Okay, I'm beginning to organize my thoughts. I've been working on this reply for three days now, but keep having to leave. This is what I've gleaned as categories for a care package: 1. A family sized bottle of B12 supplements. :) Thanks, Grainlady! For the info as well as the recipes. I will also do one of your chia ones for them for the Omega-3. 2. Seeds and nuts that they can throw into any dish they put together, or just snack on. A friend recommended hemp hearts, but also chia and flaxseed, some pre-cut nuts, etc. 3. Some kind of grab and go bars/logs/balls. I'm still checking recipes for these. I've found a couple of good ones that have cocoa but aren't overly sugary. A lot of the bars are no-bakes that require dates to make them stick together, and that's too sugary for this purpose. It's fine for an energy bar, but the girls get plenty of carbs. If the only nuts I use are a nut-butter for stickiness it wouldn't be too bad, I think, though I was trying to expand them from over-reliance on nuts. 4. Easy prep/grab foods like lentil pasta (high protein), packaged tempeh or tempeh sausage, saitan burgers, organic soy protein, etc. 5. Easy to prep/grab vegetables like TJ's Cruciferous Crunch and Power to the Greens, which look like salad but are more nutritious than lettuce. Also, green beans and/or sugar snap peas, which can be eaten raw or cooked, little tomatoes, which can be eaten like candy, and anything pre-prepped. 6. Something home cooked, such as bean and lentil loaf muffins or vegan chili and beans. Islay Corbel: Your cheese and nut ball sounds good. I'll see if I can find a vegan soft cheese. I haven't seen any artisanal vegan cheeses like on your link, but I may not have looked closely enough, since, when I do look, I'm usually looking for one with a kosher hecksher. One of the girls is Middle Eastern, so I'm not going to bother with a hummus. There are also a plethora of made up ones available at the stores close to them--because hummus is such a good food for vegans and there are many among the young. I just wish they'd mind their nutrition better. Cornflakes and cupcakes is not a nutritious diet! Your links are very promising, and I'm still going through them. DCarch, good idea about the Chinese store. The textured soy proteins are also available in more mainstream stores, here. Localeater, Thanks for the recipe. I've only eaten Muhammara a couple of times and didn't really know what was in it. I don't think they'd bother making it. I wonder if I could substitute seeds or beans for a portion of the nuts? Bean salads are a great idea, too. Very grab and snack. Sleevendog, I keep coming back to your patties. Any recipe or guidelines? I make beef meatballs with a lot of veggies in them (more than half). Maybe I should do the same kind of thing with tempeh or something in place of the meat, and egg replacer for the sticky? Would it be sticky enough? I also have chia and flaxseeds. I just don't have enough experience and understanding of which to use when. What makes a meatless ball stick together in lieu of eggs? To make: Kale Chips and Texas Caviar (though the former don't have enough oomph to carry the latter). I can definitely make the Texas Caviar from fresh/dried, rather than canned. I've never seen a can of Rotel tomatoes, so I looked it up. Mine might not taste exactly the same, but I think I can make it taste good. :) Writersblook, I don't have a dehydrator, and while my oven will do the right temperature, it holds too much moisture. I've looked at Rawmazing, thanks for the reference, and didn't see anything that jumped out at me as tempting the young away from nuts and cornflakes. Is there something there that you particularly like? Ruthanna, your salad sounds really good and different. I will definitely be making this, just in general, besides for the girls. Colleen, I appreciate all of your comments, and agree about the cheeses. Vegen rennet is derived from fungus, but milk is milk in any form. Some rabbis rule that beef rennet and cassein are chemicals that are so far from their original source that they may be considered non-meat and non-dairy for Jewish purposes, but that doesn't count for a vegan who wishes to consume no products that started with an animal. I hope to get to the store tomorrow for some ingredients, and get right onto the vegan health snack experiment.

