[0:00] This spicy lamb cobba bowl just cost me
[0:02] $16.25.
[0:05] Now, if I took $16.25 into this grocery
[0:08] store behind me, there's absolutely no
[0:10] way that I would be able to buy
[0:12] everything I need to make this at home.
[0:14] But what if I had $46? Because that's
[0:17] what I actually spent on these three
[0:19] different Cava bowls. So, in this video,
[0:21] I have two big questions. First, how
[0:24] many Cava style bowls can I make with
[0:26] just a $46 grocery budget? and two, how
[0:29] much time does this really take compared
[0:31] to buying them? So, I'm going to keep
[0:33] track of all the monetary and time
[0:35] related costs such as driving and
[0:37] ordering Cava versus doing a grocery
[0:38] trip, picking it up versus the prep
[0:40] work, the cooking, and the cleaning. And
[0:42] by the end of this video, I hope to give
[0:43] you a transparent comparison between
[0:45] cooking at home versus ordering out. And
[0:48] of course, we'll be ending the video
[0:50] with a sideby-side taste test. So, let's
[0:52] break it down. So, to start, I had to
[0:54] actually order some Cabba. And my
[0:56] closest one happens to be an 18-minute
[0:58] drive away, but since I went around 2:00
[1:00] p.m., the line was basically empty. I
[1:02] flew through, ordered three different
[1:04] bowls, and was back out the door in 2
[1:06] minutes. Then I drove the 18 minutes
[1:08] back home and unpacked everything. And I
[1:10] ended up getting three bowls that I'm
[1:12] going to break down. So the chicken and
[1:13] rice bowl was $1.35.
[1:15] The steak and harissa bowl was $14.85,
[1:18] and the spicy lamb and avocado bowl was
[1:21] $16.25.
[1:23] And with tax, this brought the total to
[1:25] $45.95.
[1:28] Now, I probably won't have enough money
[1:30] to get groceries for all three
[1:31] variations. So, what I'm going to do is
[1:33] taste test all three and then figure out
[1:35] the two best ones that I want to
[1:37] recreate at home. Okay, so let's start
[1:40] moving down the line. Each one of these
[1:41] came with a slightly different sauce.
[1:43] So, let's start with our chicken rice
[1:44] over here.
[1:47] Chicken itself is nicely seasoned.
[1:48] Definitely chicken thighs. Little sweet,
[1:50] nice and salty, too. Got hummus, that
[1:53] whipped feta underneath.
[1:56] I forgot I was going to try to weigh
[1:57] each bowl before I started just to see
[1:59] what I'm working with. 440 there. But
[2:01] yeah, the chicken rice bowl, very solid.
[2:03] Um, definitely a good option. Let's now
[2:06] move to the lamb and meatball. And I'll
[2:09] weigh this guy. 650.
[2:12] Like 24 g meatballs. And we got what,
[2:15] four meatballs. So around 100 g of lamb
[2:18] there.
[2:21] Decently spicy. Pretty good.
[2:25] Kind of a different texture than like
[2:27] the ground lamb that I would be used to.
[2:32] So, the lamb is really solid. Um, I like
[2:35] lamb. I like meatballs. Spicy lamb
[2:37] meatballs. Great. Definitely going to be
[2:39] making a version of this one. And then
[2:42] we'll see between chicken and steak. But
[2:43] yeah, very solid. Um, let's move to the
[2:46] last one here.
[2:49] 580 gram on this guy.
[2:52] And then
[2:54] try the steak.
[3:01] Okay, so the steak is good, too. And all
[3:03] in all, all of these are quite good. I
[3:05] definitely want to make lamb. I don't
[3:07] think I'll have budget for a steak, so I
[3:08] think I will probably go with chicken.
[3:10] We kind of got to go see what's
[3:12] available and what's on sale at the
[3:13] store. And some of the stuff I
[3:15] definitely already have, like spices. I
[3:16] may not buy everything. So, let's start
[3:19] putting the list together. See what I
[3:20] already have and then see what we need
[3:22] to go and buy and then I'll meet you
[3:24] back here and we'll start cooking and
[3:26] batch prepping our Cava Bowls. Now,
[3:28] before we head to the grocery store, a
[3:30] quick thank you to today's sponsor, Mint
[3:32] Mobile, where if you're looking to get
[3:33] more value for your money, Mint offers
[3:36] premium wireless plans without the
[3:38] premium price tag. Mint has introduced
[3:41] the concept of bulk buying to the
[3:42] wireless space. So, the more you pay
[3:44] upfront, the more you'll save over time.
