‘Tis the season for gift giving! However, your gift ideas shouldn’t be limited to non-food goodies. If you have a natural talent for concocting dishes or “gift-able” stuff in mason jars wrapped up in a gold or red ribbon, then these healthy holiday gift ideas are going to be useful to you. Since I’m assuming that you already have that talent, I’m not going to list down the long process of creating them. All you have to do is be creative and do a little labor of love.
Home-Made Salsa
I’ve never met a person who doesn’t love salsa. It’s rich in Vitamins C and A too! Fresh homemade salsas are the best because you can customize them and add a little twist to your own recipe. You can choose the level of spiciness too! From mild, medium, hot to habanero and ghost pepper heats, your family and friends will surely love this gift! (Oh, not to mention you can invent cool names for your very own salsa!)
Poptastic Popcorn
Just like your very own salsa, you can mix and match your own popcorn flavors! From the extra spicy jalapeno cheddar, Starbucks-like pumpkin spice caramel, gingerbread or cinnamon bourbon, you can never run out of popcorn flavors that you can add to your jar of goodies. Feel free to glaze them however you want! Get creative! Popcorn isn’t superfood, but it’s a healthier alternative to chips. Just watch out for the serving size.
Tip: You can also add nuts or dried fruits too!
Spice Jar
We said in our previous article how certain spices can give us health benefits while adding a pop of flavor to our dishes. That in itself is a good reason on why it’s awesome to gift our loved-ones with a spice jar that can boost their health in an instant!
Tip: You can write small notes on every jar on the health benefits that each spice has. This way, you’re letting them know that you’re not just giving away spices that they can get in any grocery store! It’s a jar full of love.
Nuts About Nuts
Just like the popcorn, you can glaze or add flavor to any kind of nuts. You can even add spices too, for an edgy twist. Nuts are packed with protein and contain at least heart-healthy substances like unsaturated fats. It can also lower bad cholesterol levels and has Omega-3 fatty acids.
Tea Mix
Since we’re advocating that tea is healthier than coffee, we might as well share to our family and friends our favorite tea and put it in a jar! If you’re not a fan of mixing the tea leaves in one jar, you can always use small mason jars and give it in 3’s. You can put herbal teas, black teas, green teas, or even jasmine and lavender teas! There’s a lot of teas available in the market and all you have to do is pick your top 3 and gift them!
Tip: You can add edible flowers that can add to the zen-tea experience! Not only does it improve the aroma and taste, it would also look good in the jar.
I love personalized gifts! I love giving and receiving them.
When you give people gifts like this, not only do they feel like you’ve really put an effort with your gift–and nobody really refuses food. Everyone loves something to eat.
I have this friend who makes EXTREMELY GOOD salsa. Every year we request that she gives out the same gift! She says it’s a family recipe and I tell you, it really is good. She puts some sort of spice in it that I can’t figure out what, but my oh my, we love receiving that jar from her every year. There was even one time that we nearly wanted to ask her if she can just sell it.
I’m not exactly sure how I can glaze popcorn without making it soft and not crunchy.
Nuts are very easy to customize. You can add almost any possible flavor to it. The list is endless and you can cater it to your friend/loved one’s flavor preference!
I agree. You can even turn it into a sweet or spicy flavor, gourmet style or whatever.
I might just do these for my close friends and relatives. Seems easier to just cook something in a bunch instead of shopping for individual gifts that they probably won’t even use. My friends often love what I cook so I’m pretty sure they will enjoy receiving something like this. Thanks for the idea, Radiant Peach!
Wow, an edible holiday gift that isn’t a fruitcake! Would love to try some of this. The popcorn and nuts look interesting. It’s also a gift that can be shared with the entire family. That’s what the holidays are for.
They also look good placed in jars. Just decorate them a little and they look so festive and creative already.
I really love the ideas in this blog. Very creative and very helpful too. I haven’t even decided what to give out just yet but this might just be the few on my list.Thanks!
Customized gifts are the best. They are a labor of love and it’s really appreciated by people. Giving gifts isn’t just about buying anything that you think is ‘okay’ or will pass as ‘decent’. Always strive for something that will let people know you care about them and you’ve made an effort. Christmas is just once a year and we don’t give gifts on a daily basis, so it’s good to make things special once in a while.