Are Slop Bowls a Scam?

[00:00] This spicy lamb cobba bowl just cost me

[00:02] $16.25.

[00:05] Now, if I took $16.25 into this grocery

[00:08] store behind me, there's absolutely no

[00:10] way that I would be able to buy

[00:12] everything I need to make this at home.

[00:14] But what if I had $46? Because that's

[00:17] what I actually spent on these three

[00:19] different Cava bowls. So, in this video,

[00:21] I have two big questions. First, how

[00:24] many Cava style bowls can I make with

[00:26] just a $46 grocery budget? and two, how

[00:29] much time does this really take compared

[00:31] to buying them? So, I'm going to keep

[00:33] track of all the monetary and time

[00:35] related costs such as driving and

[00:37] ordering Cava versus doing a grocery

[00:38] trip, picking it up versus the prep

[00:40] work, the cooking, and the cleaning. And

[00:42] by the end of this video, I hope to give

[00:43] you a transparent comparison between

[00:45] cooking at home versus ordering out. And

[00:48] of course, we'll be ending the video

[00:50] with a sideby-side taste test. So, let's

[00:52] break it down. So, to start, I had to

[00:54] actually order some Cabba. And my

[00:56] closest one happens to be an 18-minute

[00:58] drive away, but since I went around 2:00

[01:00] p.m., the line was basically empty. I

[01:02] flew through, ordered three different

[01:04] bowls, and was back out the door in 2

[01:06] minutes. Then I drove the 18 minutes

[01:08] back home and unpacked everything. And I

[01:10] ended up getting three bowls that I'm

[01:12] going to break down. So the chicken and

[01:13] rice bowl was $1.35.

[01:15] The steak and harissa bowl was $14.85,

[01:18] and the spicy lamb and avocado bowl was

[01:21] $16.25.

[01:23] And with tax, this brought the total to

[01:25] $45.95.

[01:28] Now, I probably won't have enough money

[01:30] to get groceries for all three

[01:31] variations. So, what I'm going to do is

[01:33] taste test all three and then figure out

[01:35] the two best ones that I want to

[01:37] recreate at home. Okay, so let's start

[01:40] moving down the line. Each one of these

[01:41] came with a slightly different sauce.

[01:43] So, let's start with our chicken rice

[01:44] over here.

[01:47] Chicken itself is nicely seasoned.

[01:48] Definitely chicken thighs. Little sweet,

[01:50] nice and salty, too. Got hummus, that

[01:53] whipped feta underneath.

[01:56] I forgot I was going to try to weigh

[01:57] each bowl before I started just to see

[01:59] what I'm working with. 440 there. But

[02:01] yeah, the chicken rice bowl, very solid.

[02:03] Um, definitely a good option. Let's now

[02:06] move to the lamb and meatball. And I'll

[02:09] weigh this guy. 650.

[02:12] Like 24 g meatballs. And we got what,

[02:15] four meatballs. So around 100 g of lamb

[02:18] there.

[02:21] Decently spicy. Pretty good.

[02:25] Kind of a different texture than like

[02:27] the ground lamb that I would be used to.

[02:32] So, the lamb is really solid. Um, I like

[02:35] lamb. I like meatballs. Spicy lamb

[02:37] meatballs. Great. Definitely going to be

[02:39] making a version of this one. And then

[02:42] we'll see between chicken and steak. But

[02:43] yeah, very solid. Um, let's move to the

[02:46] last one here.

[02:49] 580 gram on this guy.

[02:52] And then

[02:54] try the steak.

[03:01] Okay, so the steak is good, too. And all

[03:03] in all, all of these are quite good. I

[03:05] definitely want to make lamb. I don't

[03:07] think I'll have budget for a steak, so I

[03:08] think I will probably go with chicken.

[03:10] We kind of got to go see what's

[03:12] available and what's on sale at the

[03:13] store. And some of the stuff I

[03:15] definitely already have, like spices. I

[03:16] may not buy everything. So, let's start

[03:19] putting the list together. See what I

[03:20] already have and then see what we need

[03:22] to go and buy and then I'll meet you

[03:24] back here and we'll start cooking and

[03:26] batch prepping our Cava Bowls. Now,

[03:28] before we head to the grocery store, a

[03:30] quick thank you to today's sponsor, Mint

[03:32] Mobile, where if you're looking to get

[03:33] more value for your money, Mint offers

[03:36] premium wireless plans without the

[03:38] premium price tag. Mint has introduced

[03:41] the concept of bulk buying to the

[03:42] wireless space. So, the more you pay

[03:44] upfront, the more you'll save over time.

