Some links in this email are affiliate links- if you click through and purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.*

Hi Reader,

After today (Happy Halloween, btw!) it's "officially" okay to talk about Christmas and Christmas gifts without apologizing first. 😂 And so, here I am with the first of a series of emails with gift ideas that are easy, inexpensive, and useful with a focus today on DIY food gifts. (Other topics will include crafty gifts, kitchen gifts, and stocking stuffers - so be on the lookout for those!)

If you've followed me for awhile you know I am a BIG lover of small, homemade gifts! They hit all the rights spots for me - inexpensive, useful, and above all, thoughtful. When we had very little money it was important to me to give and participate in giving - I've found that practicing generosity helps me to be more grateful for what I do have. Anyway, I found things to make that were similar to what you could buy for a fraction of the cost (sometimes the gifts were all DIY and sometimes little items were purchased or found and added to a basket). And that was a great feeling, to give something special like that!

I'm going to list some general resources I have and then highlight a few food gifts I've created that people have really enjoyed. Plus, don't forget to scroll all the way down to see the newest food gift I published!

Resources

• ​All my published Handmade Gifts & Crafts posts​
• Only Gifts in a Jar posts​
• ​Holiday Planner Download - print this out to keep track of your gifts, meals, activities, and more for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.
• ​Holidays Home Page - browse through everything for the holidays here

A Sample of Food Gifts For Everyone

Soup in a jar! Give as-is or include a loaf of bread or box of crackers. Lentil Barley Soup Mix

Bread in a jar! Maybe a jar of this and the soup in a basket for a full meal-in-jars? Whole Wheat Beer Bread Mix

Or how about muffins? Give the jar or add to a basket with one or two jam flavors. Cranberry Pecan Muffin Mix

You can also make your own "boxed" brownies with this mix you can keep or give away! Peppermint (or not) Fudge Brownie Mix

And maybe cookies-in-a-jar is the most classic jar gift? This one is notable for using pantry ingredients most of us have so you can make it last-minute! Oat & Whole Wheat Snickerdoodle Cookie Mix

Don't Forget

​Get Your 2027 Calendar Pages​ This year I chose a fleur-de-lis pattern in colorful, but muted colors for a change. READ ABOUT IT HERE GET SENT TO YOUR INBOX HERE

New & Updated

​Vegetable Barley Pilaf​ Barley has a good amount of protein and fiber and I love it's chewy texture as a nice change from rice or pasta. RECIPE HERE

​Korean BBQ Spice Mix + Printable Tags​ I love having this smokey, mild spiced mix in my cupboard for meats, veggies and cottage cheese (yes!) - but it's also a fun, inexpensive gift idea. RECIPE HERE

Let me know YOUR favorite food gifts to give (or get!) - I'm always looking for new ideas.😀

Here's to a wonderful first week of November!!

Know someone who'd appreciate this? Forward it along!

Remember it's easy to save recipes on An Oregon Cottage! Just click the heart when browsing to save your personal favorites! TIP: when you click on the link, it will take you to my site - click the heart like you see here to the left - it will be on the bottom right on the site. A pop up form will come up for you to create an account (or sign in if you already have). You need to create a password for this account (no info is kept besides your email) and then you can save all recipes and articles to this account and access it anytime to remember what you want and choose what to make!

*You can read An Oregon Cottage's full disclosure policy here.

Do you love these emails? To get an email whenever I post a new recipe or article, click here.