[3:46] And you can get plans on 3, 6, or 12
[3:49] months duration, which are all on the
[3:51] nation's largest 5G network. And I think
[3:54] what holds a lot of us back from
[3:56] switching wireless carriers is that it
[3:57] feels like it's going to be this whole
[3:59] thing. But what you can do with Mint is
[4:01] just do it from the comfort of your own
[4:03] home and activate the eSIM in minutes.
[4:06] So, at the link below and on screen
[4:08] right now, new customers can get Mint's
[4:10] best offer of the year, which is 50% off
[4:13] all unlimited plans. And additionally,
[4:16] all plans do come with a 7-day
[4:18] unconditional money back guarantee. So,
[4:21] there's been no better time to check out
[4:23] Mint Mobile. And thank you again for
[4:25] Mint for sponsoring this video. But now,
[4:27] let's go get some groceries and see if
[4:29] we can stay under budget. Okay, so to
[4:32] start, I had to put together a list of
[4:33] like 14 items that I needed, which took
[4:35] me about 3 minutes. And after taking 13
[4:37] minutes to drive to the grocery store,
[4:39] I'm ready to shop. My produce items were
[4:41] arugula and a power greens mix, mini
[4:44] cucumbers, two avocados, two lemons, and
[4:46] a container of cherry tomatoes. Then for
[4:49] the meat, I grabbed a pound of ground
[4:50] lamb, and a big pack of chicken thighs.
[4:53] Then to round it out, I bought some
[4:54] store-bought hummus, feta cheese, pita
[4:56] bread, ground cumin from the bulk aisle,
[4:58] some lentils, and plain Greek yogurt.
[5:00] And now I'm off to the selfch checkckout
[5:02] and back to the car in about 12 minutes.
[5:04] Then another 13 minutes back home.
[5:08] Okay, so I just got back from the
[5:10] grocery store and I ended up spending
[5:11] $46.73
[5:14] for everything you're seeing here. So
[5:16] technically I went a dollar over budget,
[5:18] but I think we did pretty well. Over 3
[5:20] 12 lbs of meat. So definitely enough
[5:22] meat for more than three cava bowls. And
[5:24] I'll link this full grocery table down
[5:26] below if you want to check out
[5:27] everything in detail. But I do find it
[5:29] interesting to look at the five most
[5:31] expensive items to kind of see where
[5:33] your money is going. So the ground lamb
[5:35] was the big one at $10.99
[5:38] for just a pound. The chicken thighs
[5:40] were $82, but for over 2 1/2 lb, which
[5:44] is a crazy good deal. Then this bag of
[5:46] red lentils was $3.18.
[5:49] And honestly, I probably could have just
[5:51] skipped the lentils. Um, but I kind of
[5:53] wanted to try them out. Haven't had
[5:54] lentils in a while. And the black
[5:55] lentils were good in that one salad, so
[5:57] why not? Then several other of these
[5:59] items were all priced at $2.98.
