Caitríona Redmond: How I keep my grocery bill low in spring, and sales you should look out for

Pic: iStock

It’s time to start thinking about ‘back to school’. Yes, I know it’s still April, but hear me out.

Budgeting and planning is actually a life of forward thinking.

Once Easter is done, the European ski season is over. I’ve found that snow jackets are excellent school coats for Irish winters, being waterproof and thermally padded. When the season ends ski jackets go on sale at massive reductions so I buy school coats in advance, sizing up for the year ahead, then store them until the first cold snap of autumn.

Manufacturers of lunchboxes and drinks bottles try to follow trends and can change their products once a year in summer. Therefore, they can be discounted in spring before the new season items are released.

It’s the inverse when it comes to fresh produce; being in season is key to keeping my grocery bill down.

The first of the Irish tomatoes and strawberries are now on the shelves and as the growing season progresses, they will reduce in price. To get the best value visit your local farmer, producer's market, or honesty stall, and buy the not-so-perfect produce that doesn’t always make it to the supermarket shelves. The perfect strawberry looks beautiful, and in some countries, one individual fruit could cost double figures when in season. Imperfect produce doesn’t attract a premium but can taste just as nice, if not sweeter for being more budget-friendly.

Certain meat dishes come with traditions attached. Easter is associated with lamb and it’s traditionally most expensive around then. Now that the holiday has passed you can expect to see it becoming more affordable. Roast beef and corned or spiced beef are more winter dishes; they can be frozen no problem so if you spot a seasonal reduction and have space in your freezer now is the time to snap up the offer.

When the sun comes out and I fire up the barbecue that’s when I can roast up all the imperfect vegetables and nobody will notice the difference. If the weather is bad there’s nothing wrong with cracking open one of those traditionally wintery roasts either.

Knowing what’s in season and what is likely to be on offer can save you a lot of money on your grocery bill. Probably not as much of a discount as the 80% off a ski jacket in the spring, but it all adds up!

Store bananas for longer by hanging them on a hook.

Home Economics 

When we first started living on a tight grocery budget, I thought that by committing to spend less on food, it would be as simple as setting a smaller amount to spend each week. Oh, how wrong I was!

Here’s how to minimise your food waste at home and increase your savings instead:

• Proper storage saves food; invest in freezer-proof boxes and bags.
• Make use of your freezer; it’s a brilliant pause button.
• Use veg past its best in soups and stews.
• Blitz over-ripe fruit into smoothies, jams, and homemade ice pops.
• Before you go shopping check to see if you really need to buy. Do a store cupboard stocktake.
• Freeze slices of bread per portion by separating them with grease-proof paper. Take out the portions as you need them.
• Store bananas for longer by hanging them on a hook. Keep bananas out of the fruit bowl because they will make all your other fruit ripen faster.

Check you’re storing your food properly!

• Never store your potatoes or onions in the fridge. They need to be stored in a dark cool place and preferably not in plastic. Use a brown paper bag and make sure they are stored away from direct sunlight.
• Invest in some bag clips to keep bags of dry foodstuffs sealed when you’re not using them.
• Suspend bananas from a hook away from the fruit bowl to make your fruit last longer and keep your bananas fresh for longer too.

Homemade Flatbread

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

A quick and easy favourite - made quicker and easier with a mixer!

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 40 mins

Course

 Side

Cuisine

 Middle-Eastern

Ingredients

• 400g strong white flour

• 1 tsp (approximately 7g) dried yeast

• 1 tsp dried garlic/garlic powder

• 1 tsp table salt

• 1 tsp dried oregano or thyme

• 125g tub live organic natural yoghurt (full fat) note, hold onto the tub

Method

1. In advance, I'm warning you that you can make this flatbread recipe without a mixer, but goodness a mixer makes the world of difference in speed, and gives your arms a break. I used a stand mixer here and that's how I've written the instructions.

2. Connect a dough hook to your mixer and fill the bowl with the flour, yeast, garlic, salt, and dried herb of your choice (I like oregano). Loosely mix together all these dry ingredients with a fork so that they are combined. Spoon the yoghurt into the bowl, then take the tub that the yoghurt came in to the brim with cold water, pour this cold water into the mixing bowl as well.

3. Knead the ingredients until they all become a ball of dough. It will take some time, and at the start you'll doubt whether all the dry ingredients will combine. Persist! If, after 7 minutes of kneading with a dough hook, it hasn't drawn together completely add a tablespoon of water and knead again. Once you have a ball of dough, knead for approximately 10 minutes until smooth.

4. Lightly oil a large bowl and tip the dough into the bowl then cover with cling film. Set the dough to one side in a warm spot to rest for 3 hours. Once the flatbread dough has doubled in size, knock back the air by pushing down on the dough. Next, divide the dough into golf-ball-sized lumps. Dust a clean surface with a little flour, and heat a dry frying pan to medium-high (this is level 7 of 9 on my hob).

5. Roll the golf-ball-lumps as thin as you can once the frying pan comes to heat. Cook on the frying pan for 3 minutes on each side until they are golden-brown in spots. Serve warm with salad, dips, or even your main family meal on top.

Smoked Sweet Potato Mash

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

A creamy, smokey bowl of mash!

Servings

2

Preparation Time

 3 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 30 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 33 mins

Course

 Side

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato

• 3 cloves of garlic or 1 clove of elephant garlic with the skin on

• 3 spring onions, chopped

Method

1. Take the potato as it is. Don't peel it, pierce it or slice it. Place it on a low-medium heat on a barbecue. Wrap the garlic in tin foil and place it beside the sweet potato. Cook for approximately 90 mins, turning the sweet potato occasionally.

2. After 90 mins, remove the sweet potato from the barbecue and slice in half. Scoop out the flesh into a large bowl. Discard the skins. Be careful, it's hot! Don't worry too much if you have some blackened caramelised pieces on the inside, it all adds to the smoky flavour.

3. Remove the garlic from the barbecue and remove the skin. Add to the sweet potato in the bowl. Finally, add the chopped spring onions and stir well. Season if you want. You can eat this straight away if you want but you can also let it go cold and eat as a cold potato salad. It will keep for up to 2 days in a covered container in the fridge.