Last week one afternoon as I was milling around my kitchen, dreaming up things I could be doing to be more productive, I hear a knock at the door. It was my neighbor, Bay, who happens to be a young mother of three children. I open the door to see two smiling faces. Her face beaming with joy to see me and her little boy with a smile stretching wide across his tender little face. They were just stopping in to visit me. Immediately, the idea lightbulb bursted on in my mind. I had this whole box of lemons that someone delivered to my door the other week, just gleaming its bright yellow stare at us. I knew it would not be long before the lemons would start to rot and I knew that this young mother is up for learning some good old homemaking skills…
so I looked at her with my mischievous eyes, “Want to help me put up these lemons?”
She immediately responded, “Yes!”
Well, now I had to figure out how to put up lemons since I never did it before. I did not want to can the lemons because I do not want to kill all the beneficial nutrients they contain. I did not want to freeze them whole because I figured they would be very hard to process in our daily smoothies like that. There is nothing more annoying than hard pieces of lemon peel in your smoothie. Smoothies are supposed to be smooth.
I just found my juicer that was lugged around in many different storage sheds for the past 8 years. Finally, I can juice again! My thought was that we could juice the ENTIRE lemon because the peel is 5 to 10 times more nutrient dense than the flesh of the lemon. I do not want to miss out on those nutrients! No way!
Lemon peels are an excellent source of fiber, potassium, magnesium, calcium, folate, and beta carotene. They also improve bone health. The high levels of calcium and vitamin C in the peel can aid in osteoporosis, arthritis, and strengthen the immune system. Lemons are also very alkalizing which means it can make your body a harmful environment for cancer cells. They thrive in acidic conditions, so by alkalizing your body, you fight against their free radical damage. Lemons help with weight loss and detox as well. They are amazing. The seeds contain vitamin B17 which is also very handy in fighting cancer and disease. I put a whole lemon in each smoothie we make here on the homestead.
It was such a joy to share some productive time with this young mother. I try to love my neighbor as myself. When I was a young mother, I craved older mothers to take me under their wing and teach me all about being a keeper of the home. If I so enjoy others to share with me, I will share with all of you. Here is our step by step method on preserving the harvest of lemons…
Bay’s little boy, Cole, was enjoying helping wash the lemons with his mamma. Look at those cute dimples!
The next evening, I made a delicious drink for my family. Strawberry lemonade. Wow. It was fantastically refreshing. The following morning, we threw a cube into our breakfast smoothie. Perfect touch to an already amazing breakfast treat!
4 thoughts on “Making Lemon Concentrate”
Erin what kind of juicer is it that you use?
I am so enjoying your delicate shower of new blog posts! Would you consider changing your type color to black instead of grey, and maybe increasing the size just a smidge? I am finding it hard to read and smaller than other blogs I typically read. I love your new graphics and the subjects you are covering!
What do you do if you don’t have a juicer or a Vitamix or Blendtec only a regular blender? Looks like a wonderful thing to do. : )
You could try blending the lemon in the regular blender maybe with a little water to make it go. I would cut the lemon into very small pieces first. I think this could work. Try it and let us know. We would be glad to share your success with others. Thanks for posting:)