Well, this is nuts but it's nice!
Nut pate with date and mint chutney.

150g low fat garlic and herb cheese
150 roasted cashew nuts
Dash Tabasco
50g dried breadcrumbs (optional)
For chutney :
125g dates
Small onion chopped
1tbsp wine vinegar
2tbsp chopped mint
Pinch cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper

Make chutney. Chop dates and put in saucepan with onion, vinegar and 3 tbsp water. Cover and cook gently for about 5 mins until it's no longer liquid.
Remove from heat, add mint, cayenne , salt and pepper. Leave to rest.

Put the cheese in a bowl and mash. Grind the nuts and add. Add Tabasco and season.
Make a log and coat in breadcrumbs if you wish.
Serves 2.

Chickpea puree with spiced onions.
2 onions peeled and chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 TSP ground coriander
1 TSP ground cumin
1 425g tin chickpeas
S&p

Fry onions gently til soft
Add garlic and spices
Cook another 3 mins.
Remove a third to processor and whizz with chickpeas and some of the liquid to make puree.
Continue to fry onions until crispy.

Check out a Chinese store.

They have mock beef, pork, fish jerkies, etc. made with wheat gluten.

Wasabi peas are very tasty.

dcarch

They need vegetables- their diet seems lacking in color from your description. And beans for protein, I think. What about a care package filled with an assortment of veggie dips, and a stack of cut up veggies (celery/peppers/carrots/broccoli- eat the rainbow!), you could throw in a couple of packages of pita or bagel chips if you wanted.
My 12 year old son, who is neither vegan nor vegetarian, could live on Mark Bittmann's White Bean Dip with Lemon and Rosemary. During the school year, he takes it in his lunch sack with carrots and a chunk of baguette. For other options there are skordalia, baba ghanoush, caponata,good old hummus, and I just adore muhumarra (linked a recipe) I dip endive leaves in it- so addicting.
An assortment of salads would be great too! Three bean(you can add edamame to this too), Chick Pea( I could eat chick peas tossed with fresh parley, sea salt, fresh ground pepper olive oil and balsamic every day for lunch and be happy. When I am adventurous I throw in dried cranberries, sliced almond, sundried tomatoes and diced red pepper- any or all! Tabboule is always yummy.
Chances are they are eating the way they do because they dont feel like exerting effort in to eating differently. My 15 year old will eat cereal three times a day if he has to fix his own food because making a sandwich is just too much effort and a bowl of Rice Krispies is oh so easy. So I think if you put it in the fridge it will get eaten.
If you are willing to do soy cheese there are lots of meatless casseroles and quiches(if they eat eggs) you can do. Personally I eat some dairy, I think the soy cheeses are too 'manufactured' and I stay away from the faux meats for the same reason.

Here is a link that might be useful: Muhumarra

Just wanted to point out that cheese is not vegan and for some really strict vegetarians, most cheeses don't qualify either due to the use of animal rennet to make them.

colleen makes a good point the terms vegan and vegetarian are used differently by different people. I have friends who say they are vegan, but eat honey other vegans would not. Same with vegetarian, to many that just means 'I dont eat meat' to others it has a more stringent interpretation.
When preparing foods for people whose 'rules' I dont know, I just label things.

I was about to post something similar. During your loaf trials, i was working on a vegan patty trio as an app or snack or horderve. Not a burger or a slider...no bun or bread. More a savory slightly flattened meatball served on a lettuce leaf or greens with a sauce like a crab cake app., or on a cracker.
We've been invited to a party by some folks we don't know and doubt we will know anyone...
(we rescued their elderly dog and they stopped by last weekend with a thank you gift)
Gave them a quick tour of the farm and gardens and vegan came up briefly tasting some of my greens...

So i'm revisiting that small vegan cake base....i made about 5 or six versions. So many i did have to freeze them and we loved them as a light meal. Have not looked at my notes yet but one was sesame Asian, a southern spicy one, and a leek mushroom, that i remember...
All had lots of veggie and hearty greens and sprouted grains.

