Saving the Zest

I can’t believe I’ve been tossing out my citrus fruits without saving the zest! During this “stay at home order” I’ve been shopping a lot less, like a lot less! I used to go to the grocery store at least every other day, if not daily. I just love having fresh produce. However, I now go once every two weeks. This makes keeping fruits and vegetables a challenge. 

I was worried when I saw my lemons, limes and mandarin oranges going bad. 

I decided to zest them all and place the zest in little snack size zip lock bags and right in the freezer-make sure to label them. Having zest really changes your cooking.  I add just add  any of the types of zests to salad dressings, sauces, fish, vegetable dishes, even desserts. Try mandarin zest on brownies!!!!

Adding zest really elevates whatever you are making.  Also having fresh lemon, lime and mandarin juice is great!  I just squeezed the fruits and placed the juice in ice cube trays and then transferred to zip lock bags. If you don’t have ice cube trays, just place in little snack size zip locks. The key is to do little portions. Now, I don’t have to worry about running out of flavor boosters!  

Just think, boring old broccoli can be enhanced by adding lemon juice and lemon zest-try it and let me know what you think. 

So if anything, I’ve now learned to preserve just about anything, no more waste during this crisis and beyond!