Food is everywhere during the holiday season and there are many opportunities to indulge. Making matters worse, holiday gifts of cookies, fruit cakes and bottles of champagne are plentiful. This year, do yourself and your loved ones a favor — give them spices and seasonings that will help them to be more healthful. (You'll benefit, too, since you won't be snacking on the cookies that you usually bake!)

Seasoning Mixes
Homemade seasoning mixes can be used again and again. Present them in small mason jars or cleaned spice jars. Label them to indicate which foods they best complement. These are quick and flavorful alternatives to less healthy options like fatty sauces and butter.

Tip: If you make your own spice blends at home, you may want to invest in an electric spice grinder. Luckily, they are inexpensive. Or you can also use an electric coffee grinder with equal success. You should be able to find either for around $15 and definitely under $25. (You can always resort to grinding by hand with a mortar and pestle.)

Beef Seasoning: Mix equal parts paprika, dry mustard, dried thyme, ground cumin, onion salt and chili powder. Massage into steaks, hamburgers or roasts before barbecuing, grilling or broiling.

Fish Seasoning: Mix equal parts ground cumin, dried oregano, dried thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and ground black pepper with two parts of dried ground lemon peel. Sprinkle on fish filets before broiling, grilling or poaching.

Popcorn Seasoning: Mix equal parts grated nutmeg, ground cloves and ground allspice with four parts each ground cinnamon and sugar or Splenda sweetener. Spray warm popcorn lightly with butter-flavored nonstick spray, then sprinkle the spice mixture liberally.

Flavored Vinegars: Give your friends a bottle of flavored vinegar for the holidays. Buy decorative glass jars or bottles at craft stores. Clean and dry the jars thoroughly (run through the dishwasher if possible). Add fresh herbs (tarragon, rosemary, thyme, peeled garlic cloves and/or dill fronds), fresh berries (raspberries, blackberries or cranberries), and/or dried red chilies. Then, pour in white wine vinegar, cider vinegar or unseasoned rice vinegar, using a funnel to get the liquid through the narrow opening if necessary. Sealed and left in a cold spot, the vinegar will stay fresh up to a year. The flavor improves over time.

Recipes

Chocolate Almond Coffee
1/3 cup ground coffee
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. chocolate extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/4 cup toasted almonds, chopped

Place the coffee and nutmeg in a food processor or blender. With it running, add the extracts. Stop and scrape the bowl, then blend for 10 seconds longer. Add the chopped almonds. Store in refrigerator.*

Buttered Rum Coffee
1/3 cup ground coffee
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 1/4 tsp. rum extract
1/8 tsp. butter flavoring

Process the coffee and nutmeg in a food processor or blender. Add the rum extract and butter flavoring with the processor running. Follow directions in chocolate almond coffee recipe.*

*(For the coffee recipes, use one or two spoonfuls to one mug of hot water, to desired taste.)