The White Rabbit wrote:

Blimey allora, you should spend a bit of time over in the gluten free thread.

gladly WR  but only if the pay's right and i get days off for good behaviour 

rebl .... glad i could help   ...i know how hard it is trying to feed a toddler on a restricted diet and it can be a nightmare to say the least ! ......i used to make Alex little treats (using allowed foods) which he'd get once he'd eaten his meals ... yes, i had to resort to bribery    terrible i know, but how else do you convince a 3 year old to eat ANOTHER bowl of plain lamb stew or steamed fish and veg when it's already coming out of his ears (he had a VERY restricted diet ! )

here are a few more ideas for snacks and treats that your little boy might like

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Banana 'Icecream'....keep a bagful of peeled banana slices/chunks in the freezer (make sure the banana is sweet & ripe)...throw them into a high speed  blender or food processor and blend till just creamy...you can also add some raw creamed coconut (see below)  for flavour and calories.... serve it just as it is or sprinkle it with milk free chocolate or carob shavings/drops.

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Fruit Smoothies......use about 1/2 cup of soft fruit (peaches, strawberries, raspberries, mango,kiwi, blueberries,banana etc) plus 1/2 - 3/4 cup of milk (rice or oat milk in this case)...blend till creamy adding a little honey or agave syrup to sweeten if necessary....adding some real vanilla to the mix makes them taste extra yummy also, raw creamed coconut adds flavour and calories to smoothies making them more nutritious...i use a brand called 'Artisana'...it's called 'coconut butter' but it's actually made using the whole coconut, rather than just the oil http://www.red23.co.uk/Raw-Organic-Coco … lsgqd8q6n7

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Chocolate/Carob dipped fruit 'lollies' ....pierce whole fruits/slices of fruit onto wooden skewers or lollipop sticks then dip into melted, milk free chocolate or melted carob...if you're using carob, add a little bit of coconut oil to the carob before you melt it....carob can be a bit 'grainy' and adding the oil helps to  keep the mixture smooth.

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Chocolate or Carob Coated Fruit Praline (sweets)

i used to make these with nuts but you can leave them out if they cause problems...using a food processor blend together a mixture of DRIED fruits and raw creamed coconut (bananas, raisins, pineapple and mango are good)...add a little runny honey or agave syrup to help bind the mixture together....form into long, thin sausage shapes then wrap tightly in some clingfilm...pop them in the fridge for a few hours to firm up then cut into little sweet sized chunks....dip in melted chocolate/carob and allow to cool down till firm...you can sprinkle them with dried coconut too if you like, just make sure you sprinkle them before the chocolate/carob starts setting....i used to wrap single sweets in cellophane wrappers and put them into little paper bags to make them extra special

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I empathize with your situation.  For the past three years my son has been on a very restricted diet. He cannot have gluten, dairy, eggs, sugar, soy, nuts and citrus nor can he tolerate any food additives or colourings or processed foods. I found school lunch to be the most challenging meal of the day.  Getting enough calories in to him in a day was difficult because, while his diet was extremely healthy, the foods my son could tolerate were not high in calories. Some of the suggestions I am about to make may have already been given but here are a few ideas that have worked for me:
corn chips and guacamole (guacamole is great for increasing calorie count),  fruit smoothies (pineapple, mango and banana is a good combination (add coconut milk for extra calories if your son likes it and can tolerate it)).  You can add stevia to sweeten the smoothies.  I would make hot chocolate with rice milk and send it in a thermos flask, dried fruit, carrots with dip, applesauce.  Also, cold kebabs were a hit for a while.  The meat is already cut into bite size pieces.  He would take cut cold sausage but it was difficult to find sausage that met his diet limitations.  There are some good, naturally-sweetened cereals that come in bite-sized pieces that I would send with him. Filling rice wrappers with rice and veggie combinations ( very much like sushi) was also a good snack.

Grrrrr. I made him guacamole today and he wouldn't eat it. I made him the smoothie with coconut milk, declared it was yucky and wouldn't drink it. So today I'VE piled on the pounds with some rather nice high calorie foods and not my son. This is doing my head in. Normally he'll eat anything but this week as refused most of the food I've given him which isn't great as its taken me ages to make it, hasn't been cheap and he needs to put on weight.

Carl19 - Sounds like your son is on a similar diet to mine. How old was he when you started it? I don't know if I'm struggling with him being a typical 3 yr old at the same time as changing his diet.

Ha Rebl! He may have diet restrictions, but he is a perfectly normal 3 year old!    
Good luck with the next thing you try!

I also suffer from a myriad of food allergies: dairy, soy, gluten, eggs. I understand the difficulty - it can be quite overwhelming at first. The good news is that once you get the hang of it, the diet no longer seems so difficult or foreign. Look for some allergen-friendly cookbooks and start experimenting, (you can find a list of great GF and allergy-friendly cookbooks at http://www.innatehealthfoundation.org/w … =Cookbooks). I created a routine of trying one new thing each week and before I knew it, I had a huge new selection of allergy-friendly choices that I loved! I have really enjoyed the bread and baked goods recipes in the "Flying Apron" cookbook (there is a link to this cookbook on the site listed above). The recipes in this book are gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, and soy-free and are incredibly tasty
You also asked about xantham gum...it gives the dough a "stickiness" that is usually achieved by the gluten within the flour, providing a smoother and stickier dough. Once you get the hang of working with gluten-free dough, you can usually omit the xantham gum and still get good results.
I hope that this helps!