Black Bean Salad

As I have been posting recipes to this blog I have noticed that we really like black beans and avocados.  Already I have a few recipes with featuring these two ingredients in different configurations and there's probably more to come.  Black beans and avocados are both tasty and nutritious.  Plus beans are a cheap source of protein, so we'll probably keep finding different ways to eat this delicious combination.

Black bean salad is the latest of these recipes.  It's really easy to put this in a crockpot and let it simmer away while you work on your other freezer meals.  It's nice to have a low maintenance dish in the rotation as making freezer meals can be a big process.

Using the Macro: Multiplier Reminder

I was pleased to hear that my sister recently used my macro, so she could make her own batch of freezer meals.  She didn't know about the multiplying feature of the macro and as a result she now has a boatload of Sausage Broccoli Pasta.  I hope she likes it. :)

When I put the recipes up on this blog, I enter a single batch.  However, the macro has a feature where it multiplies recipes depending on how many batches you want to make.  I figure this way everyone can scale the recipes to fit their needs.  The multipliers are located in row 4 of the 'Recipes' tab.  Her experience made me realize that a reminder of the multiple being used would be useful when entering recipes into the shopping list.  In the latest version of the macro when you enter a recipe into column A, how much it's being multiplied by shows up in column B to remind you.  If that's not the multiplier you want, head to the 'Recipes' tab to change it in row 4.

Using the Macro: Packing List

We went camping over Memorial Day weekend.  Getting everything together for a camping a trip is always an ordeal.  Everyone's clothes and toiletries need to be gathered plus the tents, sleeping bags, camp chairs, flashlights, lanterns,...  Getting the food together for a camping trip is no small feat either, and I realized that my macro would be useful for planning camping food.

Freezer Meals and Travel

Freezer meals make my day to day life much easier, but they are also very useful for travel when we drive and stay in a rented condo or house.  Now I'm not advocating bringing all your meals with you when you travel.  Trying new foods and discovering the local specialties is one of my favorite things about traveling.  For New Years we spent five days in New Orleans with my in-laws.  We definitely wanted to do some eating out because it's New Orleans!  However, eating out three meals a day for five days gets pretty expensive.  Plus we have little kids, which makes eating out not exactly an relaxing, easy experience.

A ride down the Mississippi aboard the Creole Queen.

Avocado Tacos

I need to start this post with a disclaimer.  Avocado Tacos are not actually a freezer meal.  However, they are incredibly easy and convenient especially since they don't require any cooking.  They are so easy and fast to put together that I think they are in keeping with the spirit of this blog.  These tacos are a delicious staple for our summer meals.  They are cool, refreshing and filling, plus they don't heat up the kitchen.  A perfect meal for hot summer days.

Another advantage to these is that they can be modified in a variety of ways to make them even easier.  Sometimes I leave out the diced tomatoes to save time and just let the salsa stand in for the tomatoes.  Or you can use pre-shredded lettuce or spring mix instead of cutting or shredding lettuce yourself.  We really like the queso fresco for these, but we have sometimes used pre-shredded cheddar or Mexican blend in its place to save time on the crumbling or a trip to the store.