Jar Mixes

Soups in a Jar for Gift Giving

By editor ⋅ October 19, 2006 ⋅ Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

If this photo of two soup mixes looks familiar, it might be because you saw the original recipes at http://www.allfreecrafts.com/giftinajar/soup-mixes.shtml, or even before that, in 2001, when I had a domain hosted by the now defunct Webseed network, called EasyHomemadeGifts.  I designed these recipes - one (on the left) for Chicken Noodle Soup and Minestrone (on the right) for Christmas gift giving, over five years ago.  Of course, you might remember the photo and recipes from other sites, since they have since been illegally copied all over the net, and included in jar gift ebooks that you need to pay for (without my permission).

There’s a popular quote which says:  “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” but that is hard to swallow when you find your original work and photographs distributed to millions without any acknowledgement of you, as the author.  Grrrrr…

Jar recipes appearing on AllFreeCrafts are tried multiple times, with the ingredients varied between taste tasting, until a winning combination appears which gets the most votes from my voluntary (friends) or involuntary(family) taste testers.  Only when a recipe passes muster with this trusted circle of critics does it make it to my site.

Here’s links to the original soup in a jar recipes (designed, authored, written and photographed by me) currently available in my Gifts in a Jar section (please do NOT copy, except for personal use; please email me for charitable fundraising use):

 http://www.allfreecrafts.com/giftinajar/soup-mixes.shtml - Chicken or Turkey Noodle Soup in a Jar (the unexpected addition of dill seed in this recipe sounds dubious, but is actually delicious) and Minestrone (hearty, healthy and good for someone recovering from a cold or flu).

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/giftinajar/spiral-soup.shtml - Tricolor Pasta Soup has a beef boullion and minced onion broth base, with carefully chosen herbs and spices.  It is one of the easiest soup in a jar mixes to prepare, and you’ll see two photos of the layered jar - one with the spiral pasta poured on top of the spices, straight from the package, and the other where the spirals are divided and layered by color.  There is a free printable label for the front of the jar, which says “Spiral Soup Mix” and a matching label for the back which gives directions.

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/giftinajar/cheese-soup.shtml - This Instant Cheese Soup in a Jar is mentioned earlier in my blog, but is worth repeating.  Good enough for company, but so easy to prepare that it’s almost too tempting to keep in the pantry.  The problem is that you’ll get hungry one night, realize you can make this in a jiffy, and voila - your gift in a jar just became a gift to yourself!  Not that this is necessarily bad.  But now you have make another one for Christmas gift giving!  We include a free printable directions label which features a picture of the jar gift and the finished soup in a bowl.

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/giftinajar/soup-in-a-jar.shtml - Beef Barley Soup in a Jar.  One of my favorites.  Looks super, tastes wonderful, and is good for you too.  This one has a label you can fold into a miniature four-fold gift tag, which includes a picture of the layered soup in a jar on the front and directions inside.

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/giftinajar/potato-soup.shtml - Instant Potato Soup in a Jar.  A great gift for someone who needs to pack a lunch.  All they do is put a half cup of the soup mix in a bag, then add it to one cup of boiling water.  You can give it to them in jar, for dispensing as they wish, or package half cup portions in ziplock bags with instructions.

Check out all our Gifts in a Jar recipes!