[6:03] And as you can guess, your proteins are
[6:04] typically going to take up the biggest
[6:06] chunk of your grocery bill. That being
[6:08] said, I am going to be using some
[6:09] pantry, fridge, and spice staples that I
[6:12] didn't need to buy, but I'm going to be
[6:13] adding the itemized cost for those to
[6:16] that final grocery list. Now, you can
[6:18] argue whether this is fair or not, but
[6:19] even this Orisa paste, it's been sitting
[6:21] in my fridge for like 3 months. I need
[6:23] to use it up. Didn't need to buy a new
[6:24] jar. Pickled onions. I made these for a
[6:27] deep dive video last week. I typically
[6:29] have this in my fridge anyway. And then,
[6:31] you know, salt, oil, spices, MSG are all
[6:34] pretty basic pantry staples. And up to
[6:37] now, grocery shopping and planning out a
[6:38] list definitely will take some more
[6:40] time. So, we need to start making our
[6:42] time back. And we can do that by
[6:44] prepping and batching the protein. So,
[6:46] we're going to start with our spicy lamb
[6:48] meatballs and some grilled chicken. So,
[6:50] let's get cooking. For the spicy lamb
[6:53] meatballs, I grabbed out a bowl and then
[6:54] tossed in the ground lamb and set it
[6:56] onto a scale. And into that, I added 4 g
[6:59] of salt, a 20 g spoonful of herissa, 3 g
[7:02] of cumin, 2 g of smoked paprika, 2 g of
[7:04] some dried minced garlic, and a sprinkle
[7:06] of MSG. I mixed all that together and
[7:09] instantly we have this really nice
[7:11] aromatic salty and umami base. And once
[7:14] everything was combined together, I
[7:15] formed that mixture into nine meatballs.
[7:18] And when I tasted the Cabba version,
[7:19] their meatballs seem to be slightly
[7:21] flattened. So, I adopted that approach
[7:23] here. And pressing them down a bit
[7:25] should help with more even browning and
[7:27] maybe shave off a bit of cook time. Now,
[7:29] after forming, I definitely could have
[7:30] just pan seared these. But to keep it
[7:32] simple while I prep the chicken, I
[7:34] tossed them into the broiler on low in
[7:36] the oven. And in total, it took me about
[7:38] 7 and 1/2 minutes to mix, form, and get
[7:40] these into the oven. And away we go. And
[7:43] while those cook, let's prep the
[7:44] chicken. For the chicken thighs, I
[7:46] spread them out all on a baking sheet
[7:48] and then just trimmed off any stray
[7:49] pieces of like fat or skin that I didn't
[7:51] want. To season them, I added a big
[7:53] sprinkle of salt all over the top,
[7:55] followed by a big sprinkle of that
[7:57] ground cumin. After that, I added two
[7:59] whole cloves and a bit more dried minced
[8:01] garlic that I had ground up in a mortar
[8:03] and pestle. And I really love what the
[8:05] clove does here, but you really only
[8:07] want one or two whole cloves at most.
[8:10] Any more, and it completely takes over
[8:12] the aromatics of the dish. Now, to match
[8:14] the touch of sweetness I got from
[8:15] cabbage chicken, I added a small drizzle
[8:17] of some agave syrup and then finished
[8:19] that with a spritz of oil and mixed
[8:21] everything together. And just like that,
[8:23] the chicken was ready to go. Now,
[8:26] checking back on the meatballs, you can
[8:28] see that that fat is rendering out and
[8:29] the tops are starting to brown. So,
[8:31] while they finish, I did a bit of
[8:33] cleanup and also started the white rice.
[8:35] And after about 12 minutes in total, the
[8:37] meatballs were done, beautifully
[8:39] browned. So, I pulled them out and slid
[8:40] the chicken under the broiler, but now
[8:42] on high. So, to cook the chicken, I let
[8:45] them go for about 5 to 6 minutes on one
[8:47] side before flipping them over. And
[8:48] after about 14 minutes in total, they
[8:50] were cooked through, juicy, flavorful,
[8:53] and perfect. And just like that, we have
[8:56] some protein prep. I weighed out
[8:58] everything and ended up with about 360 g
[9:00] from the batch of nine meatballs. And
[9:02] for the chicken, I chopped those thighs
[9:04] into bite-sized pieces and then added
[9:06] them to a container as well, which was
[9:08] about 800 g worth in total. And this
[9:11] took me about another 3 and 1/2 minutes
[9:13] to put everything away. Now, the hardest
[9:15] part of protein prep is trying not to
[9:17] eat it all before the other components
[9:19] are ready. I really wanted to take a big
[9:21] big old bite of a meatball, but we'll
[9:22] wait until I have the other components.
[9:24] But we have a lot of protein here. So, I
[9:26] think we get like six bowls worth of
[9:28] chicken, probably three bowls worth of
[9:30] lamb. And I actually may go ahead and
[9:32] vacuum seal some of this chicken and
[9:33] throw it in the freezer cuz I know I'm
[9:34] not going to eat it all this week. But
[9:36] now, all that's left to do is make our
[9:38] sauces and then chop some vegetables.