Your loaf mix could be a snack size...rolled in toasted sesame or herbed panko, etc...
Ask them to be your taste testers...give feedback...then make a batch for their freezer and maybe they will want the recipe....the dipping sauces freeze fine as well.

This time of year, I would take them a quart of local strawberries or a pretty basket full of sweet cherries and fresh apricots. The Thursday organic farmers' market had all three yesterday.

1. Vegans need foods that provide B-12, and if they don't take supplements, should have 3 servings per day of foods that are enriched with B-12.

Traditional vegan Hindus got their B-12 from the "pantry pests" in their beans/grains/seeds they typically stored in baskets where they have 3rd World food standards and storage - gross as that may sound. When many emigrated to England where the food sources were much cleaner, after a few years many came down with megaloblastic anemia.

A vegan nutritionists (and Seventh Day Adventist) friend of mine said they were taught to go for a bike ride and when they encountered a swarm of gnats to swallow a few for the B-12. After a bout with pernicious anemia, she started being tested for blood levels on a regular basis and getting injections as needed. Without a good source of B-12, vegans have been know to die.

Grains for human consumption have been triple-cleaned, we have homes that are generally pest-free due to insecticides, improved food standards, good cleaning habits and better storage methods, B-12 is a nutrient vegans have to be careful of. The only true source for B-12 are animal products (even weevils and gnats - which are edible). The B-12 in foods like Brewer's Yeast, nutritional yeast, algae, soy, etc., are fortified with B-12 from another source, but are good choices to include in your vegan snacks.

2. Vegans/Vegetarians require twice as much iron from a plant-based diet than a diet including meat, so include molasses as a sweetener, when possible. For those of us who practice home food storage (which includes plans for food emergencies), we are encouraged to store a lot of molasses should we have to go without meat as iron is especially important for women who are still having their menses cycle and young children.

3. I would include chia seeds to increase the Omega-3.

CHAI CHIA PUDDING
2 c. boiling water
2 Chai tea bags
Steep tea for 15-minutes. Remove the bags. Add 3 T. chia seeds (stir a couple times over 10-minutes). Add a small amount of non-dairy milk and a small amount of sweetener (of choice). Refrigerate overnight.

CHOCOLATE CHIA PUDDING
1 c. chocolate coconut milk
1/4 c. chia seeds
Mix and refrigerate overnight.

CINNAMON CHIA SEED GRANOLA
1 c. old-fashioned oats
2 T. chia seeds
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
2 T. agave nectar (or palm sugar nectar)
1 T. coconut oil
Preheat oven to 300-degrees F. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray (you can also line it with a Silpat or parchment paper). Combine dry ingredients. Stir in warmed liquid ingredients. Mix well. Spread on baking sheet and bake about 15-minutes, stirring half-way through. Makes four 1/4-cup servings.

STRAWBERRY CHIA SEED JAM
1 c. strawberries - fresh or frozen
1 T. chia seeds
1 T. water
stevia to taste (2-3 drops)
Mash berries with a fork. Mix in chia seeds, water and stevia. Cover mixture and let set 30-60 minutes. You can also grind the chia seeds first in a coffee/spice grinder.

I'd also suggest looking at the link below. I just love the "Oh She Glows" web site and there is a great link below - 22 Ways To Get Your Vegan Snack Attack On

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Oh She Glows - 22 vegan snack recipes

Thank you all for the ideas and information!! Even when I was young and sort of vegetarian most of the time, I couldn't go all out because there was a limited variety of foods available where I was living and I could feel I wasn't getting enough iron without a little meat now and then. I never knew about the B12!

I do think the girls are probably getting some fresh vegetables. They certainly have them easily available. The question is whether they only take pre-prepared salads that are mostly "stuff" and not really much good vegetable.

As to observance, my own dear one will eat cheese if that's what's in front of her (and probably eggs), and defines her level of approaching veganhood as, "I eat snickers". She's very aware of trace dairy. I'm guessing therefore from the description of her roommates that the vegan one is 100% vegan and the vegetarian is not. :) I wouldn't want to put my girl in the position of having nice food and having to say, "But you can't have any," so I figure if what I make is completely vegan, she can share as much as she wants to and not worry about it. At least this group isn't also gluten free. :)

The idea of vegan cakes and bars is very appealing. I don't know if my bean and lentil loaf would adapt well, because while it's firm enough to hold its shape, it's still very squishable. I can try, though. Or maybe it would be good just made in muffin tins for single servings? I could freeze and food saver them...

