Let us talk smoothie bowls! My first glimpse into the amazing world of smoothie bowls was in Hanalei, HI in 2006. I would visit this cute food truck almost everyday on our two week vacation. The truck sold fresh juice and smoothies and other healthy options. I would order my daily pineapple and mint fresh squeezed juice and almost every time I visited I would see people walk by with these huge purple looking bowls. I assumed it was Poi, which I was not interested in trying (and still have never tried)! But one day I decided to ask someone that had just walked away with one. This is when my life changed forever. She told me it was an acai bowl and I HAD to try one. So instead of my usual order I asked for the acai bowl! Next came so many questions it made my head spin… did i want granola on top? how about bee pollen (?!), chopped bananas? coconut? honey? In my head this went on for a very long time! Finally I settled on frozen blueberries, granola and honey on top. It came out and I was so amazed by how beautiful it was! I waited until we got to the beach to dig in and HOLY COW! Absolute heaven in a bowl. At this point I had no idea what exactly the base consisted of, other than Acai berries so the next day when I ordered again I asked the owner. Frozen acai berries, frozen bananas and frozen strawberries. That was it! No weird additives you couldn’t pronounce or cupfuls of sugar. At this time in my life I was not nearly as mindful about what I would eat but I was pretty impressed and intrigued by this amazing creation. When we returned from our trip I think I played around with trying to make it a few times but didn’t have the greatest equipment for it… i.e. a really good blender or food processor. But every time we returned to Hawaii its almost all I wanted to eat.

Fast forward many years later and I now make them all the time and I have learned the varieties are endless. For my kids I call them “ice cream” and they gobble it UP! The single most important ingredient is FROZEN bananas. They have to be frozen, trust me… I have tried non-frozen bananas and its a HUGE mistake. Frozen bananas just on their own make for an incredible ice cream… or add cinnamon, or nutella, strawberries etc. YUM. But back to the smoothie bowls… like I said, the varieties are endless. A popular one at our house is frozen blueberries, bananas, pitaya. Pitaya (dragon fruit) has the most amazing hot pink color and has a really mild flavor, so it’s not overpowering but offers loads of health benefits like high in magnesium, iron, fiber and is rich in antioxidants. And did I mention its super pretty? We buy it frozen too cause it is not easy to get around here. So for a smoothie bowl for two people I throw in half a frozen banana, a handful of frozen blueberries, and maybe half a cup of pitaya, sometimes I even add in a little spinach since my kids don’t notice it. Put in to your blender or food processor and blend up until it has an ice cream consistency. It helps if you let the fruit thaw just a tiny bit. Or you can add a little bit of water, juice, almond milk etc to get it going. Once it is well blended spoon into bowls and get ready for the fun part, toppings! Our go-to is granola and honey. But there is sooo much you can do! Flax seeds, chia seeds, fresh fruit, pumpkin seeds, coconut, chocolate shavings, bee pollen. I could go on and on but you get the idea. And obviously you can mix up the base too… use frozen strawberries or blackberries, acai berries instead of pitaya. Or like I said before, just bananas on there own make for a fabulous, healthy treat. Has anyone experimented with these? what are your favorite combos?

Pitaya smoothie bowl (for 2 people):

• 1/2 frozen banana
• handful of frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen pitaya (dragon fruit)
• toppings: honey, granola, fresh fruit, bee pollen, flax seed etc.

Throw all ingredients into a blender or food processor (I use my ninja food processor) mix well until well blended, add in a bit of water or juice if having trouble getting it to blend up. Spoon into bowls and top with chosen toppings. Enjoy!!