• About,  Recipes

    Reintroductions

    It might seem odd me doing an introduction blog post but I figured that after over 500 posts on the blog and so much water under the bridge it was about time that I did some reintroductions. Life has changed a lot for me since I started blogging so rather than focus on what has changed, I think I’d rather explain where I am. My name is Caitríona, I’m a work-at-home Mam who lives in the most Northerly coastal town in Co Dublin, called Balbriggan. This is why if you follow me on social media you’ll regularly see pictures of the sea and our beautiful harbour and lighthouse. Dublin is…

  • Parenting

    Surviving Job Loss

    All of a sudden in the past 10 days 100’s of thousands of people lost their jobs. That’s people with mortgages, rent, children, responsibilities, and in a literal night and day shift they go from having money to pay for all these things to not. That movement from having a job to having none was brutal and life changing and terrifying. I’ve been there. I know what it’s like. There’s a gut wrenching worry and the unrelenting terror that keeps you awake at night and makes you think of nothing else. Then you see people outside going about their regular business and you feel like shouting at them because they…

  • Parenting

    Online Resources For Isolation

    Here we have it. My free ‘what the heck do I do with my kids while they are at home in isolation’ guide to online resources. Bookmark this; in all likelihood we are all going to need it. Just to mention; don’t unleash your kids at all of this in the first day or even days. There is loads for them to work their way through. If you let them do everything all at once they will become overwhelmed and disinterested. Learning to Code Suitable for all ages, Coding is something that we have been doing for a few years. Code.org is a free resource which starts your kids from…

  • Frugal Living,  Shopping Tips

    Preparing for Isolation: Tips & A Shopping List

    I’ll be honest here. I’ve been betwixt and between about writing this shopping list. I don’t want anybody to think I’m jumping on a bandwagon because I’m not. It’s no secret that I maintain about a month’s worth of supplies in the house (okay it’s more). My supply levels are not a ‘prepper’ thing or even a ‘money saving’ thing. It’s simply that it was not too long ago that I didn’t have the buffer of a full store cupboard; when times were tough financially and I had to seriously plan out every meal. Being so open about my kitchen stores has led to a few requests from people on…

  • Parenting

    The Parenting Path Less Travelled

    I’m more conscious about what I post online in the past few years. I’ve always included the boys in the conversation surrounding the blog. I have a blog and they understand that what I do is online. However, they are getting older and they are starting to make their own individual footprints in the online world so I’m trying to share what is going on without too much identifying information. When you parent a neurotypical child your path through life is fairly predictable. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not without its twists/turns/bumps/surprises, but society and the educational system is geared towards the normal child progressing to be a normal adult.…

  • Recipes

    Plant Based Mayo

    This blog used to be a space where I would spill my heart out and share the ups and downs of life, budgeting, parenting, and feeding my family on a budget. Now I carry around stories that are not my own to tell and while it feels odd not to share them here, I won’t be. I do find myself checking what I share online so as to respect the privacy of their owners. The reality of these stories are that they shape my days at the moment and have partially been the reason why I’ve been so quiet on the blog. If you follow me on social media you…

  • Lunches,  Parenting,  Recipes

    Lunchbox Tips

    I can safely say that I’ve literally made hundreds of school lunches over the years and I’ve hundreds more to make. If you’ve got a child starting school this year or if you are looking to freshen up your lunchboxes, here are my top, tried and tested, tips for packing a lunchbox:

  • Recipes

    Adventures in Dublin With Kids

    You would think, as the school term has ended for 9 weeks-ish, that I’d be sick to the back teeth of lunchboxes. I’m not! We are embracing the lunchbox every day of the week at the moment. I’m still baking my lunchbox muffins; packing refillable water bottles, and now I’m planning adventures.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Caitriona Redmond (@wholesomeireland) on Jul 3, 2019 at 12:32pm PDT There’s a freedom in not being tied to any timetable other than our own. The lack of schedule, coupled with free child leapcards until the 28th of July, has fuelled our desire to explore Dublin on a…

  • Irish Food,  Recipes

    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…

  • Irish Food,  Recipes

    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…