holiday gift ideas?
Posted by stumbleene on Dec 14, 2006 · Member since Jun 2006 · 37 posts
hello all,
I am thinking about making a granola of some kind and giving as a gift in jars. I know it sounds a little silly, but I'm broke. I'd like to give a vegan gift though! I'd like ideas on a granola that will keep for a little while, like a month or two at least? or perhaps other candies, sweets, or snack mix? if anyone had any good ideeas, please post... maybe vegan peanut brittle?
my mom makes these almond bark candies that are really good. you could use vegan white almond bark, melt it, and poor it over golden grahams, and nuts. quick and easy and it tastes great
this month's issue of vegnews has a nice recipe for vegan dark chocolate bark w/ nuts and dried fruit.....as soon as I find my magazine i'll post the recipe!!!
I'm doing cookie mix in a jar. I've got a couple of recipes--I'll probably use the oatmeal raisin spice cookie in a jar recipe from allrecipes.com and put them in mason jars along with the recipe and attach a wooden spoon.
I saw some biscuit cutters today and picked some up and it occurred to me I could also do biscuit mix in a jar and attach the biscuit cutters.
Also--I can never seem to get out of bed, bath & beyond without acquiring a ton of junk--I picked up a couple of those super duper nutcrackers. The "As Seen on TV" ones, no nut is too tricky for this nutcracker. Actually, it is a great nutcracker and even my little kids love using it to crack walnuts (getting them to like walnuts is sort of a priority with me). So it occurred to me I could give a bag of nuts along with the nutcracker.
Other nice inexpensive gifts are amaryllis bulb kits--or bulb kits of any kind--and candles in glass jars.
Spiced nuts make nice gifts as well.
I often make granola in the crockpot--it's so easy, smells great, and you don't have to worry about burning it. I don't know how long it will keep for though--my husband loves all kinds of granola and it never lasts long at our house!
Anyway, for crockpot granola, first spray the inside of the pot with no-stick cooking spray.
Then combine
5 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/4-1/2 cup flax seeds
1 1/2 cups dried fruit--raisins, cranberries, chopped dates, etc
about 1 cup chopped nuts or big seeds (pumpkin or sunflower)
2/3 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp cinnamon (and ground ginger if desired)
Cook on high for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Then turn it down to low and cook for two hours more. Keep stirring now and then, and make sure the lid is off the whole entire time so the granola can get crunchy, not soggy and gross.
Let it cool and store in jars. Yummy!
PS--it's so easy to customize this recipe depending on what your family likes--I make it differently almost every time and I don't even measure half the ingredients!
Wow... some great ideas here... vegan-dancer, what an awesome way to make granola! I have to try it!!
A friend of mine made caramel corn and put it in cute christmas tins. She added a mix of nuts to the recipe as well (pecans, walnuts, peanuts) and it was awesome! I've never tried it myself, but there's a recipe on VegWeb for caramel corn: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=9877, just add some nuts (peanuts are the cheapest)!
I'm making a few gifts for the holidays too, because it's cheaper and a bit more "universal" if you know what I mean. I making truffles and what I've jokingly been calling "Baked Goods Deconstructed."
I use a truffle recipe adapted from foodnetwork.com, but I think most truffle recipes are more or less the same. Here's the one from this site:
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=6692.0
I've been packaging the truffles in little satin-y looking boxes I found from the dollar store.
The "Baked Goods Deconstructed" thing is ingredients to stuff like brownies and cookies layed in glass jars.
Quick breads also make great gifts, and they're easy to make.
i make fizzy bath bombs and stuff and give those to people. they're pretty easy to make and great! sometimes i do foot scrubs as well