If you’re looking for a lightening fast and cost efficient homemade holiday gift, I have just the thing for you!
I love to make homemade food gifts for friends and family around the holidays. It’s fun to give them and all, but mainly, I love having a reason to buy more glass jars. SEE ERIC, I ACTUALLY NEEDED THESE JARS. And cute tags…oh my goodness, the cute tags. I die.
I almost didn’t get a chance to make any homemade gifts this year because the past two weeks have been consumed with the cookbook photoshoot (behind the scenes one, two, three). So, we just started our Christmas shopping/gift planning on Saturday which was fun. Our tree is still not up yet, but it is what it is. We’re squeaking in at the last minute this year, and I’m just going to have to make peace with the fact that the holiday season is never “perfect”. Isn’t it so much better when you just accept that?
My motivation was running a bit low after the excitement of last week, but sometimes inspiration strikes when I least expect it. I got a text from my sister Kerrie on Friday night. She wrote:
“Mixing up your 10-spice mix and putting them in jars with your recipe attached! I’m giving some out for Christmas! How’s that for an idea?”
Then she attached a photo. Immediately, I knew I had to do this.
Then a short while later, I received another text from Kerrie:
“Do NOT touch your face when using the CAYENNE pepper!!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!”
I just about died laughing.
A short while later, another text:
“A frozen face cloth helps.”
She kills me, she really does.
So, a big thanks to Kerrie for this post’s inspiration (and hilarious personality). I love you.
Also, thanks to Eric for being my crafting partner in crime yesterday (he was the one who insisted we do this idea!) and for being the best hand model eva. If you are following me on snapchat, you saw the entire process (as well as the Crispy Almond Butter Cookies from my cookbook)! We had a blast.
The fine print: Do not attempt to use a mixing bowl this small. I only used it for the photo and then promptly transferred the spices into the biggest, baddest bowl I own (a bamboo Caesar salad bowl that could feed 25 people – 3 pics down).
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
10-Spice Mix Gift Jars
Yield
7 packed cups of spice mix
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Total time
This 10-Spice mix takes just a few minutes to throw together, and it can be used in a variety of dishes, such as soups, stews, pastas, potatoes, salad dressings, and more! I love using it in my 10-Spice Vegetable Soup with Cashew Cream (also see: page 137, The Oh She Glows Cookbook) which is one of my most loved soups of all-time (and a reader favourite, too!) These spice jars make a quick and easy holiday gift that won't set you back much money. Just pair the spice mix with the soup recipe or, if they don't have it, The Oh She Glows Cookbook with the page bookmarked.
Ingredients
- 2 cups smoked paprika
- 1 cup garlic powder
- 1 cup dried oregano
- 1 cup onion powder
- 1 cup dried basil
- 2/3 cup dried thyme
- 1/2 cup ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup white pepper (optional)
- 1/2 cup fine sea salt
- 1/3 cup cayenne pepper
Directions
- Gather 8-9 (3/4 cup/175 ml capacity) glass jars.
- Add all of the spices into an extra-large bowl (I used a huge Caesar salad bowl) for easier mixing.
- Whisk together all of the spices until thoroughly combined. It takes a while to mix it all together, but keep going until you don’t see any clumps or patches of spice.
- Divide the spice mix between small jars using a funnel.
- Secure lid, tag, and ribbon on each jar.
- Print off the 10-Spice Vegetable Soup recipe and give the recipe (or The Oh She Glows Cookbook) with the jar for a fun gift! Shake the jar before each use.
Tip:
1) To make the soup: If the gift recipient doesn’t have a high powered blender such as a Vitamix (which can get the cashew cream in the soup very smooth), I recommend making a note for them that they can substitute 3/4 cup of cashews for 1/2 cup of raw cashew butter. It’ll blend much easier.
2) I bought my spices in bulk at a bulk food store called Bulk Barn. I also found the jars there too. You can also find small jars for a good price at the Dollarstore.
p.s. – I have a couple exciting tidbits to share today!
– Pinterest selected The Oh She Glows Cookbook for their Pinterest 100 list which features the top trends and predictions for 2016! So cool and exciting. Thank you, Pinterest! Check out the top 100 trend predictions for 2016 here.
– The Oh She Glows Cookbook was selected by Publisher’s Weekly as one of the Top Cookbook Stories of 2015! You can read the article here.
– I’m hosting a big giveaway on Instagram this week! Up for grabs is a signed copy of my book and a $200 Amazon gift card! See the deets here.
p. p. s. – My jars are from Bulk Barn and they hold 3/4 cup of spice mix. The funnel is from Lee Valley (had it for years and so in love). Tags and ribbon are from Michael’s craft store.
