Looking for something a little different this year for a Christmas gift? Have someone in your life with an interest in healthy eating, cooking & good food? Well look no further! We have everything from quirky kitchen gadgets to tasty healthy treats. From big wow gifts to smaller stocking fillers, here’s our top suggestions for Christmas gifts that will go down very well indeed!!

This popular blender is a great Christmas gift for anyone. It can be used for so many things in the kitchen, everything from smoothies to soups to sauces to nut butters. It blasts food while retaining all the nutrients for a really healthy result. The recipient of this gift will be thanking you for setting them on the right track for the New Year! The Nutribullet is widely available online or in Harvey Normans.

A good juicer is another great idea for a big gift for someone special. Juicing is a great way to get extra nutrients into your diet, whether its just for a healthy eating enthusiast, or someone close to you maybe with health concerns or in need of a health kick, the benefits they will experience from juicing will make them mighty glad indeed of a present like this. Harvey Normans have a great range available. These aren’t cheap, but the better brands will last forever.

This handy little gismo makes noodles & spirals out of any fruit & veg. Courgette noodles are a great alternative to spaghetti, or as the base of a salad. Apple spirals, carrot spirals, cucumber noodles, the list is endless. Hours of fun! And available at very reasonable prices. Try www.greenvalu.ie or www.amazon.co.uk

A mandolin slicer is an absolute must in any kitchen. This creates thin slices, juliennes, chips out of veg and fruit in seconds. Amazing for making salads in a flash. Thin potato chips, apple crisps, cucumber pickle, vegetable crisps, coleslaw, there is so many things can be done with this bit of kit. Available online, will last you a lifetime!

Any avid foodie would love a gift of a cookery course. There are so many available these days! Everything from a general cookery course, to more specific courses like sushi, gluten free desserts, fish dishes, even foraging. And all different lengths of course from a few months to just one evening, something to suit everyone! Check out the great options available at the likes of Ballymaloe Cookery School, The Good Things Cafe in Skibereen, Cooks Academy Dublin, Organico in Bantry, Select Stores Dalkey.

Any health conscious individual would be delighted with a voucher from their local health food store, or a bigger brand chain of health food stores. With so much available from cosmetics to supplements to food, they will have no trouble finding something they like and your voucher will go to great use.

A set of potted herbs makes a gorgeous gift. You can buy ready made pots or you can very simply make your own. Small terracota pots painted up with a little blackboard paint works really well, this way you can write on the name of the herb in chalk and they can be changed over time if needs be. Or a nice spice set is another idea. Again shop bought or homemade is good.

Many veg shops now offer a service where they provide customers with a regular weekly or fortnightly organic veg box delivered to their door. Only the best, fresh, in season, organic produce, what could make a better gift! Prices can be agreed on with the supplier, based on the size and frequency of the box. Simply contact a fruit & veg supplier in your local area.

This is one of our favourite stocking fillers. Zinger bottles, and other similar brands available now, have a section at the end to squeeze and store half a lemon so you can enjoy lemon water all day long. Other fruits can also be used for a nice vitamin water. Available easily online, or similar brands can be found in Centra stores.

This is another little novel stocking filler. With everything included in the set from the sushi mat to the wasabi, the recipient can have great fun trying out making their own sushi over the festive season. Sets like this can be found in health food stores or fine food stores quite easily.

Making some treats of your own and packaging them up nicely in a little kilner jar with a ribbon or in a cute little Christmas box, is such a nice thoughtful gift. A homemade gift like this can be very cost effective and it is ideal for someone who maybe has special dietary requirements or who you know has a soft spot for a certain treat that you make. Cookies, treats, chutneys, there are so many options for homemade edible gifts!

Dark chocolate has been shown to have some benefits for our health (in moderation of course!). This good health news means it is after getting very popular with people, with many now opting for dark over milk chocolate. Sets like this Green & Blacks one make a great stocking filler, with all different flavours to choose from.

Filling a hamper is a really nice personal thoughtful gift. Hampers baskets are available all over now in discount stores & fine food stores for quite cheap. These can easily be filled with bought or homemade goods, fruit, cosmetics, gifts, whatever the individual would like. Cover with a little cellophane and ribbon and it really looks the part!

Veggie, vegan, carnivore, no matter who they are they will be over the moon with a voucher from any of our favourite eateries; Cafe Paradiso, The Happy Pear, Avoca, Cornucopia, Ballymaloe, The Farmgate in Cork, The Pigeon House in Delgany, The Good Things Café in Skibbereen, Budds of Ballydehob, The Quay Coop, Liberty Grill, the list goes on…

The list of great cookbooks out there is endless! Some of our favourites are The Fit Foodie by Derval O Rourke, Eat Live Go from Donal SKehan, Healthy Gluten Free Eating from Darina Allen & Rosemary Kearney, The Cafe Paradiso Cookbook, The World of the Happy Pear, The KetogenicKitchen from Domini Kemp & Patricia Daly, Susan Jane Whyte’s The Virtuous Tart, Lean in 15 by Joe Wicks, The Little Green Spoon by Indie Power, Natural Born Feeder by Roz Purcell, Raw by Bernadette Bohan

 Have fun shopping! And have a very Happy Christmas!!

Kara O’Reilly: http://fooducation.ie/wp/our-top-gift-ideas-this-christmas/