Sometimes I feel very uncreative in gift giving. Maybe I use up all of my creative juices in the kitchen creating recipes. So when I do think of a nourishing gift idea, it makes me feel excited…excited enough to share with you all! This gift idea is simple. I called it “Nature’s Candy Box” which is best given to a like minded “health nut”. We find in nature amble sweet things that are also full of nutrients and fiber (unlike refined sweeteners that just have the “sweet” with none of the good stuff). This candy box utilizes naturally sweet foods. I made two of these to give to some dear people who helped me with my blog recently. It was a small gesture of thanks for how much they helped me! Thanks guys!
I will get more into the content of this delicious candy box in a second, but please, if you live in Ohio or know people who do and you love nourishing foods, please vote NO on proposal 2!! Kelly had a brief post talking about the issues surrounding this proposal here. This is a very important issue, so talk to any family or friends who live there too!
Nature’s Candy Box
First, I found these adorable wooden “gift boxes” at New Seasons Market. So cute. They made my candy “box”. You could also use tins, new Chinese take out boxes, or papered little kid shoe boxes. I then placed tissue paper in the box to both protect the box from spills and make it seem “fancier” and then small muffin papers to hold the candy.
These is what I put in my candy box.
- Homemade chocolate covered Brazil Nuts (which-don’t be surprised-are made the same way as the macadamia nuts).
- Organic dried fruit, like pears, figs, and coconut date
Other Ideas:
- Chocolate Covered Anything is generally a hit-nuts are an obvious choice, but chocolate dipped dried fruit would be good too.
- Homemade, Healthier Fudge is a great candy gift!
So, does anyone else have nourishing gift ideas to share? I would love to hear them.
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very fun ideas! makes my mouth water and gets my creative juices flowing, too!
i have one question for you. looks like with the nut recipes you aren’t soaking and dehydrating the nuts first. is that something you do sometimes but not always? maybe because it’s a gift or because it’s a small amount… just curious! thanks, kimi!
Erin,
The macadamia nuts were roasted and salted (roasting is second best choice to soaking and dehydrating them). The brazil nuts were soaked and dehydrated. I try to soak all of my nuts, though my daughter eats so many that I sometimes run out and have to use unsoaked in recipes. I talked about this issue just a bit in this post.
http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2009/09/q-a-should-we-soak-almond-flour.html
I didn’t realize you lived in Ohio! Me too
Actually, I live in Oregon. Sorry!
Oh oops, haha – well Oregon is lovely too
Thanks for this post, Kimi! I was laying in bed last night thinking about what to give people and I think this is a perfect addition to my repertoire. I also start making quart jars of homemade extracts (anise star pods and vanilla beans) and buy pretty little jars to give out at Christmas. You can make pretty labels on the computer and personalize them. Another frugal gift idea is a winter warmer. Here’s a link: http://greeninapinkworld.blogspot.com/2008/10/flaxseed-warmers.html
Maybe a gift carnival is in order?! =)
Megan, that’s a wonderful idea! I will have to think about that.
Thinking…..thinking…..thinking….Okay, I’ve made up my mind-let’s do it!
cute, creative idea! every year my father and I make bittersweet (70percent dark) chocolate truffles and gift them to family, freinds and teachers. people just rave about them! we roll themin chopped hazelnuts, unsweetened cocoa powder or sugar.
I did that one year too. I made homemade berry centers and everything. We still talk about them today!
My mint and spearmint did abundantly well this year. I’ve started drying it and plan on giving jars of the leaves, with a reusable sachet bag, to use for tea as gifts this Christmas.
Cute idea!
My mom LOVES your pate recipe. I’m making six 4-ounce jelly jars of your recipe for her freezer for Christmas. It’s so inexpensive I can make a large quantity, it’s healthy, she loves it and won’t make it for herself. I wish all my gift-giving was this simple!
I’m so glad that she likes it!
I love this idea! I was trying to think of what to make for gifts this year, and this is too perfect. I don’t have any completed ideas, but you have inspired me to trial out some nourishing PB cups
Great ideas! Where can you get the box…it’s very pretty!
Just curious where you got the beautiful boxes for your candy. For me that makes the gift as much as what is inside.
Thanks for sharing.
I got them at New Seasons Market, here in Oregon.
I have done a homemade bbq rub that was a hit, but that was before my healthy eating days and it had a bit of brown sugar in it. I’m sure any kind of spice mix could be a hit. One year I gifted my very busy SIL with three homemade frozen meals. She said it was the best gift she had ever received (I knew she eats the way we do, but didn’t have as much time.) This year I plan on making some sugar scrub (for skin). Ingredients are sugar, olive oil, coconut oil, lavender essential oil (or whatever scent you want). I use this and love the way it makes my skin feel.
Kimi,
Which of these recipes do you think will ship well? We live in Alaska but our families live in Louisiana and NY. I know my mother would the lower sugar content. How did you make the homemade berry centers for your truffles? We are still waiting to find out if we are moving over Christmas so I am desperately trying to get ideas together!!! If we move we will be driving over 3000 miles, looking for a house, and deciding on a new school in a period of 2 weeks!!
By the way, a gift carnival sounds wonderful! Especially the sooner the better!!
Thanks a bunch!!
This looks great! I love making things like this for gifts because it means more than just buying a box of something. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the boxes you used! Beautiful and simple!
Those chocolates looks so delicious! That is just my kind of Christmas treat. I am going to make Comfrey Salve this year. My family loves it! You can use it for cuts, scrapes, burnes, rashes, bruises, etc.
You can find the recipe at http://www.tiffanystable.wordpress.com
on the side bar
I’ll definetly be making a few nature’s candy boxes.. and I may even be able to make the boxes themselves in woodshop! I love giving thoughtful gifts – especially food ones. I just went to a wedding and the gift I gave the newly weds was for their happy, healthy, and amazing future together. (homemade almond butter cookies for the happy, a jar of coconut oil for the healthy, and a small jar of truffle salt for the amazing)
Another addition could be some kind of stuffed dates– spiced, sweetened cashew butter, for instance.
On an anniversary trip, Dh and I stopped at a small candy store. They had some white chocolate bark that had pumpkin seeds and pieces of aricots, hazelnuts and pistachios in it. It was so yummy and looked really elegant with the colors in it.
They also had chocolate-dipped raspberries and blueberries that looked very really good.
Thanks, Kimi! I’ve just been working on my Christmas lists. I’m pretty sure this will be going to several people on my list! I have some dried cherries in my pantry that I’m sure would be DELISH covered in chocolate.
Some herbal vinegars from my small container garden will be part of my handmade Christmas packages this year . . . thai basil in rice vinegar, cinnamon basil in apple cider vinegar, oregano in red wine vinegar, purple basil in white wine vinegar are some of my combinations . . . along with homemade vanilla extract and blackberry bay leaf jam (martha stewart recipe, w/agave or honey instead of sugar), homemade granola, and some homemade body care products – masks/scrubs/etc – gifts varying according to recipient! Most are things I am making for myself anyway, so I just make extra as I’m able.
Your packages are great, inside and out!
I just ordered an extra gallon of EVOO to make HM salad dressings as gifts. Now I just need to find cute bottles (someone rec’d Hobby Lobby, so it’s on my list!).