The Amazing Lemon - 5 Uses For The Little Yellow Fruit

We all know that we can make some pretty amazing lemonade out of lemons and some amazing salad dressings and marinades but did you know that this little yellow fruit has a few other practical uses?  Here are just a few examples of some alternative uses for lemons.

Odor Remover:  Household odors are never fun to deal with but instead of reaching for some chemicals to mask that scent why not try out this natural to remove odors instead.  Is your garbage disposal giving off an offensive odor?  Try cutting up a lemon and dropping it in to the disposal, turn it on and let it do its magic by eliminating the odor and leaving behind a nice pleasant lemony scent.  You can also rub lemon juice on cutting boards to help eliminate the odors they can some times pick up.  Lemons can even be used in the refrigerator to help eliminate odors that can form in there.  Just soak a sponge in some lemon juice and set it in the refrigerator and let it soak up the bad odors.  Want to have that fresh lemony smell all throughout your house?  Just cut up a few lemons and boil in some water for about 15 to 20 minutes and your whole house can smell all nice a lemony.    

Natural Cleaner:  Lemons work great as natural cleansers.  They especially work great on kitchen and bathroom counters.  Take lemon juice and sprinkle directly on counter top and wipe away with wet cloth.  Not only does it live a nice clean surface but also leaves an amazing lemony scent too! 

Natural Preservative:  Some fruits and vegetables have a tendency to turn brown after they have been sliced.  A good example would be apples or potatoes.  Sprinkle a few drops of lemon juice on them and toss to coat and the browning process is stopped.

Laundry Detergent:  Want to have brighter whites without using bleach?  Use lemon juice.  Try using 1/4 cup lemon juice in place of your laundry detergent and wash like normal.  Not only will your clothes come out smelling nice and fresh but your whites will be nice and white too!  Lemons can also be used as a great stain remover.  Use a mixture of 50% lemon juice with 50% baking soda and apply to stain.  Let stand for 10 minutes and wash as normal.  

Skin Care:  Do you suffer from dry skin?  Try using this lemon sugar scrub recipe and enjoy nice soft skin. 

Lemon Sugar Scrub

5 1/8 cups of sugar

2 cups olive oil

7-8 tablespoons of lemon juice or essential lemon oil.

Mix all ingredients together and store in an air tight container.  This recipe will fill about 2 16oz mason jars.  If using regular lemon juice the scent will start to fade after about a week.  Using the essential lemon oil will make the scent last much longer.  

The above applications have only merely scratched the surface of the uses for lemons.  They really are a wonderful and useful fruit and are pretty to have around in the kitchen to boot.  If you have any amazing uses for lemons please share in the comments section so we all can try them out! 

Getting Prepared - Back To School

It’s that time of year again.  School bells ringing, playgrounds filled with children, yellow school buses everywhere.  It’s time for school to be back in session.  Students are anxiously awaiting their first assignments from their teachers as the school year kicks into full swing.  But, before the kids hit the books it’s important to have them organized and ready for school in general.  Not only will this provide a better learning environment for the child but will also teach them the importance of organization.  Here are a few tips to help your child get organized and ready for school.

Designate an area in your home for home work and studying to be completed.  The area designated doesn’t have to be huge but it should be neat and tidy stocking only the essentials like paper, pens and pencils.  The less clutter the better.  The area could be a desk in their room or house, the kitchen table or a quiet corner some where in the home.  Ideally the area should be well lit, quiet and uncluttered.  It is also a good idea to specify a specific time for home work to be worked on.  Getting into a scheduled routine will greatly increase the development of good study habits in your child and help them stay organized.

Having a good backpack or book bag is a back to school essential and a key way for your child to keep their things organized to and from school.  The backpack or book bag doesn’t have to be anything fancy but should have one or two pockets for keeping things like pens, pencils and crayons contained.  The bag should also have plenty of room for things such as school books and notebooks.  It is a good idea to have your child clean out their backpack or book bag once a week or at least every two weeks to keep it uncluttered and organized and to prevent from any assignments being lost or misplaced. 

Another key way to help your child stay organized for school is to have a good notebook binder.  Depending on what grade your child is in will determine if you need just a simple one inch binder or a five subject notebook binder.  Typically elementary students need just a one inch binder to get assignments to and from school but older students will need more sections for the different classes they are taking.  Labeling the different sections and keeping the class work in separate sections will help keep your child organized and on top of their assignments.  The notebook binder is the perfect organizing tool for keeping school communications and assigned class work and notes all in one convenient place.

Getting organized for school doesn’t have to be a daunting task.  Helping your child get ready and organized for school will not only help them learn the importance of organization but will also impact their overall success throughout the school year.  Teaching and maintaining good organization is a skill that will become a life long asset as they grow and head off to college and the work place.