I'll be back later to go through all the great information and recipes in detail. Thanks so much!

Kale chips are filled with nutrition and very easy to make - and more delicious than many could imagine. I do my in the dehydrator, but the oven also works.

This recipe calls for seasoned salt, but watch the ingredients in that. There is some ingredient (that I can't recall right now, which sometimes shows up in things that's a beef derivative) maybe it's glycerides? I'd probably play it safe and just use salt.

Here is a link that might be useful: baked kale chips

It's not fancy, and relies on a lot of canned/processed stuff, but it's so delish that the vegans have been known to push the meat eaters out of the way to get to it. I'm sure that if you looked, you could find a fresh food version.

Here is a link that might be useful: Texas Caviar

If you have a dehydrator, you might want to take a look at some of the raw vegan recipes over at rawmazing. Not raw, not vegan here (although I do have pernicious anemia--no such thing as a "bout" of that, BTW), but I would be both if she would be my chef:

Here is a link that might be useful: rawmazing recipes

I'm still digesting the great suggestions. Edeevee, the Texas Caviar would be dead easy to make from scratch, though sometimes the thing that makes that kind of thing so gotta-eat-more is the heavy salt from the cans. I love how it looks like salsa, but really is beans. :)

Olychick, I make yummy kale chips! I didn't even think of that.

Grainlady, I'm still absorbing your information. Your recipes sound good and are giving me more ideas.

I'm looking at all the suggestions and working up a plan.

Many thanks!

This salad was one of our go-to recipes for DD's vegan friends. Leftovers keep fine in the fridge.

CURRIED CABBAGE, LEMON, AND RICE SALAD - 4 to 6 servings

Salad:
3 cups finely shredded cabbage
1 1/2 cups cooked, cooled brown rice
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup minced sweet red peppers
1/4 cup cooked fresh or thawed frozen peas
2 Tbs. minced fresh parsley

Dressing:
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

Mix all salad ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients except oil until thoroughly combined. Slowly whisk in the oil. Pour dressing over cabbage mixture and toss well. Chill thoroughly.

Source: Rodale's Garden-Fresh Cooking

We get veggie cheese so I'm guessing that you can too!

Yes, as I said some cheeses are vegetarian but NO cheeses are vegan, unless they are totally non-dairy.

I've never tasted the vegan stuff below - it looks,......... Er........

Here are some ideas
http://www.goodgirlgonegreen.com/recipes/vegan-snack-ideas

More here. http://ohsheglows.com/2012/02/22/22-ways-to-get-your-vegan-snack-attack-on/

Here is a link that might be useful: Vegusto vegan

This post was edited by islay_corbel on Sat, Jun 28, 14 at 7:12

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.

Hi, plllog. Actually, her vegan cheeses and spreads are generally pretty good. I won't say you couldn't tell that they aren't dairy, but they are rich and yummy and satisfying. And her crackers/flatbreads are pretty amazing, but they don't work well in an oven, unfortunately.

Thanks, Writersblock! I'm going to keep this for reference. I was about sold on making nut cheese "rich, yummy and satisfying" until I got to the part about using the water from sprouting grain as a base. I'll have mold. Total non-starter. But it's an interesting idea and worth further exploration. Same, too, for nut milk pulp crackers. I have no idea where to get nut milk pulp other than making my own nut milk... The Rosemary Honey Fig Balsamic looks easier, but still...I think I'll let them just eat nuts at that point. Her food sounds tasty, at least on the cheese and crackers page, which a lot of raw food does not, so I really appreciate your pointing me to them.

Actually, I think what I should do is e-mail some of these recipes to the little sister who is the die-hard vegan in the family. :) Though she probably knows all about it...

Yeah, they mostly have some kind of special sprouting jars, but I've made rejuvelac (horrid name for it) without one.