Last but not least, I’d like to wish you all a very happy holiday! Merry Christmas to those of you celebrating later this week. I hope you can enjoy some downtime spent with loved ones, and lots of delicious food! We have a lot of exciting things in the works for 2016 and I can’t wait to share them with you. Thank YOU, as always, for your incredible support and encouragement this year. xo








This is such a great idea!! I love giving homemade gifts, but sometimes I feel like they seem too DIY and I look cheap, but this takes thought and effort AND sounds delicious,
Great idea! Will keep this idea for next year though. Finished my xmas shopping early and I’m sure not doing any more .. lol :-)
Monica.
Thanks for the great gift idea. The link that is supposed to be to the soup recipe is to your Amazon cookbook page. I have your book (excellent) but it would be a great convenience to be able to copy/paste the recipe instead of typing it out.
The link in the headnote directs to the recipe to print – but just saw that the link in the recipe below should too. Thanks will fix it now! Hope you enjoy :)
Another tip for cayenne is to rub hands and area of face with olive or coconut oil and leave it for a bit. Then wipe away. I usually end up doing this more than once. I always forget to be careful when chopping hot peppers, so I’ve had to use this trick more than I care to admit.
I LOVE your 10 spice vegetable soup. It is my go to comfort food! I just served it at our Family Christmas party.
My FAVORITE soup, I make a batch almost weekly!
ohhh fun! I love the creamy veggie soup recipe, I make it a few times per year and it is always a hit! Especially good when I use my home canned tomatoes! Love the spice mix idea along with the recipe…will keep in mind for future gift giving!!
I love adding a homemade touch to my Christmas gifts! This spice mix sounds great!! :) This year I did a sugar scrub, last year scarves! I never thought to do a spice mix though – so this is great!
Oh my Lord you some really great ideas! I have been trolling the internet to get other peoples opinions on whether supplement companies should be targeting 12-17 year old students and I found this site. I am going to share it on Facebook because you have some great ideas. Please visit my blog at http://advotruth.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_21.html I would be glad to hear your thoughts about supplement companies targeting our high school. Again, great ideas!
Homemade gifts are always a tricky item to navigate. Too frugal and lacking some creativity they come off looking a little cheap. But, Angela these look great and very crafty. They have the earthy vibe which is important I feel when making homemade gifts. Nice work and thanks for the share Angela.
Such a creative and beautiful gift idea, thanks! And congrats on the book news, so exciting!
I love your cookbook–and this is probably my favorite recipe in it. I made it yesterday as part of Christmas dinner, in fact! I used a store-bought cajun spice mix because I didn’t have all of the ingredients for your 10-spice mix on hand. But you’ve inspired me to whip up a new batch soon. It’s wonderful. Happy holidays and new year to you!
Hi – I love the cute jars! I have a little collection of cutey jars that I can’t resist and yet haven’t had a chance to do anything with. Spice jars are a great idea. Love that they are non-perishable. Hey, holiday gifts don’t have to come before Christmas right? I can think of a neighbor who still needs a little love. A spice jar sounds like the perfect fix. thank you for sharing! Hugs and cheers, Bita
May your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ bless you and your fellow Christians with a magical season!! Amen Hallelujah!
Hi Angela! I made the 10-spice soup a couple of days before Christmas – love it so much! Do you have any favorite brand of smoked paprika?
Great idea. I have to Oh She Glows cookbook so went to make this delicious soup. It referred me to page 11 to understand how to soak the cashews and I noticed that several pages were missing from the cookbook and pages were out of order. I ordered the cookbook in 2014 so not sure how to get the missing pages.
Great Idea!
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Merry Christmas, Angela! Thanks for your INCREDIBLY delicious holiday kale salad in the cookbook–in one bite, we knew it was to be a permanent fixture at our Christmas Eve and Christmas day tables! My 9-month-old LOVED it! Also, since you, a complete stranger, will be happier for me than anyone else in my real life :-P, I have to tell you the best thing I got for Christmas … a VITAMIX!!!!! Yes, my husband is awesome :-) And after the Sunshine Smoothie tonight, I may be spoiled for store-bought orange juice FOREVER. Thanks for that :-P
Merry Christmas, Angela! My in-laws and I were all raving about your blog/cookbook Christmas Day. I am awaiting publication of OSG #2, and that’s what everyone is getting for Christmas next year!
I made a triple batch of your Almost-Instant Chocolate Chia Pudding for Christmas dessert. If anyone wants a good NY Eve idea, this was a show stopper and easy on the budget:
I toastedSimply Organic Unsweetened Shredded Coconut and put in a small dish with a spoon; in another cute, small glass dessert bowl I put Enjoy Life mini chips with another spoon. Toasted almonds went in a third small bowl with yet another spoon. Small, medium and “large” French white ramekins surrounded the topping bowls (great for portion control!). It was a huge hit! I decorated the pudding bowl with candy canes. Even non-vegans were going back for seconds!
May you, Eric and your whole family be blessed in 2016! You deserve to be showered with the same amount of joy you’ve brought into all of us blog reader/healthy living/foodie-types’ lives!
With gratitude-
Very nice pictures! Love them so so much.
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