Caitriona Redmond

Thrifty Tasty Bites

Tag Archives: Wholesome Ireland

07 Jul

Meatball Sub Recipe

Whoever said that a main meal had to include rice, pasta, or spuds? Possibly noodles at a pinch?

The holy trinity of a double carb meal is one that my husband aspires to; a three-in-one contains rice and chips. The gourmet sandwich is always made with white sliced pan filled with Cheese and Onion Tayto. It must be cheese and onion. If it’s not cheese and onion classic, Southern Ireland, Tayto crisps, then it’s not a proper crisp butty.

Have you ever tried making a chicken and stuffing toasty with a smear of garlic mayonnaise? If you’ve never tried it before I highly recommend it, not forgetting a smear of beetroot relish on the side to dip those crispy triangles in.

If you haven’t guessed by now I’m not a fan of being tied to the kitchen sink everyday.

So take my advice, make a batch (or even a double batch) of my meatball marinara recipe. It will keep for up to 3 days in a sealed container in the fridge once cooled to room temperature. It also freezes extremely well.

Buy some ready made soft rolls, of course if you want to make your own go right ahead. If you’re using day-old rolls that are a little crunchy on the outside run them under the tap for a moment so that they soften first.

Slice those rolls down the middle and stuff them with the meatballs in the marinara sauce. Heat the stuffed rolls in a baking tray in the oven until they are warmed through. Sprinkle grated mozzarella on top, or cheddar if you want a bit of sharpness.

What about the double-carb requirement I hear you say?

Less washing up means you have to pair this meatball supper with a bag of cheesey nachos. The 11 year old has spoken and will entertain no alternatives.

Salad to the side is optional but will make you feel a little more virtuous. You will also have more washing up to do afterwards. You have been warned…

30 Jun

Energy Cookies

While school was underway these energy cookies made it into the lunchboxes at least once a week. For many reasons, not least that they are so darn easy to assemble in a food processor, but also because they are low on allergens. We have restrictions on certain food items in school due to children having allergies and I have to be extremely careful of nuts and sesame seeds in particular. I know that when I make these cookies they are not going to cause a risk to other children in the classroom.

Most important to the boys is that these energy cookies are one of their favourite lunchbox treats.

Earlier on the youngest fella accosted me in the office to see could we make them on my lunchbreak. They are easy enough for small hands to make with minimal supervision.

Ingredients

  • 100g coconut oil
  • 100g light brown sugar
  • 200g oats
  • 50g chia seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 30 ml water

Method

Preheat a fan oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
Bring the coconut oil to a soft form/oil by popping it in a bowl and microwaving for 30 seconds (It must be soft for this recipe).
Add all the ingredients including the coconut oil into a food processor and turn on full until you have a batter. Leave the batter to one side for 15 – 20 minutes. The chia seeds will act as a binder and the batter will turn more solid.
Line a baking tray with non stick baking paper. Using a tablespoon as a cookie measure, spoon onto the baking tray. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Allow to cool before eating.

24 Jun

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 Ireland’s capital city but I live in the county so we are surrounded by farmland and bounded by the Irish Sea.

I work freelance and juggle keeping all my clients happy with being here for my family. The juggle is a great way to describe it.

There are young 2 boys in the household, one of whom has special educational needs, and supporting them is a huge part of my day. Normally I work while they are in school but with Covid-19 restrictions my working day is far more complicated. Their sister is nearly 21 now and no longer lives here but visits for catchups. My husband, their Dad, is here full time while he can’t drive a schoolbus with the schools closed. Having him here is wonderful and frustrating in equal measures (he would agree 100%).

The final element of the house is the dog; Flash. So named because he’s a nippy little fella, who likes to dig holes, snaffle toast, cuddles in the evening, and is a wonderful calming influence for both boys.

We have an allotment and a polytunnel where we grow loads of unusual things you don’t normally find growing in Irish gardens. This year we couldn’t get to the plot for an extended amount of time so it’s a big rag-tag at the moment. Next year I’m planning a big clearout and redesign. I call the allotment ‘my happy place’ and wish I could spend more time there.

A couple of years ago I took up running, even ran a marathon, but at the moment finding time to myself is a battle so I’m trying to get out at least once a week and if I do that then it’s a success.

We are trying to make the most of the restrictions and the wonderful place we live in so I’ve returned (after a gap of nearly 20 years) to sea swimming and I’ve brought the entire family with me. Yes, it’s bracingly cold even with the wetsuit on, but it’s an amazing feeling when you get home and are snuggled into warm clothes.

