I give treats. I just do.

My personalized tin from personalcreations.com

I make healthy food for myself and my family. But I also make treats. And I admit to being one of those people that gives treats to friends and family. Sometimes it's for a specific occasion and sometimes it's just because. I read quite a few real food/health blogs and I know giving treats as gifts is somewhat frowned upon - almost as much as goodie bags filled with candy and the free lollipops some banks give out to all the kids. I get it. Really I do. I made an effort to create goodie bags for my son's 5th birthday that did not include candy. I'm conscience of all the treats lurking out there as well as the other sources of sugar that a lot of people often don't think about (bread, soup, yogurt, condiments, etc.). With that said, there's just something special about the gift of homemade food whether it be savory or sweet.

Think about it - Somebody takes the time to create something and then gives it to you. What's not good about that? The only thing I can think of is the calories, maybe? But reality is you don't have to eat all of it, right? Share the love, take one (or two) and give the rest to others fortunate to be around you at the time.  Thing is, I take a lot of pride in what I bake. I work hard on perfecting my recipes and I only use ingredients that I would feed to my family. I spend the little extra on organic sugar, butter, coconut oil and eggs and use whole wheat flour (even in my chocolate chip cookies!). I also reduce sugar, replace vegetable oil with coconut oil and use sweet potato or pumpkin puree for added flavor and nutrition when possible. I do this because it's my approach to treats - all year around. If we want a treat, my first choice is to make it myself and make it with quality ingredients. Believe me, it ALWAYS taste better when you make it yourself. The other reason is, it's rewarding when I receive positive feedback on the treats I give away. It's nice to know that treats made "my way" make people happy!

So did you notice the cool tin pictured above? I think it's pretty neat. And a perfect container to gift all those yummy treats I was just going on about. I was given the chance to review a complimentary product from personalcreations.com and was excited to come across these retro tins on their site. Ordering was easy and so was the personalization. Not to mention delivery was fast, in my opinion, for personalized items. I ordered on October 25th, had a notification that my items shipped the next day and they were on my doorstep November 1st. I didn't even pick a quick shipping method, just regular ground. Personalcreations.com has tons of stuff on their site. From Christmas items like stockings  and ornaments to every day items like clothing and luggage. I love my tins. The printing is nice, the designs are cool (seven to choose from), the tin is the same quality you'd pick up at Cost Plus or somewhere like that and it's super cool having my name on it! If you're in the market for personalized gifts, I'd check out this site. Lots of items to choose from and the web site and ordering process is simple to navigate. Christmas shopping has officially started, right?

Note: A gift code was provided to me to shop by the manufacturer or representing PR agency. This opinion is 100% my own.