So much has happened since I last blogged! I finished residency–hooray for the end of homework forever! Next big thing–I got married!! That was a crazy several months!
My husband and I ended up going to Hawaii for our honeymoon. I developed 2 obsessions on this trip- one was with sea turtles (ermehgerd they are so cool!) the second was açaí bowls. When I was in Hawaii, I hit up several açaí bowl places. I noticed that one of the places used the Sambazon frozen açaí mix. By some miracle of God, I stumbled upon the same mix at Costco! Tah-dahhhh!
Açaí is phonetically pronounced as “Ah-sai-yi.” The berry fruit is initially derived from the Açaí palm, which is a native to Brazil. The bowl migrated over to Hawaii, and since then, Hawaii has come up with some pretty creative stuff. Açaí’s claim to fame was when external marketers hyped up the berry’s antioxidant levels. Even Dr. Oz has toted it on his show and claimed that it has good weight loss properties, anti-aging, the new cure to diabetes, etc…To date, there hasn’t been a study that can prove statistical significance on any of these claims. I will say this, after making it myself, I really can’t say that this is a diabetic friendly recipe. The common misconception is that “fruits are always healthy.” That statement, on a general level is true if you have a normal insulin level, but most people fail to acknowledge that some fruits such as bananas are also very high in sugar and the recipe also contains apple juice. Aside from that, no one can deny how yummy it is! What I love about açaí bowls is how customizable they are. The basic and most classic Brazilian bowl always consists of strawberries, bananas, and açaí.
So here is my twist on it:
Ingredients:
- 1 pack of frozen açaí berry
- 1/4-1/2 cup of apple juice
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 1/2 fresh banana
- Granola
- Strawberries (fresh), Kiwi, or any other fresh fruits
- Additional frozen fruits (1/4 cup)
- Honey
Directions:
- Break up the açaí bar into a blender and add in 1/2 frozen banana and 1/4 cup of the apple juice. It is important to ensure that the banana is frozen because the frozen banana lends the açaí bowl its creamy texture.
- Optional Step: Add in additional frozen fruits. I prefer mango, pineapples, and strawberries. Just add in a few (~1-2 pieces of each) because if you add in too many, you will have way too much açaí base. If you want to blend in more flavors to the açaí base, I would recommend using frozen fruits if you prefer a creamier texture.
- Blend away until everything is uniform. Add apple juice 1/4 cup at a time. I prefer having a creamier texture and adding apple juice will thin it down accordingly.
- Chop up strawberries and arrange in a straight line along the side of the bowl, do the same with the bananas, kiwi, and granola.
- Drizzle honey and serve right away!
Food for Pennies... 