Right, I think that’s a good enough attempt at some reintroductions.

I’ve been working hard in the background on some new recipes, blogposts, and even some videos which are all ready to go over the coming weeks. See you soon!

04 Feb

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 will know that I am working from home all the time now; a change that happened with the dawn of 2020. This is okay. I am needed here. It’s a change that I am doing my utmost to embrace but after a number of years away from the house at work it’s taking some getting used to.

The benefit to me being based in the house is more time to develop and test recipes, and hopefully, more blog posts and work on the website. I think if you tap my name above you’ll notice a fairly radical change to my design which I’m incredibly proud of. *whispers* I did it all myself!

This is a recipe for vegan mayo I worked on last week; served with a bowl of warm Irish vegetables and topped with toasted almonds and seeds it’s a wonderfully fresh and filling meal to have after a long day or to celebrate the best of in season vegetables.

It’s a doddle to make each ingredient sing in this plant based vegetable bowl with a plant based mayonnaise. It’s perfect hot or cold and will keep for leftovers the following day. 

Ingredients 

  • 3 carrots, peeled and chopped 
  • 1 head of broccoli, chopped 
  • 1 leek, chopped in matchsticks 
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup 
  • 100g sliced almonds 

For the mayo 

  • 1 teaspoon french mustard 
  • Juice of 1 lemon 
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed 
  • 75ml Irish Rapeseed Oil 
  • 2 tablespoons cooked chickpeas 
  • Salt & Pepper to taste 

Simmer the carrots in hot water for 10 minutes, then add the broccoli, allow to come to boiling again and strain immediately. Place the carrots, broccoli, and leek (on top of the vegetables) into a roasting dish, drizzle with maple syrup. Place under a hot grill until the leeks are charred. 

Put all the mayo ingredients into a blender and pulse until you have a smooth mayonnaise. Season to taste. 

Serve the vegetables hot in a bowl drizzled with the mayonnaise and sprinkled with the almonds. 

Tip: To make this bowl of nourishing veggies more filling add some crushed steamed baby potatoes or a few tablespoons of cooked freekeh.

We are fine at home. It’s a relief to be juggling ‘less’ around working outside of the home even if there are new juggles for us all to adjust to. Cxxx

06 Jan

Banana Milkshake Cake

Banana Milkshake CakeTake a banana malt milkshake with a side of cookies, then convert that into a cake. Read More →

11 Jul

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 piece of kitchen towel to dry. Every single seed will become a new strawberry plant with each delicate white flower on that plant resulting in a delicious strawberry. The life cycle continues. 

Normally associated with sweet dishes I like to eat strawberries in my salads. I hesitate to add too many ingredients into a salad with strawberries as they can sometimes be overpowered. The strawberries are a seasonal treat and I really want their natural flavour to sing! 

Savoury Strawberry Salad (serves 4) 

Ingredients 

  • 250g fresh strawberries, chopped 
  • 150g rocket 
  • 50g flaked almonds, toasted 

Dressing 

  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 
  • Fresh cracked black pepper 
  • Pinch of salt 
  • 1 teaspoon honey 

Method 

Put the strawberries, rocket, and flaked almonds into a large bowl. 

Put the dressing ingredients into a clean jam jar, put the lid on top to seal and shake the jar well. 

Once all the dressing has been well combined, pour over the salad and serve immediately.  

This salad goes perfectly with a fresh goats cheese or poached salmon with lemon.  

10 Jul

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 shop without the kids snaffling them and munching them all on the way home. I’ve found this year that local strawberries need an extra day on the counter at room temperature to develop the perfect sweetness. I never keep my strawberries in the fridge because they are delicious when they aren’t chilled; the temperature they are when freshly picked is warm and that is the way they are meant to be eaten! 

Strawberry Pizza Pancakes (serves 5) 

Ingredients 

  • 250g (1 cup) plain flour 
  • 1 teaspoon bread soda/bicarbonate of soda 
  • 2 small-medium eggs (1 large egg should be fine either) 
  • 150ml buttermilk 
  • Optional 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
  • 1 tablespoon sunflower oil for frying/greasing the pan. 

Method 

Put the flour and bread soda into a large bowl and stir so that they’re combined. Make a well in the centre and crack in the 2 eggs, pour in the buttermilk (add the vanilla extract if using). Whisk until you have a batter. Don’t worry too much if you have small lumps, as these should disappear after the next stage. 

