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The last
Newsletter
Back to
where it
began...
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Bid farewell
This edition is bittersweet... The time has sadly come for me to bid farewell to At The Failsafe Table Newsletters. Life has just become too full, and my children have grown up, and not requiring to be strict failsafe anymore. I hope that the newsletters have been a blessing and some help to you. Thank you all for your continued support and following over the years. I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey and culinary experience.
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It has been exactly 10 years since I created this blog to host the newsletters, 1st August 2014! You can see the first edition here. At the Failsafe Table had been going for a few years earlier using a little site called paper.li that generated newsletters. Back then, there were 4 of us regularly blogging failsafe recipes that joined forces in one place to provide a newsletter with recipes and inspiration to make it easier on those navigating the diet. Sandra at Cooking for Oscar, Trish at Failsafe Foodie, Frilly Pants at Real Meals and Failsafe Decorated Cakes and myself, Rona at Domestic Diva Unleashed. Sadly, everyone slowly drifted off over the years and I have continued the newsletter on my own since 2017. Each newsletter takes a lot of work and being a perfectionist doesn't help, lol! Over the years I had to move it from being monthly, to every second month, then quarterly.
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If you have a recipe that you would like to share with the failsafe community, please email me at admin@failsafetable.com and I can add your recipe as a guest blogger on the web site.
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Here is a little update from three of us. I was not able to get a hold of Frilly Pants, unfortunately. Below are some of the very first recipes we blogged. Enjoy.
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Firstly, thank you to Rona for all her work on the At the Failsafe Table Newsletter and keeping it running for such a long time. When I first started the Cooking for Oscar blog in 2010, I was feeling alone in navigating the world of food intolerances and how to support my then 1 year old son. When I started blogging, I was hoping to share with others (assuming there were other people out there in the same situation) the recipes I was creating for Oscar after his diagnosis of food intolerances at one year old. The bonus in this endeavour was discovering three other amazing mums, who were also blogging their experiences and sharing recipes. I certainly enjoyed trying out their recipes as much as I did in creating and sharing my own. At the Failsafe Table was a natural collaboration between us and I’m really proud of what we achieved and the support we’ve been able to provide to other families.
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Since starting to share my recipes, my favourite, and most popular recipe, has been “No-Tomato Sauce”. “Creamy Carrot and Red Lentil Soup” is also a favourite, and we continue to make in its original format. I’m also pretty proud of my improvement in making and decorating birthday cakes, from the original Teddy Bear Marshmallow Cake to The Avengers and Boba Fett cakes. My son no longer has food intolerances. He started to become more tolerant around 7 years old; slowly building up his tolerance and expanding his range of foods until he was pretty much eating normally by the time he hit high school. He is a 6ft 16-year-old now, who has developed a love for good food and is a great cook in his own right.
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I haven’t needed to cook FAILSAFE for Oscar for many now years, so haven’t been actively updating the Cooking for Oscar site or Facebook page for some time. I’m going to keep the website active for as long as possible, hosting costs and the ability to update it are the key issues with keeping it going long term. Thank you to everyone who has purchased the Cooking for Oscar books in my Blurb store. I don’t make a profit on these books, but the sale proceeds do contribute to my hosting costs. I’m hoping to create a final publication of the remaining recipes before the website finally gives up.
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When FAILSAFE cooking started to become less important, I did try creating another recipe blog, but creating and sharing “regular” recipes wasn’t as interesting. During the COVID lockdowns I returned to blogging, this time writing about my photography and vintage cameras at frogmouthcottagephotography.com and have found another online community.
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Thank you for reading our blogs and subscribing to the newsletter over the years, and thank you to Rona, Pip and Trish for making me a better FAILSAFE cook.
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Hi! It’s Trish here, the artist formerly known as the Failsafe Foodie.
Life has changed significantly since my failsafe blogging days. As the food sensitivities seemed to be increasing at the time, we worked towards a more GAPS/paleo diet. I was sick of things becoming more restrictive and wanting there to be more fresh food in our diet. I was also becoming aware that the amount of sugar and carbs we were eating that were probably making things worse. Hindsight, eh? We also worked with a GP who has training around biomedicine and had all sorts of tests and worked on correcting some of the issues that were at the root of what we were experiencing.