[9:40] And then we're ready to make some cava
[9:42] bowls this week. For the sauces, I
[9:44] decided to keep things simple and make
[9:45] two different dressings that you can
[9:47] store in the fridge. And these only took
[9:48] me 10 minutes to throw together. First
[9:50] up is kind of a satsiki style cucumber
[9:53] dill sauce. And all I did was take a
[9:55] mini cucumber, slice it into planks,
[9:57] then into matchixs, then across for a
[10:00] small dice. I also sliced up two lemons
[10:02] and then minced a clove of garlic. And
[10:05] from there, it's really straightforward.
[10:06] I added two containers of plain yogurt.
[10:08] These are 5% fat, to a jar and then
[10:10] squeezed in the lemon juice, added a
[10:12] drizzle of olive oil from the pantry,
[10:14] then tossed in the cucumber and garlic.
[10:16] And after that, I added a generous
[10:18] sprinkle of dried dill. Fresh is
[10:21] amazing, of course, but dried dill is
[10:23] such an underrated one to just have in
[10:25] your pantry. And just like that, we've
[10:27] got a simple cucumber dill sauce. It's
[10:28] going to pair perfectly with those spicy
[10:30] meatballs. Now, while I was doing the
[10:32] sauces, I also got some of those lentils
[10:35] boiling. Just trying to batch task
[10:36] wherever I can. And next up is the herby
[10:39] vinegrett. To another jar, I squeezed
[10:41] the other half of the lemon. Added a
[10:43] splash of vinegar and then fill the jar
[10:44] with about three parts of oil. Give that
[10:47] a quick blitz. Then I seasoned with
[10:48] dried oregano, some garlic powder, a
[10:50] zitar mix, and black pepper. And this
[10:52] one can just live in your fridge. And
[10:54] then you shake it up right before you're
[10:55] ready to make your cava bowl. Okay, so
[10:58] now that the sauces and the proteins are
[11:00] prepped, all we got to do are chop up
[11:01] some vegetables, assemble the bowls, and
[11:03] take a look at the final numbers. So all
[11:06] coughables essentially follow the same
[11:08] five component framework. And first is
[11:10] the base which is typically greens grain
[11:12] or mix of the two. For the lamb bowl I
[11:15] use the power greens mix and the red
[11:17] lentils. Then for the chicken and rice
[11:19] bowl I use some rice and arugula on the
[11:21] side. Second we have the seasoned
[11:23] protein which brings that savoriness and
[11:25] substance. And obviously we have the
[11:27] spicy lamb meatballs for one and that
[11:29] chicken for the other which you can heat
[11:31] up in the microwave or crisp it on the
[11:33] stove like I did. Third, we have the
[11:35] vegetables, which can be fresh, cooked,
[11:37] or pickled to help give you contrast,
[11:39] color, and texture. I use cherry
[11:41] tomatoes, pickled onions, and a
[11:43] beautifully sliced avocado for that lamb
[11:45] bowl. Then cucumbers, tomato, and some
[11:47] freshly sliced shallot for the chicken
[11:49] bowl. The fourth component are what I
[11:51] like to call crunchies, creamies, chewy,
[11:53] or salty things like feta, hummus, pita
[11:55] bread, or chips. These are the little
[11:57] things that keep each bite interesting.
[12:00] Then the last component, we have the
[12:02] dressing. So for the lamb, I added a big
[12:04] spoonful of the cucumber dill. And the
[12:05] chicken bowl, I drizzled that herby
[12:06] vinegrett over the entire thing. And in
[12:09] just 3 to four minutes, that is how
[12:11] simple it is to assemble these bowls and
[12:14] have something delicious. Now, let's
[12:17] look at the numbers. So, in total, I'll
[12:19] be able to make nine different style
[12:21] bowls with the groceries, which were
[12:22] $46.73,
[12:24] but I'm going to add another $4 or so
[12:26] for the itemized cost. And this brings
[12:28] our per unit cost for the homemade bowl
[12:31] to roughly $555,
[12:34] which if we're using the average cost of
[12:36] the Cabba is about 64% cheaper per bowl.
