"I wanted to make all the days exciting for myself, as well as for her," says Jeanine, of Elgin, Illinois. So she began cooking up menus for pioneer adventures and cowboy cookouts, ocean voyages and circus parties.

Over the years, she's packed teeny-tiny tea parties (finger sandwiches, grapes and mini muffins on doll dishes), round meals (a bagel with cream cheese, an orange, carrot rounds) and a backward lunch (a sandwich with meat and cheese on the outside and a note written in reverse telling the child to eat dessert first).

She's also organized lunches around colors, holidays and a slew of shapes and nationalities.