by Texas Homesteader ~
Several weeks ago we were shopping for a family gathering and we needed to pick up some fresh limes for Homemade Pico de Gallo.
While we were in the grocery store to pick up limes, RancherMan decided that ‘6 for $1’ was the way to go. I wasn’t sure we’d go through all six limes though.
As it turns out there were indeed limes leftover after our gathering. To keep them from going to waste I washed them and tossed ’em in the freezer.
Come see how a frozen lime helps me reduce waste in the kitchen.
Don’t Forget The Zest
Fast-forward several weeks later & I needed a tablespoon of lime juice for a recipe I was working on. Those frozen limes to the rescue!
I pulled one out and zested it because, well you can ALWAYS use zest! I’ll dehydrate the zest & toss it in the next batch of cookies or something.
But now back to that frozen lime.
Easily & Quickly Juicing The Lime
I cut the now-zested lime in half and let it finish thawing. Then I used my handy-dandy vintage juicer to quickly juice the lime with just a few turns of the wrist.
This juicer is typically used to make orange juice from fresh oranges. But why not use it for smaller citrus too? It worked beautifully.
I poured the juice through a small strainer to filter out the pulp and seeds.
Don’t Waste Leftover Juice!
When I’d used what I needed of the juice I wondered what I would do with the rest of the juice? OMGosh y’all are gonna love this:
I have 2 removable inserts from a deviled-egg carrier. I pulled them out to use for preserving this juice.
One teaspoon of juice was poured into each indentation. Then I stuck the whole shebangie in the freezer.
When the juice was frozen I popped each frozen section out & put them in a labeled freezer bag.
The juiced & zested rind was finally tossed in the compost so there was no waste. Done & DONE!
What a cheap solution for 100% juice. I’ve done this with both lemon as well as lime. And with no plastic bottle trash to deal with like I’d have with a purchased bottle of lemon or lime juice.
Plastic-free, baby! Plastic free…
~TxH~
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I have never frozen any citrus fruit whole. If I have too many of something, I usually do everything you did after you froze before hand…..then I freeze. It takes up less room in the freezer. I also freeze bananas. I put peeled and mashed over-ripe bananas in a container, then when I have time to make bread I just pull it out.
I can see the squeezed citrus taking up even less room pre-squeezed, Nancy. Perhaps if I end up needing much more juice than one lemon’s worth I may also pre-squeeze and measure the juice in the future. For now, It’s much easier for me to locate that lemon or lime in its full glory than rummaging through various freezer bags! LOL ~TxH~
I prefer my citrus peels be put in a jar with any number of “spirits” and some sugar. Then at some point when a teensy tot sounds like a good Idea, at a perhaps, later date I haul them out of the dark cupboard and sometimes dry them or sometimes eat them or sometimes toss them in a glass of water or whatever.
Thank you for this post-I hat NO idea you could freeze citrus fruits! Now when my husband buys too many lemons for me, I won’t have to worry about them going bad before I get to use them again!
In the past I’ve had to throw away too-far-gone citrus as they sat in the bowl awaiting me to have occasion to use them, Laurinda. Now if they’re not used in a couple of days – into the freezer they go! Now they’re longer wasted! ~TxH~
Great idea! I have one of those juicers, and it gets used a lot. I also got one of those plastic folding juicers last year, and it’s nice for a quick squeeze of juice into my water glass. I found it at Dollar Tree, and it is still working well almost a year later, and shows no signs of breaking. Don’t forget you can make a great all purpose cleaner from lemon, lime, grapefruit, etc peels in a jar with white vinegar.