<p>A little help here! I loved looking over the ideas in the Care package thread. I am not a fan of gift cards- cash is cash. What I want to send is a treat upon opening- a life raft almost, to bring an immediate smile to DC’s face and maybe some foolish snacking into DC’s world.</p>
<p>I little light on Vegan ideas, though… The dried seaweed is bulky to mail, and Trader Joe’s vegan cookies were novel the first few times.</p>
<p>I know you have more creativity than I do, and want to get some great ideas. I know vegan can be restrictive, so in the interest of helping others, I thought I would broaden out and look for either vegetarian or vegan ideas. Yummy!</p>
<p>My next target is a full snack day at the Putnam exam (December 6).</p>
<p>What is a “full snack day at the Putnam exam”? Is this a care package to be mailed to the kid? I highly recommend fresh fruit. Wrap apples and satsumas in tissue paper or newsprint and stuff in a USPS large flat rate priority box. If you know that the box can make it from your house to the kids’ dorm in 2-3 days, include a clamshell or two of blueberries. Put them in a smaller cardboard box - they will ship just fine. Nuts are healthy and nutritious. Dried seaweed… That’s a sure way to send a message to my kid that the next care pack is not to be opened. :)</p>
<p>Oh, and include an apple slicer and some PB to make the snack even easier to consume. </p>
<p>@BunsenBurner, I am not sure what a full day is. I think the Putnam is 2 three hour sessions separated by a break, so maybe some in-test snacks, some around-lunchtime snacks, and some post-test snacks. I LOVE your ideas of fruits, nuts, and berries!</p>
<p>Lots of typical snack foods are vegan. Dried seaweed, fresh or dried fruit, nuts, nut butters, dark chocolate (without milk ingredients) are obvious examples.</p>
<p>From Trader Joe’s – all the nuts and fruit, the herb popcorn (maybe other popcorn, check ingredients), pretzels, peanut butter filled pretzels, dark chocolate, chocolate covered sea salt coated almonds, coconut chips. I love the plain dried mango. Check ingredients on any of those, but there are good options.</p>
<p>Be careful with baked goods - they can contain egg and butter products which would make them non-vegan. Also, if sending dried fruit, keep an eye for added sugar and preservatives. I personally really like freeze-dried bananas and mangoes from TJ.</p>
<p>For vegetarians, KIND bars can be a convenient on the go and relatively healthy snack. Will not work for vegans, since they use honey for sweetness. </p>