Acai Berry Smoothie Bowl

Yum

A few months ago, my family and I traveled up the coast to the tiny little beach town of Avila Beach, Ca. It’s an adorable little town, and I wrote a post about our trip here.  While we were there, we visited a great little smoothie shop, and the bowls that we had there totally inspired me to make my own version! I have been making them almost every morning, in some variation, since we got back! I adore smoothies for breakfast and rarely eat anything other than that, so I was happy to add these delicious Acai Berry Smoothie Bowls to the repertoire! Bonus – my husband and kids love these too, so it’s easy to get everyone eating a lot of fruit for breakfast. There’s also plenty of protein in them, so you won’t feel hungry an hour later! Before we dive in, I just want to let you know that I am busy working away on some amazing vegan and gluten free Thanksgiving recipes, so make sure you stay connected by following me on social media or signing up for my email newsletter. You won’t want to miss what’s coming next!

One of the best things about smoothie bowls, beside their amazing ability to pack a ton of nutrients into one super yummy dish, is that you can make them really beautiful and top them with anything you want. I’ve seen them with all kinds of nuts, seeds, fruit, and even flowers on them! I like to keep mine pretty simple and I pretty much just do the toppings that are above…and full disclosure – most of the time, I just throw a handful or granola and some coconut on top. I’m not a morning person, so I usually go for quick and easy in the morning. If I make these later in the day for a snack or something, I might get a little fancier. You can basically go as elaborate or as simple as you want. The main thing to remember when making a smoothie bowl, is only to add as much liquid as necessary to get it blended, and no more, so it stays nice and thick. I use unsweetened vanilla coconut milk (by So Delicious) in mine.

Fresh fruit is great, and you can use it (you may need more ice) but I prefer to use frozen fruit in the smoothie itself, because I can keep a lot of it on hand at all times! Both Whole Foods and Target have large bags of Organic frozen fruit, including acai (at Target look for the Simply Balanced Brand). I buy the Acai berry puree seen above at Whole Foods, in the frozen section. I use fresh bananas, a scoop of either peanut butter or almond butter and a scoop of protein powder. For the protein powder I use Vega One Vanilla Nutritional Shake, and it works great in this bowl! I love it because it has lots of protein, it’s packed with greens and probiotics, it tastes really yummy and it is sweetened with stevia. I buy it on Amazon because it is cheaper (about $6 less) than at my Whole Foods. 😉 Here’s a link: http://amzn.to/2fFlCSJ (I’ve also tried their Chai Tea and mocha flavors in other smoothies and they are super yummy! They are sweet though, so depending on your tastes, you’ll want to limit your other sweet ingredients. ) I think the reason that particular smoothie powder works so well in this smoothie bowl is that it balances the tart acai berry, and blueberry flavors.

So a couple of tips before you start blending:

1. Add your coconut milk (or other non-dairy milk) a little bit at a time, and only add enough to facilitate blending
2. You can use ice or not, depending on your preference
3. Because smoothie bowls are thick, it is best to use a blender that is wide on the bottom. (I use a Ninja blender that has a smoothie setting on it).
4. Making more than two servings? I use one additional banana for each person, a few more strawberries, and maybe another 1/4 of blueberries.

Smoothie bowls are a great way to get a lot of nutrition into your diet, and and super foods like acai and blueberries help to keep your immunity up all year around. Blending protein powder and/or some nut butter into the bowl will give you sustained energy, and adding some granola, nuts, seeds, extra fruit or coconut on the top gives your bowl texture and really makes it feel like a full meal. Try these, I know you’ll love them!

* This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click through, and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission from Amazon. It helps me keep the blog running, so if you do purchase after reading my post, that’s awesome, thanks! Most importantly, I just want to inspire you, and be inspired by you.  I never write about products that I don’t use, or don’t believe in. When I do find something that I’m passionate about, I like to share it with my readers. 🙂