Caitriona Redmond: A one-tray roast chicken dinner to feed the family for under €5

This week's €1 (or less) portion meal is also a tray bake — meaning you will need just one large sheet pan to cook

The ideal recipe for using up any sad vegetables in the bottom of your fridge.

The burden of the cost of living crisis is mainly being borne by the homemakers and those who bear responsibility for running the household. They are the people who are making micro calculations every week to get around the grocery shopping increases and trying to find the money to pay for the cost of going back to school, college, or even just get by.

This week Unilever announced a 10% price increase. It’s a brand that most of us associate with cleaning materials, and while they do make Cif and Domestos, they also make other brands like Hellmann’s, Magnum and Cornetto as well as Knorr. It’s a big sign that the prices of food and household items are going to continue to increase. There’s nothing we can do about these new prices. We either accept them and pay the price or don’t buy the products.

The power of one household to change the pricing strategy of a major brand is tiny.

The supermarkets have been on the side of the shopper though and they have been challenging the brands by introducing price increases to try and keep their rising prices down. They deserve a pat on the back for that.

This week’s €1 (or less) portion meal is also a tray bake wonder meaning you will need only one large sheet pan to cook on, along with a chopping board and a sharp knife for a small bit of chopping. 

The ingredients come from Lidl and none of the ingredients are on special offer which makes for a cost of €4.84 which makes 5 portions, costing just under 97c per portion. It’s ideal for using up any sad vegetables in the bottom of your fridge so don’t be afraid to use what you have to hand.

Chicken Tray Bake

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

You will need only one large sheet pan to cook on, along with a chopping board and a sharp knife.

Servings

5

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 30 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 40 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• Butternut Squash €0.89

• 1kg Fresh Irish Chicken Thighs €2.69

• 1kg Baby white potatoes €0.99

• 285g Sweetcorn tin €0.27

Method

1. Note: You will also need some cooking oil, salt, pepper and preferably some paprika or smoked paprika from your store cupboard for this recipe. You do not need to preheat the oven.

2. Peel, core, and chop the butternut squash.

3. Take a large heavy sheet pan and pour two tablespoons of vegetable oil and a generous helping of the spices (salt, pepper, paprika). Use a spoon to make sure the oil and spices are combined.

4. Place the chopped squash, chicken thighs and potatoes onto the tray and using a spoon toss in the oil so everything is coated.

5. Place the tray into the oven and switch it to 180 degrees Celsius. Roast for 75 minutes.

6. Remove the tray from the oven, strain the sweetcorn and stir into the baking juices, making sure to baste the chicken and potatoes as you do so.

7. Return to the oven for 15 minutes and serve.

Rice Crispy Squares

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

My whole family love these sweet treats and they are so easy to make at home, it’s a wonder why people buy them pre-packaged.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 23 mins

Total Time

 23 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 75g margarine

• 250g marshmallows

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 500g crisped rice cereal

Method

1. Melt the margarine in a very large saucepan on medium-low heat. Once melted, add the marshmallows and stir until the marshmallows have completely melted. Turn the heat off and pour in the vanilla extract then stir.

2. Pour the crisp rice into the saucepan in two stages. Vigorously stirring each time so that the rice is coated in marshmallows.

3. Once all the crisp rice has been combined pour the mixture into a lined/greased baking tray and press it down so that it’s evenly distributed. Allow to cool before cutting into bite-sized pieces.

4. Recipe Suggestion: When pressing the mixture into the baking tray this is the time to add extra toppings like sprinkles, chocolate chips, or even top the entire tray with melted chocolate.

Special Offers 

Chicken breast fillets are handy to have quick dinners and Lidl has 20% off their 500g packages at the moment making them €3.99 until August 3.

Chicken fillets are on special offer in Lidl.

Dunnes Stores has a 20% discount on all wine and champagne which expires on Tuesday. Nicely timed to coincide with the Bank Holiday weekend.

Make use of a discount on wine and champagne over the Bank Holiday weekend.

As it’s the last lazy weekend of the season all of the supermarkets have BBQ offers at the moment. There’s no reason why you can’t pick up BBQ meat and store it in your freezer until another time. Especially as there is such good value to be had.

In the supermarket survey this week there is quite the gap developing between the cheapest three supermarkets and their counterparts. It’ll be interesting to see if that gap closes in the weeks ahead.