When Life Gives You Lemons...

Clean the kitchen!  

Okay, I know this isn't exactly a living large in small spaces thing, but I figure it's helpful, and it's been far too long since I posted!  Plus, part of keeping sane in a small space is keeping it clean.

I love the smell of fresh lemons, and have found that frozen lemons can do fabulous things for cleaning.  I like to take a lemon and slice it into quarters, then each quarter into half, and then thirds.  I drop the pieces into an ice-cube tray, squeeze some of the juice into all the compartments, then fill them up with water.  

Once frozen, they are great for a variety of uses.  I just keep 'em in a plastic baggie in the freezer door.  

For the sink disposal: toss two or three lemon cubes in to grind up and clean, sharpen and deodorize the blades and disposal.

For the microwave: drop one or two into a microwave-safe bowl, add water, and microwave for 2-5 minutes (depending on the wattage) on high power.  Let sit for another 5 minutes, and then wipe microwave down immediately.

You can also do something similar to this to help with the oven cleaning.

For hard water stains/boil marks in pots and pans: fill pot or pan with water, bring to almost boiling, let simmer and add a handful of the lemon cubes.  Cover with lid, turn off heat, and let steam.  This doesn't completely remove the stains, but it helps when it comes to elbow grease time.

And as a bonus, the lemon juice is good for freshening up your wooden cutting board, and if you really want to get all Martha-Stewarty, the lemon cubes make a "fabulous addition to any afternoon get-together" (insert creepy chuckle here).