Irish Food
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Is Hello Fresh Worth It? A Deep Dive into the meal kits subscription service.
I’ve been seeing more and more stories about meal kits, and specifically Hello Fresh meal kits on Instagram lately. Due in no small part to a very clever advertising campaign which uses approachable family and lifestyle influencers to communicate the message that a meal kit is the answer to planning your dinners. Is it worth it though? Is it all hype? Will the meal kits feed my hungry family of four? Does it generate loads of non-recyclable waste? Are the ingredients decent quality? And ultimately, will I buy it again? I’m going to try to answer these questions (and more) below in my Hello Fresh review. Since I announced I…
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Preparing For A Power Cut
Ever since the power went one Christmas Day when I was growing up, I’ve compiled a contingency plan so that I always have particular supplies in the house, just in case. This can apply in times of bad weather, snow or just when there are supply problems so it’s a good idea to prepare now – you never know when these tips will come in handy!
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Savoury Strawberry Salad – Ad
Did you know that a strawberry isn’t a true berry? You should store that little nugget of knowledge up for the next table quiz you’re at. True berries have their seeds held inside the fruit; a strawberry’s seeds are dotted along the outside with their characteristic little dot. This post has been sponsored by Bord Bia and if you’d like to get more information on how to celebrate strawberry season visit www.bordbia.ie/strawberries My father in law sat down after dinner the other evening as he’d selected the best looking strawberry from the chip for dinner. With a little knife he gently lifted the seeds from outside the strawberry onto a…
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Strawberry Pizza Pancakes – Ad
It’s a battle sometimes to get the kids to eat enough portions of fruit and vegetables in a day. I find myself having to resort to using every single Mam-trick in the book to convince them to add an extra portion into the day. They do however love strawberries and the beauty of this recipe is that the pancakes ‘look’ like a pizza but don’t have a savoury flavour at all. This post has been sponsored by Bord Bia and if you’d like to get more information on how to celebrate strawberry season visit www.bordbia.ie/strawberries My bigger problem though is making sure that the strawberries make it home from the…
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Sugar Free Strawberry Ice Pops – Ad
As soon as the new strawberries start to appear in the supermarket it’s a sure sign that Summer has arrived. Even if the weather doesn’t quite agree, there’s nothing like the sweet scent of strawberries wafting around the kitchen. This post has been sponsored by Bord Bia and if you’d like to get more information on how to celebrate strawberry season visit www.bordbia.ie/strawberries I just can’t resist buying strawberries every week for the duration of the season. I know I’m luckier than many with one of the best local fruit farms in the country only 5 minutes down the road to get my produce from. Regardless of whether you buy…
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Braised Beef With Seasonal Veg
For the first in the recipe series I’ve gone back to a family favourite. Mam used to make this braised beef dish in a heavy casserole dish with a lid. The homely flavours come thanks to the veg that all comes from a local farm. It doesn’t get more Irish than this.
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Half Size Me – Food Waste, Portion Sizes, And Dining Out
‘There’s always the children’s menu if you want a smaller portion,’ the waitress said, directing me to the short 5 item menu attached at the back of the main menu. ‘That’s great if you fancy chicken nuggets and chips, sausages (with chips), or a burger with (you’ve guessed it) chips, or a half portion of the day’s roast dinner. What if I want to order a half portion of your signature pasta?’ I asked. ‘Oh the chef only cooks full portions.’ This response from a restaurant in Dublin doesn’t surprise me but does disappoint me. I love dining out and the occasional take away, but I love ‘adult’ food, not…
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Hot Potato Salad Recipe – Ad
One of the issues with my long days in work is finding time to snack. On Tuesday I went from my porridge at 6.30am at the desk with nothing until a meal at 3.30pm when I got home from work. That’s daft carry on altogether and I have nobody to blame but myself. So when Potato.ie – Potatoes More Than A Bit On The Side challenged me to come up with a new recipe I knew that it was an opportunity to make the most of my suppers in the evening and design a recipe that is perfect for an evening meal and matures into a delicious lunch that travels…
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How Does She Do It?
It’s a question I’m often asked. I try to explain my weekly work schedule in the home and outside of the home and I see people’s eyes glaze over. In truth, the writing part of my life is not a hardship. I could sit at a computer and write my heart out. Some days I have to restrain myself from writing too much and ignoring all the other tasks put on pause while I write something that’s on my mind.
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Making Food Savings
The EU estimates that up to 40% of the food we buy ends up in the bin.* But what does that actually mean when I translate it to my kitchen? If I buy a bag of 5 apples for €1, then throw two of those apples out (40%) that’s the equivalent of throwing away 40c that could be spent elsewhere. On an average shop spend of €100 per week that translates to €40 of money literally going into the bin. €40 per week binned.
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Mental Load – Food For Thought
There’s a point in a recent documentary on RTÉ1, called Ireland’s Health Divide, where Dr Eva Orsmond can’t get her head around a woman from Limerick buying so much processed food. The woman says that she doesn’t buy Coke (Cola) anymore because it’s worse than the other bottles of fizzy drinks on the countertop in front of her. Then Dr Eva looks incredulously at the woman not understanding how she came to that assumption. Perhaps even with more than a little judgement.
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Leaving Cert Results Day
Being ancient (according to my children) means that I remember this day in crystal moments, not as a full day. Driving my mother mad by not collecting my results until later on in the day. Crying bitter tears as I missed my number one choice on the CAO by 5 points. Going to another school with friends to get their results. Standing in a local pub with a drink in my hand that evening not knowing how to celebrate as I felt like I’d failed.
