I agree, Rachelellen, I have one cousin who is now 16 with Downs and of course we have little Linsey, David's niece, she's three now and born with Downs and all those heart issues. This forum helped pull her through as an infant when the doctors held out little or no hope, so she's extra special to us. Anyway, the 16 year old, Catherine, can be nearly immovable, but she loves to be helpful. If I'm making lunch at the farm and she is there I always involve her in the decisions as to what to have and the simple chores in getting things ready. My cousin is amazed, says Catherine will eat things at the farm that she's refused her whole life, just because "she" cooked them or chose them. There's certainly no use in arguing with him, you will most certainly lose but if it's his idea, well, it's a whole new world. LOL Good luck to you. Does he eat alone? I've also found that if other peers or friends say they love something, it becomes more palatable, much like very small children. Annie

Sorry for the delay in replying but I was at work. LOL Here's some suggestions I had posted before. My whole family packs lunch about 4X a week and often itÂs our main meal of the day. We tend to like vegetable salads without greens and with some meat, poultry or seafood with them. Her are some things we make for lunches (usually with some type of fruit or dessert with them): -Margarita scallop salad (grilled scallops w/a corn salad) -Grilled portabella and eggplant salad w/sesame ginger dressing -Hummus w/pita triangles and a Greek salad (and sometimes a grilled stuffed kibbee with it) -Ham and cheese on mini-bagels with chicken rice soup -Tomato and mozzarella salad with a couple of slices of French bread and some salami -Tomato stuffed with chicken salad, crackers -Baked chicken breast, baby carrots and sugar snap peas with dip -Caponata and some slices of smoked provolone -A fruit and cheese platter with rolled up slices of ham and turkey and assorted crackers -Shrimp and asparagus salad with mustard-dill dressing, bread soldiers -Cream cheese, blue cheese, horseradish and dried beef spread with garlic melba rounds, pepper cabbage -Cold salmon with a container of yogurt, cucumber and mint sauce and green beans cooked with tomatoes and onions -What we call Italian tuna salad (tuna, little cubes of tomato and onion, mixed with basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar), thin slices of French bread -Stuffed onions or eggplant or zucchini (good use for leftover meat) and marinated mushrooms -Shrimp and corn salad with mini corn muffins -An avocado stuffed with crabmeat salad with breadsticks -Barley salad topped with sliced London broil steak -Gingered carrot soup with cucumber and onion sandwiches These are summer lunches. In winter, the menu leans more towards soups and stews. I try to either make up a few things on the weekend, and when weÂre grilling, we can throw some portabella or eggplant slices on there for a salad or incorporate lunch for the next day into dinner. For example, if IÂm making pasta with red crabmeat sauce, IÂll get enough crabmeat to make a salad for the next day while dinner is cooking.

hi! I was looking for the same recipe after seeing the same show and that is how i came across your post-found it for you, only i dont remember her using breadcrumbs,do you?!: Lunch with Lidia Pasta col pesto trapanese Pasta with pesto in the style of Trapani Ingredients: 1 pound of pasta (This dish is traditionally made with busiate, a pasta from the town of Trapani, but impossible to find elsewhere. You can use spaghetti or fusilli.) 6 ripe tomatoes 1 clove of garlic (Trapanesi like this dish reeking of garlic, we like less) 4 TB peeled almonds 6 TB extra-virgin olive oil 2 handfuls of fresh basil 1 TB of fresh mint Salt & pepper 4 TB breadcrumbs Makes 4-6 servings. (4 Sicilian portions or 6 normal ones) Preparation: Toss the peeled almonds in a non-stick pan over a medium flame until they are lightly toasted, being careful not to burn them. Peel and seed the tomatoes and cut into pieces. Grind the almonds in a food processor or nut grinder, and set aside. Put the prepared tomatoes, garlic, basil, mint, salt, and pepper in a mortar and work with the pestle until the ingredients are well-blended. (Technically, you should be producing any kind of pesto by hand with a mortar and pestle, but a food processor gives excellent results). Add the oil and ground almonds. In a non-stick pan, toast the breadcrumbs until they are golden, and set aside in a small bowl. Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water, until it is al dente. Briefly drain it, and put the pasta in a large bowl and mix with the pesto sauce. Put into serving dishes and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs. Accompany with a Sicilian red wine such as Regaleali Rosso. Buon appetito! (Many thanks to Zia Lidia, who invited us to lunch at her beach house numerous times this summer.)

I regularly make meals at church for after a funeral or before a meeting and can easily feed people for $1 each without dessert. Some meals I have done are chicken pasta and vegetable casserole with a creamy cheese sauce, green salad and bread....or lasagna, green salad and garlic bread, or chicken salad, fruit and bread, ham sandwiches and chicken salad sandwiches with a veggie pasta salad....all including coffee and tea.... Things to remember....all from scratch. No bottled salad dressing no bags of greens and no canned soups are allowed. For the chicken salad, I buy white meat chicken when it's on sale, poach it, bone it and then boil the skin and bones for broth. I buy a whole farmland ( deli ham( and have it sliced. 5 pounds costs about $8 and will make 50 small sandwiches. I buy head lettuce, wash chill and break up and add a bag of spinach, some shredded carrot and shredded red cabbage. I make a home made olive oil dressing and people love it! I make a cheese sauce, cook pasta and add broccoli, red pepper, sauteed onions, celery and some cooked chicken, place in a casserole in the oven until hot and slightly browned, serve with bread and tossed salad. I will cook a whole bone in ham and serve it with a baked pineapple casserole and corn bread. Soup and bread will easily feed a mob for very little....but all must be home made.... Linda C