I'm totally new here, but I really enjoyed the ideas in this thread, so I thought I would share some of my own.
In past years, I have done bath scrubs (bit hit), and cookies in a jar (also a hit), but what was a really big hit last year was this lentil soup in a jar. The recipe looked festive, tasted amazing, and I loved it because it used only real ingredients and was super simple for recipients to make (just add water). I'll be doing it again this year.
I'm also planning on making 'magic bags' (fabric filled with rice, which you can freeze or microwave to warm up) from various fabric scraps I have lying around. I've made a couple for myself and they are fantastic for aches and pains, or just for throwing in the bed on a cold night to warm up your feet.
I also have the kids make ornaments too (I did the snowman handprint ornaments a couple of years ago and they turned out super cute, were very inexpensive to make and the grandparents love them).
For the kids, I have some larger pieces of fabric, and I'm planning on making a couple of bean bag throw cushions (at first I thought I would make a fancy pouf, but I'm too lazy and the trim is too time consuming and expensive).
I'm not doing a 100% homemade Christmas, but will fill in the gaps with appropriate modest gift cards where necessary.
Welcome, Fodder! would you mind sharing the lentil soup recipe? Sounds awesome!
Another +1 request for the lentil soup recipe. Totally sounds like something I could do!
Here it is! I took it from here, but I modified the quantities so it would fit in a 2c mason jar - I personally find that the original made about 3 c of mix, which didn't fit any of my jars, and when you used a 1L jar, it simply made too much soup to be eaten in a single sitting (I was giving to some couples/singles and didn't want them to end up with a vat of soup).
Credit to original:
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/curried-lentil-soup-december-recipesMy slightly modified recipe (per jar; I found using a kitchen scale was easiest as I just poured in lentils until I hit the weights I wanted).
Ingredients
6 oz red lentils
1 t Salt
3 tablespoon(s) minced dried onion
1 tablespoon(s) curry powder
1/2 teaspoon(s) garlic powder
6 oz pound(s) green lentils
1 tablespoon(s) dried parsley leaves
dried apple rings, chopped finely
Directions
In bottom of each glass jar, place red lentils; top with 1 teaspoons salt, 3 tablespoons dried onion, 1 tablespoon curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 6 ounces green lentils, 1 tablespoon parsley, and as many apple pieces as will fit.
Seal jars and store at room temperature up to 1 month (some people stored way longer and it still turned out great; I got the apple pieces from Bulk Barn and they never went bad).
For cooking instructions, combine jar contents with 6 c. water (3 jars), bring to a boil and simmer for about 20-25 minutes (or until the green lentils are done). You can pulse with an immersion blender, if desired, but it's not necessary.
I made about 20 jars last year and probably got requests for the soup recipe from 3/4 of the recipients. I kept some for myself because they are so convenient and the soup is really delicious. Bonus is that it's clean, cheap and vegan. :D I'm just trying to figure out if I'm better off buying lentils in bulk or watching out for sales of bags of lentils at the grocery store - when you make so many, it really does add up!