As many of you know, I am very, very pregnant. Pretty soon hummingbirds are going to get their center of gravity confused and start orbiting my midsection, I just know it.

The thing about being this pregnant is that I am constantly confronted by limitations that are foreign to me. Let me give you an example of who I was before becoming a mom.

Daniel: I had a weird dream last night.

Me: Yeah? What was it about?

Daniel: You were wearing a shirt that said “One Man Army” across the front.

Me: Really? That’s cool.

Daniel: Someone in the dream thought so, too. But I just laughed and said “I’ve lost to that army.”

What I’m trying to say is that good or bad, I used to be a force to be reckoned with. At least I thought so. But you know what? Motherhood requires more stamina, determination and strategy than anything I encountered in the corporate world. It is in my role as a mom that I find I have truly discovered my limitations: time and energy. Sheesh . . . I’ve handled pr blowouts and written magazine articles with more ease than it takes me to put together my weekly meal plan.

A lot of that is my fault, though. Sometimes I get caught up in the passion of cooking, which is very real to me, and forget that delicious food does not have to be complicated. So for the past several weeks I have been experimenting with quick and frugal recipes, because as much as I love cooking I do not want to be there all day. I have a life to live, a husband to love, and children to nurture and adore. And I need to stretch my budget to afford some new baby stuff.

Basically, our family needs frugal, fuss-free, freezable meals that are also nourishing. Since I’m just rambling now I’ll wrap this up. This 8 Layer Dip, which was inspired by Organic & Thrifty’s 5 Layer Dip, is AWESOME. It’s not exactly fuss-free but since you can easily make double batches of the meat and refried beans and freeze some it’s easy to get your time back. It is frugal because the black beans provide weight to the meal while being light on your checkbook.  And did I mention it is almost certain to be a family favorite?

So, without further ado . . .

8 Layer Dip

Ingredients for Refried Beans:

• 3 cups black beans, rinsed
• 1 onion, chopped
• ½ fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 5 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 ¾ teaspoons black pepper
• 3 teaspoons ground cumin
• 3 teaspoons chili powder
• 9 cups water
• 4 tbsp whey, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

Instructions for Refried Beans:

1. Place beans in the crockpot or a bowl, add 8 cups of warm water and the whey, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. Soak overnight (8-12 hours)
2. Rinse beans
3. Place all ingredients in a crockpot and set on high for 8 hours.
4. Once the beans are tender, strain them and reserve the liquid. Use a potato masher or mallet to mash the beans. If they are too dry, add some of the reserve liquid.

Ingredients for 8 Layer Dip:

Being the food luxist that I am I couldn’t help but add in a few pricier items like meat and cheese. If you want to just go with the refried beans and skip the dairy this is a VERY cheap meal, but it’s still quite affordable with the luxuries, too.

• 1 pound ground beef (preferably grass-fed)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (preferably raw)
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 ½ cups tomatoes, diced
• ¾ yellow or white onion, chopped
• ¼ to ½ cup of cilantro
• 2 avocados – mashed, seasoned with salt, pepper, and juice of 2 lemons
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

Instructions:

1. Place coconut oil in a pan. Season ground beef with salt pepper and 2 tsp cumin and place in pan. After the meat has cooked, place it in your serving dish. I used an 8X8 baking dish and it worked well.
2. Add refried beans on top of the ground beef. Then add cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, onions and cilantro. Top with avocado mixture and you’re done!

Enjoy!

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