Dear Deborah,
Thankyou for your great lunch ideas.  Could you tell me where you purchase
Mrs. Manischewitz Pasta with Vegetable meals and milk free tortilla wraps.
I live in Barrie, Ontario, Canada.  I have relatives in Florida and
Pennsylvania state in the event that its only available in the U.S.  ( which
is were most of the products are located)  I would really appreciate your
help with this.

Thanks and Regards,
Lisa (mother of two boys age 5 and 2 who are lactose intolerant and are
allergic to dairy)

Deborah Garner wrote:

> <<<I'm so glad you brought up this topic! My daughter is so picky, hates
>
> sandwiches and it's driving me nuts trying to find ideas for a protein
> source. Could you share some of the things that your daughter enjoys?>>>
>
> Here are my daughter's top 11 lunch favorites:
>
> 1.  Vegetarian refried beans spread on a milk-free flour tortilla.  I
> roll it up and put it in a ziptop bag.  She also likes to take tortilla
> chips and dip them in refried beans.  She calls it bean dip.
>
> 2.  Boiled eggs!  This is simple but she really loves them!  I add
> another ziptop bag with cut up carrots, celery, cucumbers and green
> pepper strips.  When I can get it, I make a simple dip with no-milk mayo
> and a few seasonings to dip the veggies.
>
> 3.  She loves cold cooked (a bit easier to chew) broccoli.  I send this
> as often as possible as it is high in calcium.
>
> 4.  Peanut butter and jelly on a milk-free flour tortilla.  I roll it up
> and put it in a ziptop bag.
>
> 5.  I use small Tupperware type containers for fruit, applesauce, etc.
> I send lots of fruit and fresh veggies.  Luckily my daughter likes
> both.  Frozen peas are nice and thaw by lunchtime.
>
> 6. Whenever I make homemade biscuits I make a few extra and make
> miniature sandwiches the next day using bologna, pb&j, etc.
>
> 7.  My daughter likes pasta of any kind.  She especially likes elbow
> noodles.  She will eat  them with tomato sauce.  She prefers them cold
> and plain.....just a bit of non-dairy margarine and salt & pepper.
>
> 8.  I buy lots of 100% juice boxes.  Edensoy has soy milk in 8 oz.
> boxes.  I sometimes buy these.  More often I use a refillable juice box
> size plastic container by Rubbermaid.  It is flat and has a straw
> inside.
>
> 9.  LEFTOVERS!!!  Anything that I think will be safe with a small
> reusable blue ice thing and can be eaten cold.  I have not found a
> thermos-type container that she can open easily without spills.  If I
> found one, I'd probably send more leftovers.
>
> 10.  Pita bread with sandwich stuff inside.  Sometimes I scramble eggs
> and put them inside with a little lettuce and bacon that is chopped up.
>
> 11.  I make lots of muffins to send to school.  I use Imagine puddings
> too.
>
> I always send a spoon and napkin as my daughter does not even go through
> the lunch line with the other kids.  She goes directly to the table.
> Her class eats first and she sits on the end of the row of tables so she
> can get up if there is a spill of some sort.  The lunch monitor throws
> her trash away so she does not have to be near the area where students
> are carrying trays and dumping milk cartons.
>
> Of course I send other things sometimes but this is our regular fare.
> Any ideas would be appreciated.  I like to prepare most things myself
> rather than using canned/ready-made foods.  I keep a few Mrs.
> Manischewitz Pasta with Vegetable meals at school in case a lunch is
> forgotten.  These are Kosher pareve.  Is one of the cup-a-soup type
> meals where you just add boiling water. These are nice to take on trips
> too!
>
> Deborah