Put the oil in a heavy, shallow non-stick frying pan (see notes on frying pan below). Before you put the pan on the heat, spread the oil over the surface. I like to use a little bit of kitchen paper for this. Next, put it on a medium heat and allow it to come to temperature. This takes about 5 minutes or so. Once the pan is hot, give the batter a second vigorous whisk and you should see those lumps disappear (or at worst get smaller, they’ll be gone completely in the cooking process don’t worry). 

Using a ladle as a measure, pour 1 portion onto the frying pan. Once the bubbles begin to appear on the surface of the pancake, and the batter has changed colour from pale to slightly darker, flip the pancake using a non-stick spatula. Cook for a further 1-2 minutes, until the pancake turns golden on both sides. Lift and serve. 

If you want to wait for all the pancakes to be cooked before serving, pop them onto a heat-proof plate and cover with a bit of baking parchment/tin foil, then a heavy tea towel to stop them from getting cold. Lift the “insulation” everytime you cook another batch to add to the pile. 

Serve the pancakes with a generous spread of fresh yoghurt (whatever flavour you fancy), sliced strawberries, and some beautiful fresh mint which compliments the strawberries perfectly. There’s no need to sweeten this recipe; nature’s treats are sweet enough! 

02 Jul

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 your strawberries from the farm or supermarket, when you buy this fruit in season you can be guaranteed it’s local, hasn’t clocked up food miles, and they’ve not been long picked either.

Gone are the days where we can go to the local farm and pick our own, but there’s nothing stopping me getting the delicious strawberries as fresh as I possibly can. Picked early in the morning, before the sun gets too high, the punnets are ripe for collection by 10am.

This is a great sugar free recipe for strawberry ice pops that is very handy for introducing new foods and flavours to picky eaters. It’s also handy to use up a glut of the most flavourful fruit.

Ingredients (makes 6 ice pops)

  • 200g fresh strawberries, chopped
  • ½ mango, peeled and chopped
  • 100ml fresh orange juice

Method

Blitz the ingredients in a food processor/blender until you have a fine pulp. Carefully pour into ice pop molds.

Freeze for 3 hours at the top of your freezer before eating, although ideally overnight.

To get the ice pops out of their molds, dip each into a mug of warm water for 20 seconds before turning upside down (handle facing to the ground) and pulling the mold off upwards. This prevents any breakages/leaving the ice pop behind in the mold!

Recipe notes: As there is no sugar or sweetener added to this recipe it’s suitable for all ages from weaning (after 6 months). I have a good few of these ice pops on standby in the freezer because they’re far cheaper and better value than buying from the ice cream van. They can also count as 1 of your 7 a day portions of fruit and vegetables!

21 Apr

Leftover Lamb Pasta

I admit, not everybody will have eaten lamb today; lamb is relatively expensive to bu!. I’d bet though that if you did buy lamb for your Easter Sunday roast, you really don’t want to throw away any of that precious meat. This leftover lamb pasta recipe is especially designed for the itty bitty pieces that don’t come away easily when carving. They are perfect shredded into the sauce, browned until caramelised and cling to the pasta in nutty morsels.

Read More →

20 Apr

Roast Lamb Feast

This Easter Sunday we’ll all gather as a family; my siblings, our partners, our children, and my parents, and we’ll enjoy this classic roast lamb feast. When I say a classic roast lamb feast that’s not strictly true in the Irish sense of the term. The flavours and the food that we will eat together are a reflection of us as a family. The meal speaks to us of a time spent in the Middle East when Dad was serving with UNIFIL and the youngest of us was still in nappies.

It’s a meal that we will all contribute to. I’ve already been told I’m responsible for the vegetables, which is really my favourite part anyway. The biggest battle in my house will be to get all the vegetables chopped without the kids depleting the serving platter. The beauty of serving a roast lamb feast in this way is that everybody gets to pick what they like. Some family members don’t like cucumbers, some love peppers; everybody will fill their pitta bread and plates before we sit down together and celebrate Easter as a family. Read More →

29 Mar

Ale Marinated Steak Recipe

By covering the beef in an ale marinade you make your steak incredibly tender with a wonderful sweet malt flavour. Read More →

26 Mar

Mango Salsa Recipe

I really love the fresh flavours in this salsa and I think that salsa is a great budget dish to offer guests to your home for celebrations. It promises fresh Summery flavours and I know (at the moment) the weather isn’t all that Summery at the moment. We can hope right? Read More →

%d bloggers like this: