Feeling lazy and hankering some comfort food, I nipped into Tesco and bought the Tesco Finest Lamb Moussaka. I naively thought it would marry well with the Potato Gratin from the normal Tesco range but I choose poorly. Both were tasty but sadly not together – I swear I could almost hear my arteries clog [...]

We’re moving house this week and there’s a million and one things to do. The kitchen is mostly packed away and even if I could cook I’m just too tired. So I nipped into Dunnes to get some quick and preferably healthy convenience food that I could just bung in the oven. I came across [...]

Wednesday was a looooooooong day: starting work at 9am, finishing at 9pm, and only a manky, overpriced roll from Spar in Clonskeagh for sustenance. By the time I left work, I was exhausted. To make matters worse, I knew that I was going to home to an empty fridge. No way was I cooking, so [...]

In today’s Irish Times, food critic Tom Doorley taste tests supermarket meal deals, and he’s pretty impressed with them all. This time last year, the idea of a decent quality three-course meal with a bottle of wine costing €10-€12.50 simply didn’t cross anyone’s mind. Back then, ready meals were an afterthought, not something you might [...]

How times have changed, and how quickly. This time last year, who would have imagined that M&S would be driving forward competition in the Irish grocery market? M&S’s dinner for two offer has really struck a chord with Irish shoppers. It’s a sign of how well the company have responded to the recession that Dunnes [...]

Marks & Spencer are offering 3 for 2 on their ‘Count on us’ range – they’re pretty good quality low fat ready-meals. Handy if you work near an M&S and fancy a hot lunch, but are counting calories for January.

Great advice from Pricewatch’s Conor Pope in today’s Irish Times. In a column on bucking the downturn, he writes: SAY NO TO READY-MEALS : The ready-meal sector has grown significantly as cash-rich, time-poor shoppers sought out nice food without the hassle factor. Ready-meals can be five times as expensive as the constituent parts of that [...]

I was just in Marks & Spencers at lunchtime, and they have a special offer at the moment – large ready meals such as lasagne, cumberland pie, chicken arrabiata and more for €5.  These meals serve three or more, and usually cost around €7.50/€8. The bargains thread on boards.ie also mentions that they’re currently offering [...]