Meatloaf can bring out the best and the worst in people. Some throw temper tantrums and stomp their feet if you don't bury it in 2" of the condiment their life centers around! (Ask me how I know -HA!). Fortunately most are rational and can reminisce without screaming and shouting. :) Normally I like a mixture of meats. Ground beef, pork sausage and pepperoni are popular here. Binders can vary. I happen to like onion, pepper and celery in it at times too but it depends on the type of meatloaf I'm making. Occasionally I make sort of a "pizza meatloaf" with a pizza sauce and pizza geared flavorings, even some mozzarella in it. I make meatloaf a number of different ways. It doesn't "have" to be one way for me to enjoy it. Normally I prefer bread (whole grain or multi-grain works great) cracker crumbs or something rather than the dried breadcrumbs. I like a crust on meatloaf. Finally there's getting to be more people admitting they like it and gear a recipe toward it. I find that interesting. I use eggs in there usually. But that doesn't always glue it together, I've had crumbly loaves and meatballs with more and less egg. I've found that how much it's packed makes a difference too. Sometimes I like it more dense, sometimes I like it more crumbly. I've never had great success with the bacon wrapped meatloaves but might give it another try sometime. Especially if I put it on the grill but then someone will throw a tantrum if it's not boiled in catchip, I suppose! :D I like different types of seasonings again depending on mood. Sometimes Spikes, Jane's, my own rib rub or a variation or whatever is around. I don't get into the packaged seasonings. I like less sodium and MSG. Usually a dash of hot sauce goes in there. Sometimes some bacon, sometimes some parmesan... Like I said, I'm not locked into one type of meatloaf. Here is a link that might be useful: Not everyone is ashamed. Some take pride in the double wide. Jolene's Tamale Loaf

That looks good! He probably should have given his product packaging. Some commenters had trouble with a very wet mix. I'm guessing those looking for exact recipes are not necessarily intuitive cooks. And lots of steps involved. But the trifecta is a win-win. This fella seems really good at what he does and seems healthy, HERE ,He does all the replacements that is a bit of a yawn for me. But I always learn something and he does use lots of spices instead of the usual salt lick soy sauce soaks in the packaged stuff. We don't have any close friends vegan or vegetarian, just some family members, so I'm not much help. Great vegan restaurants here but I order soup and salads and veggie 2 bite balls to share. Can't commit to a big burger. Most of our larger gatherings with secondary friends, or a friend will bring a guest, I make so many vegan choices in salads I don't play with the meat replacements. So this is an environmental issue and not a 'lets make some vegan kids' ? . The vegan kids at work just out of college are so unhealthy eating the packaged junk not having much cooking experience. Is she set and limited to the one supplier? Maybe a few products grown somewhat locally, PNWest...a good educational lesson?. I buy from Palouse,WA. Garbanzos and red winter wheat once a year. 5 pounds of each. Good slicers, dicer, shredders, juicer, blender? No way can they use mandolines like high end trained restaurant staff. And slow. My cuisinart discontinued back in the 80's has a side shoot. No need to empty the container as it just keeps going into a bowl.

My late wonderful friend "Dotmom" used to call her potroast style meatloaf with potatoes and carrots "potloaf". I sure miss her. RIP friend. I make meatloaf in different ways, usually just wing it. But some guidelines: NEVER put glop on top. I like the crust. Sadly, I usually use the electric roaster and it keeps things too moist to get the good old crust a gas oven gives so I sometimes put it under the broiler to crust it up. And I usually put a seasoning on the outside too when I do. A rib rub on a broiled loaf is great. This one turned out to be a favorite but you (ok *I*) never can really duplicate it over and over but I like to mix meats. Usually beef and pork/sausage are mandatory and often put bacon or bacon bits in there and pepperoni adds a great flavor. Onion soup mix is just too salty for me these days so I use minced onion and onion powder and occasionally a touch of low salt bouillon to beef it up a touch if desired. Other seasonings: fresh celery and onion if I'm not using for sandwiches, otherwise I use conventional seasoning replacements. I don't like chunks of celery/onion in a sandwich, but for the meal that's great. Garlic, worchestershire, Italian seasoning, lemon pepper, hot sauce and a touch of BBQ sauce often helps. I've started using potatoes instead of breadcrumbs since my sister is celiac. Either shredded or instants, egg. I also add a little beer or water to add moistness. I might put some bacon/ranch/onion dip in or sour cream to also add moisture. If I have some, I put some wild rice in there. Mashed used to be the standard but lately I like roasted potatoes with it or occasionally brown and wild rice medly, some bbq bacon ranch corn... a feast.