Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Day 2 - Lemon Drop Tutorial



 When we moved into the new house, most of it was brand spankin' new.  It was a realtor-purchased flip property - meaning it was purchased with the intent of renovating to relist it for sell as soon as possible.

 

He took our 32-year old home and pretty-much gutted it.  Among the rooms to receive a facelift, was the kitchen.  Here are pics taken shortly after we moved in:




 
 
I fell in love with the under-cabinet lighting, the pretty granite, cherry cabinets and top-of-the-line APPLIANCES!
 
It was all so pretty and new... Did I mention it was new?  I'm talkin' still-see-the-plumbers-putty-in-the-sink new!  Just look at my cool garbage disposal button (it's *like* not a switch on the wall and I LOVE that, lol):

 
 
Anyhoo, just like typical me, I used my excitement to fuel my actions and made an unrealistic decision to seldom use the garbage disposal.  I was going to scrape 90% of the junk into the trash BEFORE I placed it into the sink.
 
YEA. Sure. UH-HUH. RIGHT.
 
I don't know how but... I've come home on a few occasions to a what-is-that-smell moment and the culprit has been my garbage disposal.  Maybe I haven't been as diligent as I could've been with the whole scraping thing...
 
Don't get me wrong, I love (and occasionally purchase) garbage disposal fresheners like all of these:
 


 
I did, however, notice a common ingredient - lemon.
 
DID YOU KNOW...
 
Lemon is a natural deodorizer?
 
Well, it is!  You can pour 1 cup of lemon juice into the bottom of your empty dish washer and let it run on the rinse cycle for a quick clean. You can even use it to clean a funky disposal.
 
In the case of my stankin' garbage disposal, I made some pure lemon juice drops and today, I'll share the quick tutorial.
 
First, I bought a citrus juicer. I know.  It probably sounds unnecessary to most of you but it was from Ross and it was only *like* $3.  Plus, remember Munchface's Lemonade Birthday Party?!  How can you host a LEMONADE party without a citrus juicer?!See, it was necessary.
 
If you're thinking about purchasing a citrus juicer or wondering what the heck one looks like, just Google it:
 
 
There are tons of options!
 
After the lemonade party, we had lemons all over the place.  I sent people home with lemons, I had leftover lemon slices from the homemade lemonade - they were EVERYWHERE.
 
After a week of lemon chicken, lemon-infused waters, lemon cupcakes, etc., I noticed my lemons were starting to age.  I needed to figure out what to do with them and FAST.
 
LEMON DROPS TUTORIAL
 
Supplies
- lemon
- citrus juicer
- ice tray
 
Step-by-Steps
 
1.  Slice your lemon(s) in half.
 
 
2. Use your citrus juicer to extract the juice.
 
 
3.  Pour the lemon juice into an ice tray. 
 
 
 
OMG! I love these Target ice trays.  They were in the Dollar bins and they're shaped like, wait for it, lemon slices!!
 
 
 
 
4.  Freeze overnight. 
 

 
5.  Pop the frozen lemon drops out of the ice trays and into a sandwich bag in the freezer for storage.
 
To use as a garbage disposal freshener, simply drop 1-3 lemon cube(s) in the disposal and turn it on for 5 seconds.  Turn on warm water and let it run (while the disposal is on) for 15 seconds.  Enjoy the scent of your fresh garbage disposal!
 
These lemon drops have several uses.  Sure, I use them for my garbage disposal but I've also dropped 1 in my tea when I'm not feeling well.  I've placed one in my water bottle when I'm on the go.  Munch was sucking on them when she was sick.
 
How does this relate to our series?
 
Home starts as soon as you get through the door.  My mood is instantly changed if something smells off as soon as I walk in the door.  Little tasks like this will keep our home smelling fresh and manage my stress levels (the man and the kid act like stank doesn't bother them)!
 
So, go and make some lemon drops today.  They're quick, easy and pack a lot of BANG in each tiny cube! 
 
O and for more tips, including what 7 foods should never go in your garbage disposal, check out Christine's article at I Dream Of Clean HERE.
 
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