I agree with what's being said. The first time I went veggie. I did it cold turkey with no knowledge of what I was doing. Bad idea. Next time around, I spoke to a veggie co-worker and learned a lot here. Then I tried again. I gradually weaned myself off of one item at a time. Then I tried new dishes that were veggie. Plus some familiar dishes that I liked, I just took the meat out or replaced it with "fake meat" as my boyfriend calls it. Or tofu. I did the same thing when I became vegan (actually, I'm still working on it LOL).

So my advice would be, educate them first. Don't give them too much info, just enough to get them started, and fill in the rest later. Give them some of your favorite recipes to try or invite them over for dinner and make them a "buffet" type dinner with different things to try.

I don't know if it's because I found a really great grocery store just before going vegan or what, but I spend way less on groceries now that I buy lots of produce.  I did notice that some stores have outrageous prices on produce. 

Also, I shop what's in season, i.e. the lower priced stuff, which may not always be what I originally had in mind.  The longer I've been into vegetables, the more willing I've been to try new things.  I would definitely encourage your friend and mom to try new foods slowly.  Maybe, each week at the store, they can find one veggie or something that is a good price, and use the price as an excuse to try it.  I think one of the reasons I ended up at this site is because I would buy a vegetable because it looked interesting, but I had no idea what to do with it! 

And if there is a nearby farmer's market, you could take them to it.  I always feel at one with the fruits and veggies when I go to the farmer's market! 

I like the suggestions below about establishing a base of incidentally vegan dishes.  Once they have this foundation, they could start experimenting with meat and dairy analogues.

 I've been putting up a recipe of the week the past two weeks  on the bulletin board in the building's break room.  

That's a great idea, TinTexas!
I agree with taking things slow, and using familiar things at first...mexican dishes are usually a good option and familiar.  What about veggie stirfry?  And maybe add tofu or the fake chick'n strips?  Even if they are ovo-lacto at first, maybe teach them to become label readers, as many products contain gelatin or rennet .

Most of the food I eat is "normal food".  I think the biggest trick is to make sure they eat the right proportions of carbs, protein, and fat so they don't get food cravings.

Breakfast:   There's always oatmeal, bananas, etc.  There are a lot of high protein cereals out there.  If they eat cereal, I would start them off with rice milk or almond milk, because soy milk has a stronger flavor.  If they eat breakfast in a restaurant, they could order oatmeal and a side of hash browns or other potato.  If they like honey in tea, they could use agave syrup which is like a thinner honey.  If they like those prepackaged Starbucks drinks, there's a soy version.  What I really like for breakfast is Whole Soy & Co. yogurt topped with a protein cereal and banana slices.  That's good for lunch, too.

Lunch:   For quick, prepackaged meals (good for work) I go to Indian food markets and get the meals in the foil packets that I put over rice.  I get fava bean burritos from a Egyptian food place.  They can make a spring mix salad with veggies with a Herb Crusted Chicken Patty torn into parts.  If they like creamy dressings Follow Your Heart (in the refrigerator section) tastes pretty good.  I'd stay away from most vegan creamy dressings because of the poor taste.  I like the Delicious Pakistani Dhal recipe on salad.  If you toast almond slices  it will give depth to the salad and make it seem more substantial.  If they use walnuts, I wouldn't toast them because it's a very nutritious nut that's sensitive to heat and light.  If they're like me and don't like rice, the bean burrito works because there are grains in the tortilla.  It's not ideal, buy why force it?

Dinner:   This is when people are traditionally used to getting protein, so I'd start with good tasting vegan meat.  Gardenburger's Herb Crusted Chicken Patty has extra fat but would probably taste the best to an initiate.  I wouldn't call anything a "meat substitute" even if that's how it's packaged because nothing tastes like meat and they'll be disgusted.  You could have pizza bread.  Even though there are no animal products, the mind associates the flavors with meat, so they may feel more satisfied.  Half french rolls and add pizza sauce, bell peppers, canned or fresh chopped tomatoes, mushrooms... and toast in the toaster oven.

Dessert:  My absolute favorite summertime desert is honeydew melon chucks sprinkled with slivered fresh mint leaves.  The flavor is awesome!

I know that you are trying to help them eat better, but when people are transitioning they get cravings for "normal food" that they may otherwise not eat.  Here are some ideas in case they need to "cheat" during the transition:  Tofutti ice cream (except for chocolate) tastes authentic, most plain and barbeque potato chips, soda, a vegan patty like the Gardenburger's Herb Crusted Chicken or beef-substitute with onion rings and barbeque sauce on a french bread bun, french fries, vegan cookies and pudding, smores with ricemellow and dark chocolate (Weiss or Sjaak's have good vegan dark chocolate).

Things I'd stay away from (that you have already listed):  fake cheese, tempeh, most fake meats, most fake ice cream.  If they feel protein deficient and you want to load them up with fake meat protein, I recommend a strongly flavored sauce, like barbeque sauce or mustard to hide the flavor.

My biggest healthy eating advise is to learn how to can food.  I took a food preservation class through my county's extension office, so now I can healthy soups, sauces, etc. that don't have preservatives in them and I know are organic and vegan.  If you make beans, you can freeze them.  They get a little soft when they thaw, so if you put them in the freezer a bit undercooked they will be okay when you take them out.  That may help them streamline their food so they're less likely to "pick something up on the way home" because there's nothing ready to make.

Seventh Day Adventists are a great resource.  I live nearby a town founded by SDAs and there's a full-sized grocery store that's entirely vegetarian.

Yeah, great advice about not trying to take on too many changes too quickly, the shopping with them, and the reminding them that foods they already eat are or can easily be made vegetarian: pasta w/ marinara, cheese lasagna, salads, baked potatoes, bean-based burritos, soups, chili, etc.  Just tell them than you can make almost any recipe vegetarian by leaving out the meat and/or substituting a legume (or a fake meat product, if that's your thing).  So, you don't have to leave everything you ever knew and loved behind, but just cook it without the meat.  With vegetarianism especially, you don't have to go too much outside your comfort zone, at first, if you don't want to.

As far as grazing, almonds and dried fruit are two totally low maintanence snacks.  Also, baby carrots or other veggie dipped in hummus.  That's all I can think of at the moment, but then again, what does she graze on now?  Surely not pork chops  ;), so maybe she can keep grazing on some of the things she always grazed on?

Also, the Vegan Lunchbox website always inspires me to pack better lunches, even though it's mostly about packing a lunch for a little one...  The food also, I think, seems kind of unintimidating, so maybe it would be helpful for a new vegan?  http://www.veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/

Actually, there are a lot of great vegan food blogs, but maybe that's another thread  :)