The fact is you do the best you can with the resources available to you at the time and at the time it was helpful.
I trained as a chef. All my self-taught skills and restricted ingredient cooking paid off. I found myself creating meals and treats at a “healthy” café that catered to all sorts of dietary requirements. I also spent time as a chef in a private hospital, where having the ability to come up with something on the spot for a new patient was a beneficial skill to have.
The child who sent us on this food journey is now 19 years old. The road has been tumultuous. He was diagnosed with combined ADHD, Autism, Sensory Processing disorder and Oppositional Defiance Disorder. Oh, and then depression and anxiety because with all the other stuff going on. We gave in to medication. Some of it has been a life saver. Some of it nearly destroyed us.
He didn’t finish school. It was definitely not a good environment for him to be in. Now he is studying live stage and sound production at TAFE (and loves it!), volunteering with a local theatre group doing sound and lighting, and working occasionally setting up stages at arena venues.
When we are in my house all our food is still free of gluten, artificial colours, and as many additives and carbs as I can avoid. I had to stop trying so hard because they would go to their father’s house and be fed pretty much anything. It was a bit crushing to put in so much effort and have it undone over a weekend. And now as an adult, he can and does go places and consume things that have a negative impact on him.
So, I guess it is about balance now – what I can do with the time, money, information, and energy that I have available.
Good luck on your journeys. Most importantly look after yourselves – so many of us are running on empty because every bit of our energy goes into this stuff and trying to fix things that are really complicated and not necessarily fixable. Set healthy boundaries in your life. Stop and take time for yourself – sacrificing your wellbeing doesn’t help. Get support from anywhere you can. You are important and burn out is real.
Take Care,
Trish (AKA The Failsafe Foodie)
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As I mentioned above, our family have not been following the failsafe diet for a few years now. My children are now 21, 17 and 15. I found as they have grown and matured over the years, they have become to understand and recognise the signs of when their buckets are full and pull back on certain foods. As they are now older with jobs and their own money to buy food, it's hard to let go and not police them, lol. The only things we completely avoid still are all forms of MSG, 160b and colours. That is mainly because of how nasty they are and knowing the affects they can still have on anyone. I am incredibly grateful that we found failsafe when we did, it created a harmonious life and kept us sane.
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I am slowing trying to update all my recipes on my blog to have the recipe widget to make it easy to read and print them. When I can, I am trying to re-photograph some recipes as my photography skills when I started were not very inspiring. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get my cookbook published as yet, the costs involved are exorbitant... one day... stay tuned. Like Sandra, running a blog has hosting costs and I have 2 with my Domestic Diva and The Failsafe Table sites. I will endeavour to keep them running as a valuable resource for as long as possible.
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My time over the last 10 years have been filled with homeschooling my daughters and working 2 jobs around our busy lifestyle. My 21-year-old son is at Uni, just about completed studying Medical Laboratory and is going on to do Biomedicine all while working full time. Life is incredibly full, rewarding and chaotic, I wouldn't have it any other way.
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Vanilla Syrup
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Domestic Diva: The first recipe on my blog from 2012. "This is a beautiful syrup that can be used over ice cream, with pancakes and waffles, milkshakes or my favourite way is in coffee / decaf".
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Failsafe Candy
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Failsafe Foodie: So, birthday parties tend to be the bane of the failsafer. Bland, colourless food that no one else, let alone the failsafe kid himself, wants to eat. WRONG!
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This was the party to end all parties. Mostly as I had told my son he had had plenty of birthday parties and they are a lot of work. But it was his first birthday with big school friends and his first failsafe party, so I wanted it to be spectacular and to make sure he didn't feel like he had missed out at all.
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Yummy Chocolate Spread
Cooking for Oscar: This weekend I have tried making a chocolate nut spread, an alternative to Nutella, using cashews. Not something for everyday consumption, but a nice treat for weekend breakfasts or morning tea.
