A couple months ago my husband downloaded TikTok, and I mocked him for months. I refused to watch videos cause I thought it was too lame and goofy. Before I knew it, my Instagram feed was infiltrated with videos shared from TikTok and then....quarantine hit. I had already been through a week off of work for spring break when the schools in my state closed first for two weeks, then two more...and then through the end of the year. One day, I watched someone on Instagram post a Tiktok of them making cake in an adorable step by step video.
Cut to me downloading TikTok and creating a video. Listen, I am not one of those adorable or hilarious video creators. I can't dance or come up with silly ideas. I am instead using it to showcase all the things I love most--baking, cooking, sustainability, diys, etc.
As a nobody and a newbie, I was expecting 30 views and 2 likes for a few months, but my second video became somewhat of a hit.. But somehow I amassed 35 thousand views and 4 thousand likes within 3 days. So what exciting video was my runaway day one hit, you ask? It was about...lemons.
Yep, you read that right. My 35k view video was about lemons and using them with zero waste. My husband thinks it's hilarious.
I spent 60 seconds sharing how I use every part of a lemon so nothing is wasted and nothing goes bad. I zested the lemons, and froze the zest. I juiced them and put the juice in the refrigerator. Finally, I put all the spent lemons into jars and covered them in vinegar to make an infused cleaner. These seemed like a total "duh!" video to me. Just normal, useless information. I made it because I needed to use up an excess of lemons and I wanted to get to know the TikTok format, not because I thought it was in any way helpful information.
That video served to remind me of a couple of helpful things. That, 1. Everyone is into different things and just because something seems obvious to me, others may not have ever thought that way. 2. Everyone is also on a different continuum in their quest for information about their interests. I have spent a LOT of time over the past couple of years making my own...almost everything. I have worked to cut down on chemicals, single use papers and plastics, food waste, etc. I am no expert, I am still learning, but I can help others with their learning as well.
Food waste was a big problem in my life. I never thought twice about it--overbuying and watching things go to waste. Forgetting the food I had so something spoiled in the fridge. Throwing away citrus peels, carrot peels, celery bases, etc. I have worked hard to figure out how to get every bit out of food. I have also purchased large batches of the same vegetables through a zero waste food program. It's caused me to get creative when I have 40 pounds of tomatoes or 40 yellow squash.
I am passionate about these things. While they may seem silly to some, they are helpful and interesting to others, so with that in mind, here are some ways to use your excess lemon zest and juice!
Lemon zest
Wasting lemon zest should be a crime. Harsh, but true. Lemon zest adds an extreme punch of lemon flavor without changing the liquid content of your dish. Add them with poppyseeds to cinnamon rolls. Stir it into tomato jam to brighten the flavor. Sprinkle it (and goat cheese) over brown butter pasta.
A zester is a must-have on my kitchen items list. A normal zester is great, a microplane fine zester is even better. You can use these on citrus, nutmeg, coconut, even hard cheese.
Cut to me downloading TikTok and creating a video. Listen, I am not one of those adorable or hilarious video creators. I can't dance or come up with silly ideas. I am instead using it to showcase all the things I love most--baking, cooking, sustainability, diys, etc.
As a nobody and a newbie, I was expecting 30 views and 2 likes for a few months, but my second video became somewhat of a hit.. But somehow I amassed 35 thousand views and 4 thousand likes within 3 days. So what exciting video was my runaway day one hit, you ask? It was about...lemons.
Yep, you read that right. My 35k view video was about lemons and using them with zero waste. My husband thinks it's hilarious.
I spent 60 seconds sharing how I use every part of a lemon so nothing is wasted and nothing goes bad. I zested the lemons, and froze the zest. I juiced them and put the juice in the refrigerator. Finally, I put all the spent lemons into jars and covered them in vinegar to make an infused cleaner. These seemed like a total "duh!" video to me. Just normal, useless information. I made it because I needed to use up an excess of lemons and I wanted to get to know the TikTok format, not because I thought it was in any way helpful information.
That video served to remind me of a couple of helpful things. That, 1. Everyone is into different things and just because something seems obvious to me, others may not have ever thought that way. 2. Everyone is also on a different continuum in their quest for information about their interests. I have spent a LOT of time over the past couple of years making my own...almost everything. I have worked to cut down on chemicals, single use papers and plastics, food waste, etc. I am no expert, I am still learning, but I can help others with their learning as well.
Food waste was a big problem in my life. I never thought twice about it--overbuying and watching things go to waste. Forgetting the food I had so something spoiled in the fridge. Throwing away citrus peels, carrot peels, celery bases, etc. I have worked hard to figure out how to get every bit out of food. I have also purchased large batches of the same vegetables through a zero waste food program. It's caused me to get creative when I have 40 pounds of tomatoes or 40 yellow squash.
I am passionate about these things. While they may seem silly to some, they are helpful and interesting to others, so with that in mind, here are some ways to use your excess lemon zest and juice!
Lemon zest
Wasting lemon zest should be a crime. Harsh, but true. Lemon zest adds an extreme punch of lemon flavor without changing the liquid content of your dish. Add them with poppyseeds to cinnamon rolls. Stir it into tomato jam to brighten the flavor. Sprinkle it (and goat cheese) over brown butter pasta.
A zester is a must-have on my kitchen items list. A normal zester is great, a microplane fine zester is even better. You can use these on citrus, nutmeg, coconut, even hard cheese.
Once your lemon is zested, store it in a reusable bag or tupperware in your freezer, and sprinkle as needed. Any lemony recipe you make should have zest sprinkled in to punch up the flavor!
Lemon juice
Speaking of lemony flavor, let's use all that lemon juice! If you juice a batch of lemons, the juice should be kept refrigerated and used within 10-12 days, so here are some quick lemon juice uses. Lemon is one of my top 5 favorite flavors, so I could share recipes for days but I'll try to keep this round-up short!
Lemonade is the quickest way to use up a large quantity of juice (and nearly any type of cocktail can be enhanced with lemon juice):
Anytime I have fresh lemons I always make lemon curd, and always with David Lebovitz's recipe:
Tart lemon desserts are always the way to go:
Vanilla Chai Lemon Ricotta Muffins
Lemon is great for dessert but it is an amazing savory flavor as well. You can use it for anything, including:
(This soup is amaaaaaazing)
Lemon and Herb Shrimp Spaghetti Squash
Garlic White Wine Spaghetti
In just a few days I will share ways to use the zest and juiced lemons left behind for zero waste. In the meantime, drop a line below and let me know your favorite lemony dishes so I can add them into my rotation!
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