Friendship Soup Mix in a Jar

Here is another great quick and easy gift to put together this holiday season (or really any season - these are nice gifts to have on hand). The soup ingredients are layered in a pint and half size jar (I had trouble finding 24 ounce jars since they are not a standard canning jar size, so I re-purposed Classico sauce jars. I remember saving them because they were actually mason jars and looked nice once the labels were removed, and the regular mason lids fit right on). If you can't find 24 oz jars, buy the Classico pasta sauce and use those jars - don't waste the sauce though, you can place it in a ziplock bag and freeze the sauce if you don't use it right away. Soak the jars to help remove the labels. Goo gone is your friend here too.
I purchased the soup mix ingredients at our local co-op store in the bulk bins, so it was very affordable. I also made this soup for dinner last week, and it was delicious. It makes TONS so you can feed a small army, or have leftovers for a couple days.
Friendship Soup Mix
recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1/2 cup dry split peas
1/3 cup beef bouillon granules
1/4 cup pearl barley
1/2 cup dry lentils
1/4 cup dried onion flakes
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
1/2 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup uncooked small pasta

Directions:
Get your ingredients ready to layer in your jar. Start your layers with the split peas in the bottom of the jar.
Add the pearled barley.
Next add the beef bouillon granules.
The lentils go next, and I prefer the red lentils since they add a beautiful color to the layers.
After the lentils, add the dried onion flakes...
then add the dried Italian seasoning...
and the long grain rice.
Gently place your bay leaves over the rice.
Place your pasta in a small plastic bag and place the bag on the top.
Cover with your lid.
Doesn't that look pretty with all the layers?
Make a label with the following instructions: "Additional Ingredients: 1 pound ground beef, black pepper to taste, garlic powder to taste, 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes - undrained, 1 (6 ounce) can tomato sauce, and 3 quarts water. To Prepare the Soup: Remove pasta from top of jar, and set aside. In a large pot over medium heat, brown beef with pepper and garlic; drain excess fat. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and soup mix. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Stir in the pasta, cover, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, or until the pasta, peas, lentils and barley are tender."
This soup was hearty and delicious. I am excited to give these soup mix jars as gift this Christmas season.
Pictures in this post were a team effort - Travis took the finished jar pictures and I took the step by step pictures.
Stay tuned for more homemade gift ideas!