My second love...

I couldn't help myself from another entry, so here goes nothing...

I love baking soda and all, but I have another lovely natural thing that I love.  LEMONS!  They are the greatest!  Firstly, they come in handy when you're trying to clean.  One of the best tips I ever heard was from a friend of mine who suggested that I cut a lemon in half and microwave it in a microwave safe dish for a few minutes.  The steam from the lemon will make it easy to clean your microwave and it'll smell lemon-y fresh!

It is also one of the best things for a beauty remedy.  If you get dry scaly hands in the winter, a good thing to do is to take half a lemon and rub it all over your hands.  It'll burn a bit, but the citric acid will help dissolve the dead skin.  Apply a nice strong moisturizer and your hands should be feeling pretty good.  Another thing to try is to steam your face over a pot of boiling water with lemon slices in it.  Just boil the water and then when it's nice and hot, hang a towel over your head and let the steam do it's thing.  It'll open your pores up and it also helps if you're not feeling great and have a bit of congestion.  If you'd rather not shove your head over a pot (understandable) you can take a long hot steamy bath instead.  If you add slices of lemon, the citric acid helps get rid of dead skin as aforementioned.  Added bonus:

Brown Sugar and Honey Scrub
1/8 C brown sugar (dark or light, whatever you have on hand)
1/8 C honey
mix together, it'll be a bit thick

After you've soaked in the bath for a while, take small finger scoop of scrub and use circular motions over your entire body.  Take extra care at your very dry spots.  You can also use this scrub on your face.  After you rinse off make sure you coat yourself in body lotion or a body cream.  It should leave you looking shiny and new and feeling renewed!

Also, a good use for lemon is to just add it to your water.  It adds a little bit of crisp clean flavor to your water while adding a little bit more Vitamin C to your day!

It also helps to make some delectable desserts.  A good lemon cake can be a luscious addition to any picnic or party, and a lemon-ginger creme brulee is a fresh end to a hearty winter meal.  (Recipes to follow!)