Vinegar is My New Best Friend

I go through major phases in my home, and I tend to obstinately stick to certain household items for their smells, look, taste, and feel. My newest obsession is vinegar. Did you know that this one item can clean your body and your home? Not only that, it dresses salads, works as a skin toner, and can aid in digestion? I feel guilty saying this, but vinegar wasn’t on my radar until very recently. But now it is, and I feel compelled to share some of my favorite vinegar tricks with you, in exchange for any of yours. How does that sound?

4 Ways that I Use Vinegar

1. Vinegar as a Toner: I am now in love with Bragg’s Organic Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar. One of my nearest and dearest friends told me about how she was getting her skin to clear up by using apple cider vinegar diluted with water as a toner for her skin. It clears up bad bacteria, restores your skin’s pH, and I can already tell a difference in the way my skin looks and feels after a few weeks of use. I’m serious. If you don’t believe me, google it. Or try it yourself. I put one teaspoon of ACV in a tablespoon of water and moisten a cotton ball with it and swipe away.

2. Vinegar to drink: I have been putting 2 teaspoons of Apple Cider Vinegar in eight ounces of water and drinking daily because I read that it helps in lessening the effects of melasma. Thanks to two pregnancies, my skin has clusters of dark spots. While eating less sugar and yeast also help in clearing up dark patches, I have actually noticed my skin looks better after a month of ACV intake. Apple Cider Vinegar also aids in digestion, and can balance out your bodies’ natural pH as well, similar to the skin’s pH. And trust me, it’s not as bad tasting as it sounds. I’ve even heard it helps reduce waistlines, which I can understand because as soon as I take some, it proceeds to make my stomach feel fuller for a while after. (I realize that this isn’t the most medically sound proof, but it’s my own testimonial that works for me.)

3. Vinegar as a Household Cleaner: One of my friends from church came over one day and lent me the use of her cleaning supplies, and I learned that day the amazing brightening properties of vinegar. I use distilled white vinegar and water in a spray bottle, (you can add lemon juice as well), and scrub my sinks until they shine. All of my appliances get a nice coat too, and by the end of a cleaning day, my house smells crisp and fresh, and my kitchen is so shiny I could almost any surface like a mirror. (That’s an exaggeration for effect, obviously.) But really, it cleans and shines.

4. Vinegar as a Marinade and Salad Dressing Base: I won’t lie, I kind of go overboard with my vinegar use. I love to whip up marinades for fajita or greek chicken with white vinegar or rice vinegar, and a whole bunch of seasonings and a dollop of olive oil and lime or lemon juice. It’s perfection.

My all-time favorite vinegar-based recipe is this Balsamic Vinaigrette:

1/3 cup of Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1 crushed clove of garlic

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp. onion powder

2 tsp. honey

I drizzle this on tomatoes, fresh basil strips and feta cheese during the summer, over chicken as a glaze during winter, and on top of baked squash in the fall. It’s seasonal, it’s scrumptious, and it’s vinegar at it’s finest.

Also among the many uses for vinegar, I’ve heard that it can actually help reduce acid reflux by balancing out stomach acid, aid in making hair shiny, substitute as a conditioner, help with repelling bugs, and be used as a massage oil. I’ve not tested these uses yet, but perhaps you have and could give me your feedback? Here’s to homemade remedies, and recipes for our friend vinegar!

What are some creative ways that you use vinegar?

Copyright © Charis Freije, Moms of Faith®, All Rights Reserved

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