Irish mammies are masters of multi-tasking, as we know. From speaking with a mouthful of pins on the phone on their shoulder to turning off and on a faulty computer as they boil a chicken. It’s all go. The one thing they’re really good at is making brown bread when the oven is on. I’ve always admired this and thought I’d get my act together and give it a go. The result is delicious and money-saving.
This great recipe from Bord Bia is foolproof and healthy. I nerdily did the costings and it works out at €1.34 a loaf. McCambridge”s brown soda loaf is €1.79 in my local major supermarket. My family go through three a week so that would be €209.04 per year, a saving of €70.20 on buying it ready-made.
However, the cost of the oven is not included. This adds €62.40 (based on 42c per hour to heat oven). So you’d save just €7.80 if you turned on the oven especially. So throw it in with your dinner, like a clever mammy. And sure, don’t they freeze wonderfully.
A couple of Saturdays ago I hauled myself out of bed, ate breakfast on autopilot and headed out to Rozanne Stevens’ An Introduction to Healthy Eating. It incorporated recipes from ‘A Month of Meals’ and ‘Green Living’- two weekend courses happening in the new year. I needn’t have bothered with breakfast as we were given granola, pancakes, coffee, pomegranate iced tea…