Homemade Orange Cleaner

I love living in Arizona where we have fresh oranges, grapefruits and lemons almost year round. I'm also a huge fan of finding ways to use, reuse and upcycle so that nothing goes to waste. So when I heard this idea of making homemade orange cleaner, I had to try it. It was super simple and super effective. It also feels good to use cleaner that is all natural and smells good...I like doing my part for the "green movement". So here's how easy it is.

If you have a whole bag of oranges, use this Citrus Technique to cut them up. Layer the cut peels into a glass jar. If you only eat one orange a day, that works too. Just add the peels to the jar each day until it is full. 

Once the jar is full of peel, pour while vinegar into the jar covering all peels.

Put the lid tightly on the jar. Then let it sit 10-14 days. See how simple that is?

Don't open it during this time...just let it sit! The vinegar pulls the natural oil from the citrus peels.

When 10-14 days have passed, open the jar and pour the citrus oil into a spray bottle, filling to half way. Fill the rest of the spray bottle with water making a 50/50 mixture of citrus oil and water. Shake just a little to mix it and you are ready to clean. This cleaner works great on sinks, counters, windows, floors, showers...well, just about anywhere.

I also tried it with lemon peels and it worked just as well. 

Really, the only cost to this cleaner is the vinegar, because you are using the throw away part of the orange as you eat them, and not purchasing oranges specifically for this. I used a pint jar for the lemons, and a quart jar for the orange peels.

What is your favorite reuse, recycle or upcycle tip?

Healthy Habits: Buttery Basil Carrots

We all know we should eat more carrots, right? I mean after all, they are packed with Beta-carotene. Huh? Why do I need Beta-carotene, you might ask?

Beta-carotene is converted into vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A is vital for healthy vision; it also aids the growth of healthy bones and teeth. Vitamin A is essential for the proper functioning of the immune system. This nutrient keeps the skin and cells that line the airways, digestive tract and urinary tract healthy, so they act as barriers and form the body’s first line of defense against infection.

Beta-carotene is also an important antioxidant nutrient. This is great news for our skin as its antioxidant action may help to act against age-accelerating free radicals, so that skin remains healthy and elastic. When taken on a regular basis, beta-carotene can help to protect skin from excessive ultra-violet (UV) radiation and sunburn. That’s not to say you should ditch your sunscreen if you eat a lot of carrots!

And if that's not enough...Carrots are naturally low in calories. Carrots are naturally low in fat and saturates. Carrots are naturally low in salt. In order to help reduce your risk of getting high blood pressure, nutrition experts recommend having no more than 6g of salt a day. Carrots are packed with fiber, which helps keep the digestive system healthy and helps balance blood sugar levels. Fiber also helps you to feel fuller for longer so you find it easier to maintain your weight.

Now here's what might surprise you...Adding a little fat enhances the goodness of carrots. Research from Ohio State University in America found that more carotenoids such as beta-carotene were absorbed when a fresh salad consisting of carrots, romaine lettuce, spinach and cherry tomatoes was eaten with full-fat salad dressing compared with fat-free salad dressing – Vitamin A is soluble in fat, not in water, so it is not lost in body fluids.

So, using butter with your carrots not only enhances the flavor, it helps your body absorb the nutrients provided by the carrots.

So here is my go-to carrot recipe. Even those who aren't huge vegetable fans eat these carrots. They are gooood!!

Ingredients:

3 Bags Baby Carrots

1/4 Cup Butter, room temperature

Juice from 1/2 Lemon

1-1/2 Tbsp Fresh, Dried Basil, crumbled

1 tsp Garlic Salt

1/4 tsp Black Pepper

Technique:

Place carrots in a saucepan and cover with water.

Place on stove on med-high heat. Cook approximately 15 minutes or until fork tender. Drain and return to pan. 

Add butter; stir til butter is melted and all carrots are coated.

Stir in remaining ingredients; mix thoroughly.

Serve warm.

These carrots are fancy enough to serve for any holiday dinner and are tasty enough to serve any night of the week.

Printable Recipe

For more great veggie recipes visit Recipe Page.

Will you eat more carrots knowing that it's actually healthy for you to have butter on them? To leave a comment Click Here.

Juicy Gossip: Gazpacho

Sometimes I want sweet juice and sometimes I want savory juice. This Gazpacho Juice is one of my favorites because it actually tastes like Gazpacho Soup. It is definitely savory. I leave the seed in the jalapeno when I juice it. If you know that you have a HOT jalapeno you may want to remove the seeds before juicing it.

So here it is, quick and easy today, a great recipe. (And I'm quite excited to have figured out how to provide a link for a printable version down below!)

This juice has a great variety of veggies...

Here's a tip for cutting the lime....

Love when the jalapeno's come from the garden...

And here is the finished product...

Gazpacho Juice

2 Lg Tomatoes (or 4 small)

1 Lg Cucumber

1 Lime or Lemon

1 Jalapeno

1 Red Bell Pepper

Chunk of Purple Onion (about 1/4 of a small onion)

1 Small Bunch Cilantro

2 Stalks Celery

Tip: Feed the soft and wet things through your juicer first. They will mush and leave a lot of juice in the chamber. The crunchy veggies will come in behind them and pull all the juice through.

Printable Recipe

Juicing Mickey Mouse

I didn't mean to juice Mickey Mouse, it just happened. And it tasted so good!


Sometimes when I juice it just looks like a mess. Unfortunately, sometimes when trying a new recipe it also tastes like a mess.


This time what I saw in the bowl looked bright and inviting. Then Mickey jumped out, promising a fun and happy experience with bright and vibrant colors like that of an Arizona sunset. And then I tasted it and the flavors did a happy dance on my tongue and I knew immediately why Mickey was claiming this as his.


So, after all the faces people have seen in tree trunks and toast, I got the happiest face on earth in my juice and it tasted great!


Mickey Mouse Juice
1 Lemon
1 Lime
2 Pears
2 Green Apples
2 Wedges Purple Cabbage
2 Large Carrots


Enjoy!!