Caitríona Redmond: Meeting in the middle of the road - and my pork & roasted veg recipe

Pic: iStock

Compromise is a form of negotiation I’m very familiar with.

“If you eat a taste of your sweetcorn and all your carrots then you have earned console time,” is a fairly common refrain in our house. I would like my kids to eat all their vegetables and optimistically put them on the plate, but I have to compromise.

Learning to live on a budget involves finding the point at which you are prepared to compromise. What will you settle on to save money and what is a step too far?

I cannot and do not compromise on my chosen tea brand. I am not going to say what that choice is for fear of causing an inter-county incident. 

Tea, it turns out, is my point of no return. It’s a small price to pay for a little bit of calm everyday. The difference between my premium brand tea and a box of generic tea is about €3 and I buy a box of tea a month. For €3 per month, I can live with that.

On the other hand, we recently bade goodbye to the coffee machine and expensive coffee pods. I’ve written before about their increasing cost (thanks shrinkflation). 

There is now a French press coffee jug in use instead. The difference in price is approximately €10 per week (or €520 per year), that is not to be sniffed at.

When I go grocery shopping I negotiate internally. Yes, I’d love to buy a free-range chicken but I don’t have the money for that this week, so instead I can buy free-range chicken legs which are very good value and a great way to eat higher welfare poultry on a budget.

I can compromise because the payoff is so big over time.

Lately I’ve been struggling with feelings of guilt. Of worrying whether we are going without and whether this path we are on to live on less is too challenging for us all.

The kids don’t understand the concept of feeling beholden and in debt (thank goodness), but this drive to live on a tight budget obviously involves them.

The 15-year-old rang me from the shop, he was buying mayonnaise and had figured out which tasted best at the right price. The payoff is that just maybe, they are learning new skills for life.

Home Economics

It’s not too late to start building up your savings for Christmas food, although you may need to put aside a lot more every week than if you had started earlier in the year there are still some options available.

Both Dunnes Stores and SuperValu have physical stamps you can buy and add to a savings booklet. Once the booklet is full you can redeem it for whatever you want. It is your savings, after all, so you are not limited to specific items. It’s treated as cash. I find this fiddly but it might be handy for people with plenty of spare change in savings bottles or piggy banks. At least once you buy the stamp there is little chance of the change getting spent on something else.

Many local butchers are already taking orders for Christmas meats and even fruit/vegetable hampers. Most will allow you to pay a cash deposit and then pay off the balance due in increments so that you present a paid voucher on the day you collect your turkey and ham. That’s another vote in my book for local shops based in your community.

You can also save up small amounts in cash apps or vaults. The three most popular in Ireland at the moment are An Post, Revolut, and AIB allows you to set small (or large) savings goals in their app.

Finally, Tesco Clubcard allows you to stash the cash value of your purchases and receive vouchers once a year to spend in-store. You are not able to use your Clubcard tokens for days out or other discounts if using the Christmas Savers system. While the vouchers for Christmas 2023 have already been dispatched in the November statements for Clubcard holders, you can absolutely sign up for next year. If you’re wondering, this is how I save my tokens and I am very happy with my money off vouchers again this year.

Pork Sheet Pan Dinner

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

I like to serve this hearty family meal with a spoonful of wholegrain honey mustard.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 15 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 35 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 3 large carrots

• 2 large parsnips

• 7-8 medium potatoes

• 2 large bramley apples

• 2 large onions

• 1 bulb of garlic

• 2 tbsp sunflower 0il

• Salt & pepper

• 4 bone-in pork chops

• Handful fresh sage, chopped

• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

Method

1. Peel and chop the carrots and parsnips into chunks. Wash the potatoes and chop into wedges (keeping the skin on). Peel, core, and chop the apples into quarters or halves. Peel the onions, top and tail them, and then cut lengthways into quarters. Slice the bulb of garlic in half crossways.

2. Take a large heavy roasting tin and pour 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil into the tin. Season the oil liberally with salt and pepper. Toss all of the vegetables and fruit in the oil until coated.

3. Make 4 wells in the tray and sit the pork chops between the vegetables.

4. Put the roasting tin into the oven at 180°C for 1 hour.

5. After 1 hour toss, the ingredients on the tray together with half the chopped sage and thyme. Return to the oven for a further 10-15 minutes.

6. Stir together with the remaining fresh herbs before serving.

7. Recipe Notes: If using thinner pork cutlets (with no bone) reduce the roasting time by at least 15 minutes.

Tea Biscotti

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

All of the best recipes start with the instruction, ‘first make a cup of tea’ I think!

Servings

15

Preparation Time

 30 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 30 mins

Total Time

 2 hours 0 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 1 strong cup of tea

• 200g mixed dried fruit (sultanas, currants and raisins for me)

• 100g butter, softened

• 100g soft brown sugar

• 2 eggs

• 400g semolina flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Method

1. 24 hours before baking brew a strong cup of black tea. Pour the tea over the dried fruit, stir and then cover and leave for a day or so.

2. The following day, line a 15cm square baking tray and preheat a fan oven to 140°C.

3. Cream the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs one by one, beating as you go until completely mixed. Stir in the semolina flour and baking powder. Strain away the tea and stir in the soaked dried fruit.

4. Pour the batter into the lined baking tin. Bake in the oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing into pieces, approximately 5cm thick. Heat the (fan) oven to 170°C and place the slices of cake onto a baking rack. I use my grill pan here. Bake in the oven until golden and crisp (approximately 30-40 minutes). Store in a cool dry place.

5. Serve with lashings of hot tea and dunk the biscotti into your cup to soften them before eating.