Acai Adventures- Oahu Post #1 My own Recipe

Hello and welcome to my Acai Adventures! I love acai bowls and throughout Hawai'i, there are many versions and tastes of acai. I've visited many places that serve acai as it seems just as popular as shave ice these days. It's refreshing, sweet, crunchy, and actually pretty healthy at the same time. The base is usually made out of acai and assorted frozen fruit blended with minimal liquid to a thick frozen consistency. Then it is topped with fruit, granola, and honey. They do get quite expensive in certain places and that's why I try to make most of mine at home but, they are around the price of a good lunch and as a high raw vegan, that is lunch :).


So I bet you are asking "what is an acai adventure?" Well, it's my outlook on acai bowls in parts of Hawai'i. These adventures are predominately in Honolulu but, I've been to places on the north shore and maybe there will be some from outer islands if I am able to go there. Usually, cafe's and small food businesses sell acai bowls but there are also big companies like Jamba Juice and Lanikai Juice (franchises) who sell acai as well.

Acai is considered a superfood berry from the Amazon in Brazil. In Brazil, there is a whole culture around acai as it is very nourishing for our bodies. I usually hear that it's great for garnering omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants but there are many more benefits:

According to Mercola.com, the health benefits of  Acai Berry include "high level of antioxidant activity similar to cranberries, but more than what's been found in blueberries and strawberries. Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) values measuring the antioxidant power of acai fruit pulp/skin powder reportedly have the highest ORAC value among fruits and vegetables, or 10 times more antioxidants than red grapes." They are also known to be high in iron, calcium, fiber, and vitamin A. It is also attributed to being a dietary staple for people in the Amazon rainforest regions (Mercola). People have claimed that it does lead to weight loss but don't go eating a huge bag of acai berries just for this reason. It does not cure obesity or what not, and it has not been proven.

Acai isn't just a so called, "superfood" it's delicious as well. When mixed with other things or eaten alone, it has a very rich almost creamy flavor which I think could be a result of the amount of essential fatty-acids in it. All the places in Hawai'i that serve acai do serve it in different ways and we will discover this realm of making acai bowls!!!

1. First, let's start with my recipe of an Acai Bowl.
Ingredients:
2 packets of Sambazon Original Acai packets
1 Banana
1 cup of frozen blueberries
1/4 cup of Zico Coconut water
-Handful of chia/pumpkin seeds
-Assorted fruit toadd on top
1. Throw the acai packets, banana, blueberries, and coconut water in a blender.
2. Blend until a thick frozen concoction is made
3. Throw all your added seeds/fruit on top!
voila !
I actually try to put less frozen fruit in the acai mix because I like the flavor of the acai puree so i try to create a richer acai flavor than some businesses.

My breakfast a few days ago :)