meal prep guide: we have cava at home 🥒

+ exciting eat goood newsletter updates in 2025!

If you’re not sure what day of the week it is, let this email be your reminder that it’s Friday!! But seriously, this week always feels like a different universe where time doesn’t exist. Whether you’re taking this time to relax, spend time with family, solidify your goals for the new year, get active, or do some cooking, I hope you’re enjoying it.

This time of year is actually my favorite, which you could probably guess. I love a fresh start and enjoy using it as an opportunity to elevate how I’m feeling, what my hopes are, and how I could level up. I have a lot planned for 2025 (especially relating to this newsletter and beyond) and if you’re subscribed on here, you’ll be the first ones to hear about it! I’d love to hear what your top goal or goals are for the new year, so leave a comment if you’d like to share with our community and root for others too ❤️

This week I have a new meal prep guide for you—a remake of one of my favorites: Cava bowls!! If you’ve never had Cava before, they’re a fast casual restaurant with Mediterranean-style grains, proteins, toppings, and sauces. Just like my Chipotle prep guide, this guide will help you eat delicious, nourishing lunches but save you money.

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exciting updates coming to the Friday eat goood newsletter:

It’s the 1 year anniversary of the eat goood newsletter launch in just a few weeks and it has been the most incredible year of sharing recipes, meal plans, guides, and more with you all through the newsletter (and just a reminder if you’re new here, you have access to the ENTIRE archive of posts). Throughout the year I’ve been listening to what provides the most value to you and making changes accordingly. And based on your helpful feedback and requests, I’m so excited to share some brand new updates and additions to the eat goood subscription for 2025:

🍓 since you love them so much, you’ll be getting a NEW ingredient prep guide every single month (like this one, this one, and this one)

🍓 the dedicated swaps, subs, & additions section will now be in the newsletter every week, to provide more options for plant-based, dairy-free, or protein-focused folks

🍓 the 2x monthly meal plans will start to feature new guides & resources within them to support your weekly meal prep and plan routines with examples

🍓 every newsletter will feature a NEW section with 3 ways to help individualize the meal plan, prep, or recipe to meet your needs, outlined below (this section will replace the current 2-2-2, which will move to the Sunday newsletters).

1. prep ahead — how to make the most of your time with this week’s recipe(s) to create and maintain a sustainable meal prep routine (what to chop, blend, freeze, etc. ahead of time)

2. time crunch — time saving swaps and tips for grocery shopping, prep, and cooking for those weeks when you have limited time but still want to follow along

3. goood to know — a bit of everything in between to help the week’s recipe(s) fit your needs! to address your questions, share shopping tips, special ingredients (+their swaps), taste preference adjustments, reusing tips, & so much more!

As a refresher, for a paid subscription you get 2 weekly emails (every single Friday and Sunday). In addition to all the above additions, a paid subscription includes: 2x month meal plans with grocery lists, 1x month ingredient prep guides with grocery lists, 1x month bonus recipe, full access to our chat community, early access to new series, and more. The monthly cost remains the same—we’re expanding the value & putting energy into the areas you’re loving! And I’ll continue to take feedback as we go 🫶

Okay!! All that said, please feel free to reach out if you have questions about any of these changes or your subscription! The FAQ page has been updated so you can always give her a read through first to see if your question is addressed there (including if you’re having issues not receiving emails or with logging in) 💕

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Now on to this meal prep guide: Cava bowls at home.

Today’s newsletter will walk you through how to shop for (grocery list included) and prepare these four simple components for your homemade bowls:

• marinated harissa honey chicken

• tomato cucumber salad

• roasted red pepper hummus

• lemon tahini herb dressing

With some simple additions (your grains or greens base), you’ll have all of the prep done to enjoy four servings of at-home Cava bowls. It’ll be up to you whether you want to store as ingredient prep or as individually made bowls for on-the-go!

And if any of this doesn’t sound like your jam, don’t worry, I’ve got substitution options below, including plant-based options. Or just ask me in the comments 😊

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