[03:46] And you can get plans on 3, 6, or 12

[03:49] months duration, which are all on the

[03:51] nation's largest 5G network. And I think

[03:54] what holds a lot of us back from

[03:56] switching wireless carriers is that it

[03:57] feels like it's going to be this whole

[03:59] thing. But what you can do with Mint is

[04:01] just do it from the comfort of your own

[04:03] home and activate the eSIM in minutes.

[04:06] So, at the link below and on screen

[04:08] right now, new customers can get Mint's

[04:10] best offer of the year, which is 50% off

[04:13] all unlimited plans. And additionally,

[04:16] all plans do come with a 7-day

[04:18] unconditional money back guarantee. So,

[04:21] there's been no better time to check out

[04:23] Mint Mobile. And thank you again for

[04:25] Mint for sponsoring this video. But now,

[04:27] let's go get some groceries and see if

[04:29] we can stay under budget. Okay, so to

[04:32] start, I had to put together a list of

[04:33] like 14 items that I needed, which took

[04:35] me about 3 minutes. And after taking 13

[04:37] minutes to drive to the grocery store,

[04:39] I'm ready to shop. My produce items were

[04:41] arugula and a power greens mix, mini

[04:44] cucumbers, two avocados, two lemons, and

[04:46] a container of cherry tomatoes. Then for

[04:49] the meat, I grabbed a pound of ground

[04:50] lamb, and a big pack of chicken thighs.

[04:53] Then to round it out, I bought some

[04:54] store-bought hummus, feta cheese, pita

[04:56] bread, ground cumin from the bulk aisle,

[04:58] some lentils, and plain Greek yogurt.

[05:00] And now I'm off to the selfch checkckout

[05:02] and back to the car in about 12 minutes.

[05:04] Then another 13 minutes back home.

[05:08] Okay, so I just got back from the

[05:10] grocery store and I ended up spending

[05:11] $46.73

[05:14] for everything you're seeing here. So

[05:16] technically I went a dollar over budget,

[05:18] but I think we did pretty well. Over 3

[05:20] 12 lbs of meat. So definitely enough

[05:22] meat for more than three cava bowls. And

[05:24] I'll link this full grocery table down

[05:26] below if you want to check out

[05:27] everything in detail. But I do find it

[05:29] interesting to look at the five most

[05:31] expensive items to kind of see where

[05:33] your money is going. So the ground lamb

[05:35] was the big one at $10.99

[05:38] for just a pound. The chicken thighs

[05:40] were $82, but for over 2 1/2 lb, which

[05:44] is a crazy good deal. Then this bag of

[05:46] red lentils was $3.18.

[05:49] And honestly, I probably could have just

[05:51] skipped the lentils. Um, but I kind of

[05:53] wanted to try them out. Haven't had

[05:54] lentils in a while. And the black

[05:55] lentils were good in that one salad, so

[05:57] why not? Then several other of these

[05:59] items were all priced at $2.98.

[06:03] And as you can guess, your proteins are

[06:04] typically going to take up the biggest

[06:06] chunk of your grocery bill. That being

[06:08] said, I am going to be using some

[06:09] pantry, fridge, and spice staples that I

[06:12] didn't need to buy, but I'm going to be

[06:13] adding the itemized cost for those to

[06:16] that final grocery list. Now, you can

[06:18] argue whether this is fair or not, but

[06:19] even this Orisa paste, it's been sitting

[06:21] in my fridge for like 3 months. I need

[06:23] to use it up. Didn't need to buy a new

[06:24] jar. Pickled onions. I made these for a

[06:27] deep dive video last week. I typically

[06:29] have this in my fridge anyway. And then,

[06:31] you know, salt, oil, spices, MSG are all

[06:34] pretty basic pantry staples. And up to

[06:37] now, grocery shopping and planning out a

[06:38] list definitely will take some more

[06:40] time. So, we need to start making our

[06:42] time back. And we can do that by

[06:44] prepping and batching the protein. So,

[06:46] we're going to start with our spicy lamb

[06:48] meatballs and some grilled chicken. So,

[06:50] let's get cooking. For the spicy lamb

[06:53] meatballs, I grabbed out a bowl and then

[06:54] tossed in the ground lamb and set it

[06:56] onto a scale. And into that, I added 4 g

[06:59] of salt, a 20 g spoonful of herissa, 3 g

[07:02] of cumin, 2 g of smoked paprika, 2 g of

[07:04] some dried minced garlic, and a sprinkle

[07:06] of MSG. I mixed all that together and

[07:09] instantly we have this really nice

[07:11] aromatic salty and umami base. And once

[07:14] everything was combined together, I

[07:15] formed that mixture into nine meatballs.