. I have no idea where to get nut milk pulp other than making my own nut milk

AFAIK, unless you have a friend or neighbor who makes their own nut milk who'll save it for you, it's the only way to get it.

It is a bit of a hassle, but not much more than making dairy cheese from scratch. Just takes some planning ahead.

Best of luck, Plllog. I find it hard enough being creative with vegetarian food for my daughter. Vegan seems so hard to get right.

I do worry a bit about the youth understanding what they need...but some good available searches via the web does give good advice about what needs supplementing as grainlady points out. These days we/they do have good resources via the web rather than the cost of books that in the past had limited info...

I considered giving my niece a CSA gift in her area but just not many available like we have in NY. (she just turned 25 and has moved in with a boyfriend)...student part time.
I don't think she would pick-up or bother using it all without much experience.

At that age i did not have the cooking tools i have now and did like the 'packaged' mixes from WholeFoods, (NewOrleans '80)...the falafel, veg burger stuff.
Pretty simple ingredients and lots of grain and seed 'glue'. Back then i used them as a base.
Now i make my own bases and add spices and other veggies.

Ground flax and chia will make an egg replacement mixed with water in as little as an hour, soaked. Even just one potato or sweet potato...good binders.
Chick peas or chick pea flour, sesame seeds toasted and ground, masa.
Corn flour with tumeric, mustard seed, paprika, etc. ...and a bit of Braggs vinegar gives a cheddar cheese like flavor.
I ran across so many links when i started searching....and here is another. Not vegan but for the pic...i've not used any eggs in my cakes anyway....

Dh loves my sprouted grains so much that i make them at least once a week and often twice now....goes well with all the fresh garden goodies we are starting to harvest.

You've got good 'house warming' ideas already...
Maybe a later baked goodie mix or get together visit...
I do like that age when they want to learn. I do see that 'packaged' health food store meals are preferred. Convenient, tidy, easy. Strange that a manufactured product gets a seal of approval over homemade sometimes...and often not at all healthy as the labels suggest.
My young interns like the little packaged carrots over fresh from the garden organics i bring in...

Here is a link that might be useful: quinoa kale patties

Sleevendog, thanks so much for the link! Those patties look great, even if not vegan. That's the kind of think I like to eat, myself. Thanks for the info on binders. I'm just at the very beginning stage of learning to use these seeds. I did put some ground chia in the vinaigrette for the green salad I took to a party just now, and it did a good job of stabilizing the emulsion. Wonder seeds. :)

Interesting about the cheddar cheese flavor. ;)

Agreed about the packaged thing. I think it's the same kind of issue as the appeal of fast food. The watchword of the prepared food industry is predictability. Each piece should be exactly the same as the last one, whether in fine dining, fast food, or cold food case. People like McDonald's because they know the building is going to be clean and they know exactly what they're getting. Never mind that what they're getting isn't good for them. I will admit to using the organic peeled baby carrots a lot for the convenience, but that's the difference between them and me prepping the same carrots myself (and brushing them, rather than peeling, so taking me so much longer!). :) If you brought me garden grown, I'd definitely choose them, prep be d***ed. The interns probably don't know what to do with a real carrot!

A CSA box is such a great idea! My girl is in a campus apartment because there wasn't room in the dorms (they use those for conferences during the Summer), so she's not on a food plan. If she continues that way, I'll see if she wants to join a CSA. There's a farmer's market once a week in walking distance, so, hopefully, pickup would be easy.

Thanks, IC! I agree! Cutting down so much on the variety of foods available makes achieving a good balance that much harder.

Writersblock, the difference in hassle for making dairy cheese is that the vegetarian rennet comes in the mail and the milk comes from the grocery store. (My local store has semi-local organic non-irradiated milk.) I could manage the method if I could get the ingredients easily. :) The sprouting liquid is just a step too far for me. Unlike most people, I'm always fighting to get enough meat into my diet. :) I do like the way the blogger thinks about food, however, especially that it should be appetizing and delicious, which a lot of people on restricted diets don't bother with. I may eventually get there...