Acai Bowls

We have been blessed to live in some delicious places. We fell in love with Lowcountry Boil and Shrimp n' Grits when we lived in Charleston, SC. We fell in love with the most deliciously fresh farmers market produce year round while we lived in Monterey, CA. We fell in love with Kalua Pork, Mac Nut Pancakes, Fried Rice Omlettes, and Acai Bowls when we lived in Hawaii. I am constantly craving dishes from places we once lived that take me back to sweet memories. 

Acai bowls are one of my more frequent cravings and for some unfathomable reason they are not available at most smoothie places on the mainland. We discovered one awesome crunchy smoothie joint in Santa Barbara a couple of years ago that I insist we go out of our way to get back to whenever passing by Santa Barbara. Anyway, it's been a long time coming, but I finally learned to make them myself after discovering that Whole Foods carries frozen packets of acai puree, an ingredient difficult to come by most places. So last week I went on a pilgrimage to Whole Foods which involved driving to another state, but I came home with an insulated bag full of frozen acai packets and a bag full of 10 pomegranates {because for some reason the stores near us feel like once Christmas is over we don't need pomegranates anymore- false!}. 

Without further ado... here is how I concocted my delicious acai bowl:

Blend the following:

Frozen acai packet broken into pieces

1/3 cup frozen strawberries

1/3 cup frozen blackberries

1/2 banana

2/3 cup apple cider (could use apple juice)

Top with:

granola (see my homemade recipe here)

coconut flakes

banana slices

honey

This was so good! Tasted just like I remember except for the nuttiness of the granola I used, which was still good. This is what I crave most post-workout so I am thrilled to now be able to make it. Hope you enjoy it too if you try it out, which I highly recommend!