Every day I have been packing a lunch for my picky eater, and every day most of it comes home in his lunch box. I already shifted his morning snack to a Silk chocolate milk box and a bag of pretzels with some marshmallows. That seemed to do the trick, since other kids are getting chocolate milk in cartons. He is happy to have what everyone else is having, for a change. And I am happy I can provide that.

But at lunch time, he seems bored with some of his standards, such as tater tots and (Boar's Head) bologna, a ham and cheese (rice cheese) sandwich or ham rolls. It's shocking to me that he won't eat these things, since he has been devouring them every day for as long as I can remember.

Fortunately, I had just visited the cake-decorating section at JoAnne Fabrics and picked up some funky little cutters that are intended to cut out fondant. I purchased them so I could experiment with cutting out fruit leathers and applying the little shapes to sweets. I thought that would jazz up special treats (and also get in some extra nutrition). But, I had fun playing with lunch box items instead! If you want to see what I'm talking about, check out the cutters here.

This weekend, I stacked cut-out cheese slices with gluten-free crackers and cut out ham slices and cheese and placed them on a slice of toasted Ener-G tapioca bread (see photo above). His eyes lit up as bright as the stars on top of his sandwich. There's no way this is coming home in his lunch box on Monday!

And, to prove to my husband that gluten-free food can be delicious, I made this for Sunday night football:



This dip is a favorite at gatherings, and when I called my friend to get her recipe, it occurred to me that it is pretty much gluten free. I was pretty excited that my husband enjoyed it so much. I had tackled this football munchee and left gluten on the sidelines. I played around with the olives on the top and made it in shape of a football (see photo above), but have another idea: Green onions for a field with sour cream piped across the pan to make yard lines.

I know the TV's not on in the kitchen, but it's all fun and games in here anyway today.

Taco Dip
First Layer: 31 ounce can of refried beans (check labels, but Amy's brand is for sure gluten free)
Second Layer: A 24 ounce container of sour cream mixed with taco seasoning (Penzy's has gluten-free mix or see recipe* below)
Third layer: Guacamole (4 avocados, 1/2 an onion, juice of one lemon, 1 clove of garlic in food processor)
Fourth layer: 2 cups of shredded cheese (Kraft is safe, but also Kroger brand is gluten-free)
Fifth layer: Tomatoes (about 2), chopped -- or play around with black olives (Kroger brand is OK), green onions or whatever you want to top it with. I also have thought about making a Halloween dip with a pumpkin out of the cheese and black olives for bats. Oh, the possibilities...

Serve with gluten-free tortilla chips and/or veggies.

*Taco seasoning: Mix 1 teaspoon each of cumin, chili powder, salt, garlic powder, cornstarch and 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder.

Tip: I had trouble thinking of a way to make this dairy-free. Rice cheese shreds have casein in them, but it doesn't seem to bother my picky eater. I might just skip the sour cream layer, add a thin layer of Tofutti cream cheese mixed with seasoning and top with the shredded rice cheese. But his picky palate might not enjoy this particular snack. I have a feeling he would be happy with just the chips, especially if they're the blue ones.