Almost every Christmas I give a few homemade gifts from my kitchen. It’s been a nice way over the years to give a little something to neighbors, co-workers, teachers, or relatives. And most of the time my thoughtful little somethings were the traditional holiday sweet treats like cookies, candies, and fudge.

Yummmm . . . nothing says Christmas like a whole bunch of cookies and candies and fudge! But I’ll confess that some years, even though it all tastes wonderful and delicious, by the time the holidays are over I feel like I’ve had a super duper helping of sugar overload.

So this year I decided to expand my kitchen gift recipes to include some non-sugar options too. Just to balance things out a little bit, y’know?

For the next few weeks leading up to Christmas I’ll be sharing some recipe ideas for homemade Christmas gifts from the kitchen that are quick and simple – and savory instead of sweet.

First up – a Southwestern Dip Mix recipe that I first spotted in Country Woman magazine last year. It’s an easy-to-make spice blend that makes a nice size batch to put in a jar for gift giving.

And it’s easy on the budget too! Here’s my picture of all the ingredients lined up, and all the spices were available at very reasonable prices at my local Aldi grocery store except one (the dried chives).

Southwestern Dip Mix

Recipe from Country Woman Magazine and Taste of Home

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried parsley flakes
1/3 cup dried minced onion
1/3 cup chili powder
1/4 cup ground cumin
2 tablespoons dried chives
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Combine all ingredients and place in a small jar or other airtight container.

To make a batch of dip, add 2 tablespoons of the dip mix to 1 cup of mayonnaise and 1 cup of sour cream. Stir together until blended.

(For gift giving, be sure to add a label with instructions for making a batch of dip)

A FEW MORE IDEAS

Here’s a few more spice blend recipes from this site that can be adapted to use for gift giving. You can double or triple the recipes for a larger batch, or give a set of spice blends in smaller sized batches in these cute little glass spice jars.