Caitríona Redmond: Here's how to save money on your grocery bills this year

Plus — Caitríona Redmond's chocolate and caramel banana bread recipe

Caitríona Redmond shares her top tips and a tasty chocolate and caramel banana bread recipe.

Visualise yourself standing over a bin throwing coins and notes inside because they are no use to anymore. That’s what happens when you don’t use up the groceries you have bought. Some shoppers seem to have a set idea that once paid for, food is free, unfortunately food is not free if you have to throw it out. I wouldn’t call it ‘girl maths’ but I’d definitely call this calculation “frugal maths”.

I also still throw out food, even though it pains me to; I find myself wondering what else I could have used that money for. The reality of having a home and a family is that something always has to be paid for.

According to the government website, MyWaste.ie, every household in Ireland is responsible for 117kgs of food waste per year. That’s between €400 and €1,000 per household per year thrown into the bin.

Honestly, I could have used some of that money this week after a dental mishap that cost a fortune, renewing the vital allotment lease for another year, and the projected cost of a new first year secondary student in September. I’m looking at the bank balance with gritted teeth.

The cost of food waste doesn’t stop at the value of the food we buy because many of us have to pay for our brown (compost) bin collection. In my case I have to pay €3.80 (excluding Vat) per lift for compostable items; while that includes garden clippings, if lifted 26 times per year it’s another €100 I have to budget for.

For Mother’s Day several years ago I received the very thoughtful present of a pile of well-rotted manure. It’s not every woman who would be in raptures at the thought of a few tonnes of manure but then again I’m not every woman.

Happily rummaging around in the manure were thousands of tiger worms. Worms are one of the hidden heroes of breaking down food waste. I relocated several heaped handfuls to my wormery and several generations later they work away on some of my uncontrollable food waste like eggshells and banana skins. Over time the wormery makes two valuable products. Liquid gold in the form of vermiculite or ‘worm cast’ which is a much-prized natural fertiliser. And naturally peat free compost which I add to my raised beds and pots.

I appreciate that a wormery may not be everyone’s cup of tea. There’s always the option of a conventional compost bin or tumbler which again will create natural compost and cut back on the cost of a brown bin lift.

There is nothing like being more in control of what you waste and recycle at home to make you more aware of the amount of food waste you are creating.

Chocolate and caramel banana bread

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

This is a decadant recipe that is incredibly moreish!

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 45 mins

Total Time

 60 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 150g butter

• 150g muscavado or soft brown sugar

• 3 large eggs

• 3 ripe bananas

• 200g plain flour

• 150g wholemeal flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 100g chocolate chips

• 30g brown sugar for the crisp caramel topping

Method

1. Line a loaf tin and preheat a fan oven to 160°C/ gas mark 3.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until soft, then crack in the three eggs and beat into a batter. Next, beat in the soft bananas.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the plain flour, wholemeal flour, and the baking powder. Then add into the batter in the mixing bowl until combined.

4. Stir in the vanilla extract and the chocolate chips. Spoon the mixture into your lined loaf tin. Then sprinkle a line of the brown sugar down the centre of the loaf tin for the caramel topping.

5. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, until cooked through. Use the skewer test to make sure your cake is baked. If it has some batter still stuck to it, increase your baking time by a further 10 minutes before testing again.

6. Wait until the cake is fully cool before slicing and enjoying (otherwise it will crumble and while it tastes delicious it won’t slice as well!)