* Use carob powder for failsafe
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Pumpkin and Lentil Lasagna with Ricotta
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Real Meals: I was ‘making up’ a meal tonight. I make them up, because we can't eat what we used to eat. We can't enjoy the flavours we used to. We've all gone FAILSAFE. There are a few things I miss more than others. One of the biggies is Lasagne.
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* Pumpkin is Moderate Salicylates
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Chewy Muesli Bars
Cooking for Oscar: I’ve had a few attempts at making muesli bars, and after a bit of trial and error I’ve finally come up with a recipe that works. They look pretty similar to commercial muesli bars.
I take the nut-free version to my son’s daycare centre to have when the other kids have commercial muesli bars.
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Sticky Slice
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Domestic Diva: I must warn you… this slice is incredibly sweet, gooey and really yummy! My kids fight over who is going to get to lick the bowl. Adding the carob powder into the base is optional, it is still yummy either way.
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Caramel Cup Cakes
Failsafe Foodie: The cake was devoured. Completely. Four dozen patty cakes, gone. Not bad for a gluten free, dairy free cake.
Also on this link is more of the party food served, homemade nuggets and chips.
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Lamb with Cous Cous
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Real Meals: On the way home from school, Ms D asked "What's for dinner?" Same as every other day. "Lamb with cous cous." I said, which covered many possible combos. Lamb with Cous Cous...errr Rice... and Roast Veg Medley
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Poached Chokos and Choko Muffins
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Cooking For Oscar: Chokos are something that I have recently started experimenting with. Chokos are surprisingly easy to cook with, they can be eaten as both fruit and a vegetable, and take on the flavour of whatever they are cooked with
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Pear Ketchup
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Domestic Diva: The third recipe I created I on my blog is this sauce, and it's one of the most popular recipes. "This is a staple in our house. It is from Sue Dengate’s Fed Up book. We use it instead of commercial tomato or bbq sauce. I have adapted it to make it quickly and easily in the Thermomix".
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Chicken and Quinoa Risotto
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Failsafe Foodie: Risotto is really quite versatile and you can add almost anything to it. The quinoa was a last minute idea, it adds a bit of flavour and lots of goodness.
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Lamb and barley stew
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Real Meals: I tend to stick to the recipe, with the necessary FS amendments (eg spring onions for onions; Canola oil) but last night I 'beefed' it up a little with some potato. It became a little Irish Stew-ish I suppose. I'm thinking that Failsafe eating is easier in Winter with the nourishing one-pot stews and so on.
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Don't forget about the Failsafe Table Pinterest Page
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It has lots of failsafe recipes available with links all in the one place. I will continue to keep saving suitable recipes on it as I find them.
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Fact Sheet
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How to start failsafe eating:
a step by step guide
This link on the Fed up web site is a great one to give to any family or friends when starting out or as a checklist for yourself when on the Failsafe diet. It can be a lot to get your head around in the begining, and this breaks it down into easy steps.
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FED UP: Some families see a big improvement just by cutting down. Others will get best results by doing a full elimination diet, free of additives, low in salicylates, amines and flavour enhancers (failsafe).
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If cutting down doesn't help enough but you see some effects, or if you are desperate, it is best to do the full diet. There is a huge gap between avoiding food additives and doing a low salicylate, low amine elimination diet. Like most mothers, when I first saw the dietitians’ booklet, I thought ‘this is too hard!’ The whole point about elimination diets is to get them right, so you have to stick strictly to the foods in the shopping list.
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The key is to be well prepared which is why I wrote my books: this diet works, and the more you know the better it works. Find time to read my books, either from your local library or buy them online as this will increase your chances of success.
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1. Check with your doctor that there is not some other cause for your problems. For example, children with significant hearing loss or painful dental decay can sometimes appear to have ADHD.
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2. The diet that was a magic answer for us is called the Simplified Elimination Diet from Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Allergy Clinic in Sydney. We call it failsafe - meaning free of additives, low in salicylates, amines and flavour enhancers because it’s easier to say.
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Thank you for reading the newsletter. I hope you continue to gain more ideas and inspiration for your families and friends.
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