Need a gift for teachers that they’ll actually use? Assemble the dry ingredients for this warming winter soup in a jar, add a hand-made note from your child, and tie it all with a pretty ribbon for a perfect gift. Thanks to High Five magazine for the suggestion!

First, the full recipe, because you’re going to want to make a batch of this soup at home, too:

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons low-sodium vegetable bouillon cubes, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon celery seeds
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup tricolor rotini or fusilli pasta
• 1 cup chopped carrot
• 2 chopped celery stalks
• 1 and 1/2 cups cooked and chopped Gardein chickn
• 1/2 cup oyster crackers

1. In a large pot, combine the bouillon, parsley, onion, black pepper, thyme, celery seeds, garlic powder, bay leaf, pasta, carrot, celery, chickn, and 6 cups water.
2. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Uncover and remove the bay leaf; continue to simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
4. Serve with the oyster crackers!

To prepare the soup as a gift, have your child help layer the ingredients from the bouillon through the pasta in a 1-quart clear glass jar. Travis loved adding in the herbs:

And untwisting caps to smell each one before we added it!

Place the oyster crackers in a small zip-top plastic bag, and nest atop the other ingredients. Put the lid on the jar and tighten.

Write out the recipe instructions on a recipe card (Note: teachers will supply their own carrots, celery, and chickn when the time comes).

Have your child decorate the index card with crayons or stickers. Of course Travis needed to help punch a hole in each index card.

Now slip a ribbon through the hole and secure around the lid of each jar.

Think that your kid’s teacher would prefer something sweet to something savory? Check out the Rocky Road Brownies we used for a gift mix last year!

Don’t forget to save the recipe and make a big pot of this for your own family, too.