DIY Holiday Gift; Soup in a Jar
Hi friends. Are you finishing your holiday shopping? Or are you still looking for a few last-minute ideas for those ‘hard to shop for’ friends? Well, one thing is for sure, you can’t go wrong with DIY gifts. They’re my personal favorite to make and receive. Especially, when food is involved.
Mason jar cookie mixes are always a good go-to, but there’s so many sweets around the holiday it can be too much. So for the last few years, I’ve been focusing on a more savory mason jar recipe – Soup in a Jar. There are so many soup recipes you can make and I found this one on Momtastic a while ago and have been using versions of this year years.
Soup is a lovely dinner to make during the bitter cold nights and your friends will love you for providing everything but the water. Seriously, this Soup in a Jar includes every ingredient except the liquid. All your friends will have to do is pour into a crock pot, add water, and let it go. It’s so easy for you to make, so easy for them to make, it’s healthy, and it costs hardly anything in ingredients. Some of the ingredients you may want to purchase in the bulk, while others you may already have on hand.
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How to Make Your Soup in a Jar
The best size mason jar to use for this recipe is a pint size (16 oz). Everything fits in perfectly to the top, but a quart sized jar will work as well. There will just be extra open room.
First start by layering the bottom of the jar with the green lentils. Gently shake the jar so the lentils layer evenly. Then add the wild or black rice, followed by the pearl barley, and finally the green split peas. Shaking the jar very lightly between layers so the ingredients layer perfectly.
Next use your measuring spoons to add the spices; dried onion, dried basil, dried thyme, salt, pepper and 1 bay leaf. Add your lid and tie it with a bow.
I wasn’t lying when I said this was crazy easy to make!
All your friends need to do is pour content of jar into a slow cooker. Add 8 cups of water and 4 teaspoons of vegetable bouillon (or 8 teaspoons of homemade bouillon), and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Add salt & pepper as needed.
Ingredients
½ cup green lentils
½ cup wild rice (or black rice)
½ cup pearl barley
½ cup green split peas
Vegetable bouillon (4 teaspoons store bought, or 8 teaspoons homemade bouillon
1 tbs dried onion
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 bay leaf
8 cups water (to be added when cooking by your giftee)
Instructions
Add ingredients in the order listed above into a pint size mason jar.
NOTE: if you do make homemade bouillon, you will likely need to add it in a separate jar as the 8 teaspoons may not fit. My bouillon recipe makes enough to fill two 4 ounce mason jars that you can gift with this soup in a jar.
Put the lid on your jar and decorate with a bow or ribbon.
Finally include a label on how to make the soup and give the jar away as a gift (sign up for my newsletter below to receive a free label).
To make the soup
Add contents of jar and 8 cups of water to a slow cooker. If you make your own bouillon, be sure to instruct your friend that they need to add 8 teaspoons of the homemade goodie. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with your favorite crusty bread.
And there you have it! An amazing homemade gift made in about 10 minutes. Easy peasy.
Peace & Love
Nikki
DID YOU MAKE THIS DIY GIFT OR MAKE THIS RECIPE?
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