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In this week’s recap, I’m sharing my favorite budget-friendly eats, what I bought over the last two weeks, and Souper Cubes biggest sale of the year!
First things first, before I get into the recap, I want to make sure everyone knows that Souper Cubes Black Friday Sale is live NOW! You can get 20% off everything on the site, or 25% off if your order is order $150.
This is the best sale of the year, so if you've wanted Souper Cubes or need more, DON'T MISS THIS SALE!!!
November Goal Recap
My goal for November is to stay under $35 a week, or $140 for the month. This won't include Thanksgiving, and if I need it, I'll use my Ibotta cash rewards to cover any overages.
What I Bought Week of November 10-23
Over the last 2 weeks, I shopped at 3 places (Walmart twice):
- Costco (11/10) – 3lbs of organic whole coffee beans for $18.99.
- Walmart (11/13 and 11/21) – bought the groceries below for $32.16 and $77.55
- Trader Joe's (11/16) – apple cider and frozen potstickers for $17.86.
The Trader Joe's trip was totally unnecessary, but hot apple cider sounded so good 😂 and the potstickers ended up working well in my meal plan this last week.
I spent a total of $146.56 in the last two weeks, plus $31.57 the first week of November. This is technically over my goal of $140 for the month, but I did cash out $75.70 of my Ibotta Rewards and I meal planned so that these groceries should cover me through the end of the month.
So with that being said, I've spent $102.43 out of pocket for the month. And I've done a really good job cooking through what we had in the freezer. Really not upset about that!
The only thing missing from my week 9 groceries photo is a 5 pound bag of white rice and 5 pound bag of brown rice.
Notable eats from the last two weeks
Whole Wheat Pancakes
We're officially down to just pancakes and smoothies in our freezer breakfast stash, so that's what I've been eating! On this particular day I pressed chocolate chips into the pancakes and it was great lol.
Lentil Chili with Mashed Potatoes
I had a lot of small russet potatoes I needed to use up as well as some leftover Tofu Cream Cheese, so I peeled them and turned them into my Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes.
Served with Crockpot Lentil Chili I had in the freezer (recipe coming in 2025!).
Rice and Bean Burritos
We had 8 extra large tortillas in the freezer that I used to make a lot of rice, bean, and salsa burritos using the Chipotle Black Beans and Cilantro Lime Rice I froze earlier this month from making my Sweet Potato Burrito Bowl.
This is a meal we could eat every day – I really need to restock with more rice and beans!
Artichoke Sausage with Mashed Potatoes and Veggies
Aidells sausage was my husband's menu selection for the week and it ended up working out well. I was able to use up the rest of the mashed potatoes and added a bunch of veggies to the mix (fresh asparagus I bought this week and frozen broccoli florets).
Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos with Coleslaw
I had to rephotograph this recipe for the blog, but haven't yet edited the new photos. Here's the old photo of the same recipe. SO good!
Crockpot Broccoli Cheddar Soup
A new crockpot recipe I've been testing – it turned out very, very good! Unfortunately I found out the next day that the carrots I used had been recalled, so I tossed all the leftovers just to be safe. A big bummer because it would have frozen really well.
Red Beans and Rice
I made the rice fresh and the red beans and rice were defrosted from the freezer. Worked well for lunches!
Tofu Fried Rice and Postickers
My favorite dinner to make when I want to use up a bunch of random veggies.
Minestrone Soup
Defrosted these leftovers from the freezer for a quick lunch. This was a 2-Cup Souper Cube and it turned out to be the perfect amount.
Vegan Corn Chowder
Made my homemade Vegan Corn Chowder and forgot how DELICIOUS it is! Although I was on a serious rice and bean burrito kick, I think this is my favorite thing I've eaten in the last few weeks.
Freezer Meals
I surprisingly didn't freeze anything over the last two weeks – which is actually a good sign for me this month because my goal was to use up what I had, not necessarily fill the freezer up with more.
I did, however, buy a couple more 1-cup Souper Cubes trays as well as their new 1-Cup Baking Dishes so I can use them to make mini meatloafs, tater tot casserole, etc! I'm very excited.
November Progress Report
Here I'll keep track of what I've spent for easy budgeting as the month goes by.
- Week 1: $31.57
- Week 2: $69.01
- Week 3: $77.55 (I put $75.70 of my Ibotta rewards to this and paid $1.85 out of pocket)
- Week 4: TBD
Total spent so far: $102.43
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Discount Codes
Use these links to save extra money on products & services I recommend.
- Ibotta: Get $5 cash back when you sign up & submit first receipt!
- Walmart Grocery Pickup: Get $10 OFF your first 3 Grocery Pickup Orders with code TRIPLE10.
- Caraway Pans: Get $150 OFF your cookware set
- Souper Cubes: Get 10% off your cart with code HOMECOOKEDROOTS10
You can also see all of my Trusted Products on the blog!
Meal Planning Ideas
If you're planning your meals for the week, I have several meal ideas here on the blog. Some of my favorite collections to browse include,
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