‘Wholesome-Feed Your Family Well for Less’ by Caitriona Redmond

Mercier Press, €19.99

Healthy eating, it’s a mantra that we hear day in, day out but for many families, it can be a case of how can you afford it all? Well there is no reason why healthy eating should break the bank if planned for properly and Caitriona Redmond’s new book ‘Wholesome-Feed Your Family Well for Less’ proves just that.

ADVERTISEMENT

Living in North Co Dublin, Caitriona is mum to two young boys and right in the middle of the recession, she lost her job. However, this wasn’t going to impact on the health and nutrition of her family and in the first part of this cook book, Caitriona offers great tips on savvy shopping, how to get the best deals, and why batch cooking is the best thing you can do. Cook big to keep the budget small.

When it comes to the recipes, ‘Wholesome’ is exactly that-full of fresh, wholesome ingredients with processed foods kept to a minimum. Now nutrition is one of the most contested issues around. What one person says is good, another disagrees completely so you can adapt the ingredients to your preferences. For example, while one person loves sunflower oil, others may prefer olive oil.

It’s not healthy eating to the level presented in Susan Jane White’s book ‘The Extra Virgin Kitchen’ that we profiled a few weeks ago. However, some people might find ‘Wholesome’ a bit more achievable with far less trips to the health food store.

We especially like the recipe on making your own baked beans-cheaper than the tins, healthier and tastier. And Caitriona is really focused on introducing new foods into your family’s diet such as beetroot on pizza which creates a fantastic pink colour that will pop on any kitchen table.

Of course, every kid loves a sweet treat so instead of food full of artificial ingredients, you can have fun making some of her not-so-complicated baking goodies. Her Simple Cookies are just that-simple. And you can even inject some five a day into the sweet treats with her strawberry eton mess or the grapefruit mini loaf topped with sesame.

Whatever recipes you throw your hand to, you know that you’ll be doing your best to feed your family with healthy, wholesome food. If you’re looking for some support on your healthy home cooking, Caitriona also runs the blog wholesomeireland.com.