[12:40] Now, obviously, we have to factor in the
[12:43] time, and the grocery store run and
[12:44] cooking at home will obviously always
[12:46] take more upfront time. But now, what's
[12:49] great about prepping the protein and
[12:50] bases is that you can make these
[12:52] fiveminute variations of the bowls all
[12:54] throughout the week. So, if you compare
[12:56] that to going out three or four times a
[12:58] week, you'll quickly spend a similar
[13:00] amount of time. Not to mention, it's fun
[13:02] to experiment and create your own
[13:03] versions at home. So, let's do a final
[13:06] taste test between Cabba's spicy lamb
[13:08] bowl and my spicy lamb bowl. Okay, I am
[13:12] starving. So, let's get right into these
[13:14] and compare them. All right.
[13:20] Obviously, a solid option. Like we said,
[13:23] range of textures, flavors, and if you
[13:24] can really think about kind of textures,
[13:26] taste, aromomas, flavors when you're
[13:27] putting together salads, this is one of
[13:29] the best ways to like start
[13:31] understanding why foods taste good and
[13:33] how you can make really good versions of
[13:35] kind of bowls and salads at home. So,
[13:36] let's dive into mine. So, I'm going to
[13:38] go plain um we'll go plain meatball
[13:41] first.
[13:43] Yeah, my meatballs more heavy-handed
[13:45] with the harissa and then mine was an
[13:47] extra spicy harissa, which I really
[13:48] like. So for me, like I made this
[13:51] exactly how I would want my meatballs.
[13:53] They probably can't make these that
[13:55] spicy just because they're serving for a
[13:56] mass amount of people and if they were
[13:58] too spicy, then you know, people would
[14:01] need it versus when you're at home, you
[14:02] can customize it exactly how you want.
[14:04] So this is what I'm after. A little bit
[14:06] of spiciness. And then that's going to
[14:08] pair super well with this dill sauce.
[14:11] Um,
[14:13] we've got our hummus in there, the
[14:15] vegetables, little bit of pa.
[14:19] And that was another thing, too, like
[14:21] you could just make the meat and make
[14:23] little pas instead of bowls. Like you
[14:25] can change the form factor. Um, I could
[14:28] have added rice to this one. I kind of
[14:29] made the rice for the chicken one. Um,
[14:32] but all really good options.
[14:43] Okay, so both of these are great
[14:44] options. Um, I definitely like my
[14:46] meatballs better. I will say the the
[14:48] vegetables are really nice in this. They
[14:50] definitely season them with salt and
[14:52] dress them with some oil, too. So, that
[14:54] feels a little bit more luxurious when
[14:56] you get to the vegetables in here. But
[14:57] um as far as everything else, I love the
[14:59] lentils and kind of the addition of that
[15:02] makes it feel a little bit heartier um
[15:04] and can make the meat go a little bit
[15:05] further if you're trying to save some
[15:06] money by tossing in some you know extra
[15:08] lentils with your greens or your rice or
[15:11] whatever you have it. Um but ultimately
[15:13] hopefully you guys can see like you know
[15:15] pretty fair comparison between the both.
[15:16] Like you're definitely going to save
[15:18] money over time um if you kind of
[15:21] especially if you batch and prep a lot
[15:23] of that protein ahead of time. You can
[15:25] turn it into salads, you can turn it
[15:26] into rice bowls, you can turn it into
[15:28] wraps and things of that nature, you can
[15:30] freeze it and throw it in the freezer.
[15:31] Um, versus if you always go out and buy,
[15:34] you're kind of just starting from
[15:35] scratch over and over and over again.
[15:37] Um, that being said, Cabba is still a
[15:39] good option. Um, definitely if you're in
[15:41] a pinch, like I mean this is this is a
[15:43] great thing to pick up. But anyway,
[15:45] hopefully you guys have enjoyed the
[15:46] video and like this breakdown. Um, if
[15:48] you want to see some more videos like
[15:49] this, just let me know down in the
[15:50] comments. But that is going to wrap it
[15:52] up for me in this one. I will catch you
[15:53] all in the next one. Peace y'all.