[07:18] And when I tasted the Cabba version,

[07:19] their meatballs seem to be slightly

[07:21] flattened. So, I adopted that approach

[07:23] here. And pressing them down a bit

[07:25] should help with more even browning and

[07:27] maybe shave off a bit of cook time. Now,

[07:29] after forming, I definitely could have

[07:30] just pan seared these. But to keep it

[07:32] simple while I prep the chicken, I

[07:34] tossed them into the broiler on low in

[07:36] the oven. And in total, it took me about

[07:38] 7 and 1/2 minutes to mix, form, and get

[07:40] these into the oven. And away we go. And

[07:43] while those cook, let's prep the

[07:44] chicken. For the chicken thighs, I

[07:46] spread them out all on a baking sheet

[07:48] and then just trimmed off any stray

[07:49] pieces of like fat or skin that I didn't

[07:51] want. To season them, I added a big

[07:53] sprinkle of salt all over the top,

[07:55] followed by a big sprinkle of that

[07:57] ground cumin. After that, I added two

[07:59] whole cloves and a bit more dried minced

[08:01] garlic that I had ground up in a mortar

[08:03] and pestle. And I really love what the

[08:05] clove does here, but you really only

[08:07] want one or two whole cloves at most.

[08:10] Any more, and it completely takes over

[08:12] the aromatics of the dish. Now, to match

[08:14] the touch of sweetness I got from

[08:15] cabbage chicken, I added a small drizzle

[08:17] of some agave syrup and then finished

[08:19] that with a spritz of oil and mixed

[08:21] everything together. And just like that,

[08:23] the chicken was ready to go. Now,

[08:26] checking back on the meatballs, you can

[08:28] see that that fat is rendering out and

[08:29] the tops are starting to brown. So,

[08:31] while they finish, I did a bit of

[08:33] cleanup and also started the white rice.

[08:35] And after about 12 minutes in total, the

[08:37] meatballs were done, beautifully

[08:39] browned. So, I pulled them out and slid

[08:40] the chicken under the broiler, but now

[08:42] on high. So, to cook the chicken, I let

[08:45] them go for about 5 to 6 minutes on one

[08:47] side before flipping them over. And

[08:48] after about 14 minutes in total, they

[08:50] were cooked through, juicy, flavorful,

[08:53] and perfect. And just like that, we have

[08:56] some protein prep. I weighed out

[08:58] everything and ended up with about 360 g

[09:00] from the batch of nine meatballs. And

[09:02] for the chicken, I chopped those thighs

[09:04] into bite-sized pieces and then added

[09:06] them to a container as well, which was

[09:08] about 800 g worth in total. And this

[09:11] took me about another 3 and 1/2 minutes

[09:13] to put everything away. Now, the hardest

[09:15] part of protein prep is trying not to

[09:17] eat it all before the other components

[09:19] are ready. I really wanted to take a big

[09:21] big old bite of a meatball, but we'll

[09:22] wait until I have the other components.

[09:24] But we have a lot of protein here. So, I

[09:26] think we get like six bowls worth of

[09:28] chicken, probably three bowls worth of

[09:30] lamb. And I actually may go ahead and

[09:32] vacuum seal some of this chicken and

[09:33] throw it in the freezer cuz I know I'm

[09:34] not going to eat it all this week. But

[09:36] now, all that's left to do is make our

[09:38] sauces and then chop some vegetables.

[09:40] And then we're ready to make some cava

[09:42] bowls this week. For the sauces, I

[09:44] decided to keep things simple and make

[09:45] two different dressings that you can

[09:47] store in the fridge. And these only took

[09:48] me 10 minutes to throw together. First

[09:50] up is kind of a satsiki style cucumber

[09:53] dill sauce. And all I did was take a

[09:55] mini cucumber, slice it into planks,

[09:57] 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.