I am sure you have already hit the ground running (or dragged as in my case, lol) into new routines required for the start of 2016. Whether it is with school, Uni, work or busy mums & dads, I hope you are taking time to breathe and not get too overwhelmed with what this year brings.

To kick off this year, we have included some great recipes to help you prepare for packed lunches whether for yourself and/or the kids. With limited ingredients on the Failsafe diet, it can be hard to come up with new and interesting ideas each day, especially to tempt fussy eaters. With a little planning and a few recipes up your sleeve it should help to lighten the load. 

For those who are new to failsafe and have not yet discovered it... Deli Chicken from Real Meals is a must! If you have started your failsafe journey and missing luncheon meat, this is the recipe to try. Perfect in sandwiches, wraps, pizza, quiches and salads. You can also fry it up to replace bacon! [read more]

Cooking for Oscar: "This recipe started out as a dinner recipe, based on an idea in the Mountain Bread Recipe Book. But after having the left overs for lunch I realised they made a good lunch box idea.  I also froze and thawed one as a test, just to make sure.  Even better, they are great for using up left overs, I used left over gyoza filling in these". [read more]

Pita Pockets

Pita pockets are a great alternative and a fun change from sandwiches. Real Meals has an easy Thermomix recipe for them with a link to the traditional method. The added bonus is Kersten's Kitchen has made a gluten free version as well, so there is a link to that too! [read more]

Pear and Poppy Seed Cake

 This lovely GF recipe is from Bird Seed Tweet.

"But the journey to health repair doesn’t have to be without a little tweet now and again. So here’s my Pear and Poppy Seed cake recipe. And for the record, pear and poppy seed are secret lovers! They work so well together! Enjoy and happy healthifying!" [read more]

Ants on a log

Thanks to MealPlans for the reminder... Ants on a log are a great healthy snack. Celery with Philly cheese and sprinkled with poppy seeds. Yum!

Crunch bars

The Truthful kitchen has some tasty GF snacks.

"Crunch bars are a very popular snack in our house.  Given how easy they are to prepare, mama’s not complaining! They’re perfect for lunch boxes too". [read more]

Cooking for Oscar: "These are two very easy, quick ideas for dessert or a snack that the kids can help make (see my little helper !).  I love fruit and pastry, so these are a variation on my Simple Fruit Tarts recipe that I use when I’ve got enough left over pastry, or just an extra sheet lying around." [read more]

If you are keen to have a go at making your own GF rollable pastry, try this recipe by Kristan.

Skinnymixers Lunchbox Chicken Loaf

Now this recipe as it stands is NOT Failsafe... but leave out the paprika and use Rice Bran oil and you have another wonderful addition to add to your lunches! This recipe is just too good not to share! Oh the possibilities!

"Extremely delicious and better yet: preservative, additive, nut, gluten, dairy, egg, grain and refined sugar free! It’s also budget friendly, where you will pay $18 kg from the supermarket, this should cost you around $8-$15 a kg depending on if you use freerange chicken." [read more]

Failsafe Foodie: "We all miss certain foods, and while I eat other things when I am away from the kids occasionally, I do miss the variety at home. I think it is good for the kids to become accustomed to different styles of food so that one day, when they are able, they won't be scared to try something a bit different".  [read more]

Domestic Diva: Dumplings were another dish that we sampled regularly while travelling in China. There was nothing like buying them straight from the street markets, the tastes and smells were an amazing experience. The locals were so quick to make them, it was like an art form. For me, inexperienced as I am, they were rather time consuming yet fun to make and totally worth the effort! [read more]

Did you know we have a "Failsafe Asian Influence" board on Pinterest? There are 34 pinned recipes to entice your taste buds in this board alone. But make sure you follow ALL of our boards so when new boards are added, you don't miss out! Have you checked it out yet? There are 32 boards filled with 884 failsafe pins! Here is the link to follow all of the Failsafe Table Pinterest Boards. Happy Pinning!

Cute little Coffee Biscuits

Add a little love to packed lunches with these cute little biscuits that have been pressed with a shape before baking. Pull out those heart cutters! Made with decaf, they are also GF EF & Failsafe. [read more]

Lunch Box Printable's

Everyone loves to be encouraged and told how special they are. We have added some pins to our Lunch Box Pinterest Board that have some links to free cute little cards that you can print out to slip into your families lunch boxes this Valentines day. There are many more fun and themed ones available to chose from also like Lego, Star Wars, Minions, Frozen... have a search on pinterest and make it a fun regular special treat to include in their lunches.

Additive Free Trial

What do you think would happen if a whole school goes Additive free? Nana Glen School did a trial for two weeks. Here is the link to watch the news report video and you can read all about Sue Dengates follow up here.