6 Alternative Uses for Oranges

Do any of you recall the tradition of Santa placing an orange in the stockings? I do… and decided to try it this year.

This might have to do with the fact that as I was grocery shopping for all my Christmas baking supplies, I decided to purchase a bag of giant oranges with the intention that with all the yummy delicious holiday treats I will be enjoying this year from friends and family, I thought- oranges will be a healthy counterpart to all those treats; thusly, I can eat second helpings… after all I have oranges in the refrigerator.

Now this is a big bag of oranges, so I thought to myself am I really going to eat all of these before they go bad? What else can I do with them?

Alternate uses for oranges- stocking stuffers

I remembered Santa placing them in stockings as a delicacy and hope of good fortune. Okay, that is one alternative way I can use these big bag of oranges.

Alternate uses for oranges- oh, what a pretty smell!

Cutting up oranges and placing them in a pot of heated water along with cloves and cinnamon sticks is another terrific way to use oranges. Not to mention they can rid your home of musty odors and moths. Perforate the skin of the orange with a toothpick and make holes. Fill the holes with whole cloves. Turn your oven on to low and bake the oranges for an hour or until they harden. After cooling, decorate with ribbon or string in such as way as to form a sling for the orange. Hang in your closets, your bathrooms, your kitchens, or where you keep litter boxes. These are called pomanders and can last for years. The citrus aroma lends to a pleasant fragrance whilst the oils from the cloves repel moths.

Alternate uses for oranges- scrub away

Tired of using those scrubbers that can leave your hands raw and itchy? Simply slice an orange in half, scoop out the orange from the peel and place the scrubber inside the peel. You hold onto the peel while the scrubber still completes its job.

Alternate uses for oranges- gentle disposal

What can you do with the other half of the orange? Well, for starters, you can eat it. Then you can take the peel and place it down your garbage disposal in small pieces. Run the disposal for thirty seconds. Oranges contain citric acid which can defuse odors, as the coarse rind particles eliminate grunge from the blades. Moreover, the oils from the orange can act as a lubricant to ensure that the spinning mechanism keeps running smoothly.

Alternate uses for oranges- baker’s friend

As with cinnamon sticks and apples, oranges can also deter brown sugar from hardening. Place a two inch wide orange peel piece in with your brown sugar and keep in an air tight container. The skin diffuses moisture into the air inside keeping the air damp; consequently the brown sugar will remain clump free.

Alternate uses for oranges- muffin man

Want to bake some muffins that are chalk full of antioxidants yet still full of flavor? Substitute orange juice for milk in your recipe. Be sure to add one half teaspoon baking soda to offset any surplus of acidity caused from the citric acid. What exactly does the orange juice do to make the muffins healthier? Oranges contain ascorbic acid, also known as Vitamin C, which fluffs up the batter as well as providing folate and potassium which are our heart’s friends.

There are so many alternative uses; I may just have to go buy another bag of oranges.