Caitriona Redmond: How to save money on your groceries this week and deals to take note of

We can all save money by taking control of our food waste though; most households in Ireland will throw away at least 20% of their food every week for various reasons. So if you can control your food waste you can make your groceries last longer and ultimately save money.

Instead of throwing away your vegetable peelings after making the dinner, why not give them all a quick rinse and add them to a large saucepan, cover with warm water and bring to a simmer for 30 minutes to make your own vegetable stock?

Once cooked, strain away the peelings and pop them straight into the brown bin when they have cooled. Store the stock in the freezer once cold or in a jar in the fridge. It’s perfect for adding to soups, stews, and making gravy. It’s also lower in salt and less processed than using a stock cube.

I also like to rinse off potato peelings, pop them onto a baking tray, season and drizzle with a little oil. Cook in the oven (or air fryer) for 20 minutes until crispy and golden for homemade jacket crisps. You can do the same with any root vegetable peelings and also with kale.

When compiling your shopping list this week think about making a meal plan based upon what you have in your presses, fridge, and freezer before you make up your shopping list. For rotation purposes, it’s good to use up what you’ve got.

If you are short on time when it comes to cooking and have issues with how long the preparation of vegetables takes out of your day, then consider buying a bag of frozen chopped onions or butternut squash.

These bags will keep for several months in your freezer and definitely save you time when you’re making meals. Believe it or not, based on volume, it’s actually cheaper to buy a bag of frozen onions than it is to buy a net of fresh.

I will be tracking the cost of a basket of groceries in the supermarkets over the coming weeks, you’ll see this week’s findings below along with my picks for the best value deals on shelf this week.

Deals of the week 

For Lunchboxes

8 Green Apples in a bag from SuperValu cost. Cut and core your apples in advance and reassemble with a piece of string or elastic band in the lunchbox. This will make the apples accessible for small people to eat at breaktime.

On Offer

300ml of coconut oil is €1.59 in Aldi, making it the cheapest by far across all the major grocery retailers. You can use coconut oil for cooking/baking it’s also a highly effective moisturiser on a budget.

Potatoes are on sale this week in 1kg bags in Lidl, Aldi, Tesco, and Dunnes Stores. If you swap out your 2kg bag of potatoes for 2 individual smaller bags it'll bring down the cost of the shopping basket and save you at least a Euro on your shopping, or possibly more depending on your supermarket of choice. When you're on a budget every single precious Euro helps and sometimes the smaller size package is cheaper than the larger one.

Egg Watch

While the overall cost of the Irish Examiner shopping basket is down this week due to special offers, I'm beginning to see price increases across the shopping basket. Two supermarkets have increased the price of their free-range eggs recently to €1.79, whereas a month ago all the supermarkets were holding at €1.59. It's something I'm keeping track of every single week so you can be guaranteed I will let you know if I notice other items climbing in price too.

Store cupboard chickpea stew

Redmond  By:caitriona Recipe

Flasks Good Perfect What For You’re And In Of Thermos You’ve Up Using Even What The Way Is Brunch A Warming You Cooking Have And For This Got Is Press If A From

Servings

4

Time Preparation

 10 mins

Time Cooking

 15 mins

Total Time

 25 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Italian

ingredients

• Tin 1 Cooked Chickpeas

• Tomatoes 2 Chopped Tins

• Water 400ml

• Garlic, Clove Chopped 1

• Chopped 1 Onion, Small

• 1 Sweetcorn Of Tin

• Pasta 200g Dried

• Tbsp Sunflower Oil 1

• Tsp 1 Smoked Paprika

• Basil Fresh Herbs Like Parsley Or (optional)

• Fresh Grated Parmesan,

• (optional)

method

1. Smoked And Stir A Place For Heat In The Large The Sunflower Paprika, Minute For The With Stir Add On Another A Medium Saucepan Five Garlic Onion Oil Then Minutes

2. They Paprika That Garlic Drained Add Are Onions, The And Coated So The In And Stir Chickpeas Around

3. The Simmer Your Pasta Now The Cook Tomatoes 15 Up Cover Water The Well A For Small Pieces Stir Add With Minutes Along Break Bring Pot Then Then And Straight Into To Into

4. />tip: The If Version Meaty Using More A Add Poached Start You Top Some And
   
   

Hidden vegetable chocolate cake

By:caitriona Redmond  Recipe

Beetroot Dense A Make Vegetable To Slightly Cake When Hidden This Eating Chocolate And With Feel Use Virtuous

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Time Cooking

 40 mins

Time Total

 50 mins

Course

 Baking

Cuisine

 Irish

ingredients

• Sugar Caster 150g

• Butter 100g

• Beetroot Grated 65g

• Plain Flour 60g

• 2 Eggs

• Quality Powder Heaped Good Cocoa Tbsp 3

• Tsp Extract ½ Vanilla

• Baking Powde ½ Tsp

method

1. Preheat Using 200°c Tin The To Fan Cake Line 20cm Baking Well A Oven A Paper

2. The Place Weigh Medium Pan Saucepan Sugar And The Directly Weighing Butter The Scales Out On Into A And

3. And You Put Syrup An Low Eye It, Again Keep Every Smooth A And Stirring Heat Saucepan Until The On On Now Have A

4. It It Now The Make The High Water Lumpy One As And Grate Has Will Don’t Final The Side And Flour Content Beetroot Leave It Add Cake To To

5. The And Make A Into Sugar A Mix The Put The Well Syrup Inside Ingredients Mix Large Pour Butter Well Melted Dry And In Centre And Bowl,

6. They Two Into In Are Again Eggs Mix Your Crack Until Incorporated Batter The And

7. And It Minutes The Stir For Well In Beetroot Vanilla Is Bake Finally, Sure Making Oven Extract Coated In In Batter 40 Your The

8. Leave Serving Tin Removing The Before Baked, Once In And To Paper Ice With Pletely Ganache Melted The Or Chocolate Cool You Prefer If