could also zest your lemons before putting them in the disposal and freeze the zest to use in recipes later.
AHHHH… Great Idea Tracy!!!! Thank you for sharing
Good to know?
I love to use lemons (cut in half, or quarters) when I make stock. Roasting the meat scraps with your vegetable ends and scrapings and lemon gives it a really hearty flavour. After roasting, move to a large pot and fill with water, boil, strain and voila!
My favorite way to use lemons is to squirt them over an avocado with a sprinkle of salt and pepper!
My garbage disposal loves to eat lemons too!
When we lived in California and had a lemon tree in the back yard, we used the lemons in place of tennis balls for the dogs. They loved the tennis ball tree, until they bit too hard into the “balls” and they got a mouth full of juice. :-))
Lemons are toxic to dogs!!!