It's Monday. We could always use a healthy kickoff to the week, especially if you maybe didn't behave as hoped over the weekend. Are you nodding along? Trainer me is making you hop back on track!

The little superfruit known as the açai berry started making its rounds a few years ago and it became most popular in the form of a bowl. You know me, I'm all about my one-bowl meals, so I was all aboard this train.

Really high in antioxidants (moreso than most other berries), and rich in anthocyanins (the antioxidant that is good for your heart, also found in red wine), this berry does deserve the title of a superfood. BUT. Most of the time, you find açai berries in the form of sweetened juices and even most juice/smoothie places that make these bowls use the sweetened form of açai- and this makes a huge difference.

I like to use Sambazon's smoothie packs (you can find them at Whole Foods) to make my açai bowls- as do a lot of popular juice chains in NYC- but most places use the sweetened version. Unsweetened versus sweetened= 2g sugar/4g carb versus 16g sugar/18g carb. That is a ginormous difference, if you ask me, for something that is just assumed to be 100% healthy.

Another reason I like to make my own açai bowls at home besides being supremely easy is the cost. You'll pay upwards of $10-$12 for an açai bowl in NYC, but if I make this at home, it'll round out to maybe about $3.

This comes in the clutch on those days where I am starving and need a filling breakfast to tide me over if I have a marathon of client sessions without a break for 5-6 hours. You can pack in so many nutrients in this bowl too, pending on what type of toppings you like!

Confession: I originally shot these photos a few weeks ago but then for some reason the pictures of my finished bowl seemed to have disappeared in cyberspace, so I made a new bowl using some different toppers. For this bowl, I used some of my Pumpkin Oat & Quinoa Granola to add a little crunch!

Açai Bowl

*serves 1

Ingredients

For Açai Base:
1 Sambazon Unsweetened Açai Frozen Smoothie Pack
1/2 medium Banana (I used frozen for more texture)
1/2 cup Almond Milk

For Topping:
*You can use whatever you want, but for this bowl I used:
1/2 medium Banana, sliced
1/4 cup of my Pumpkin Oat & Quinoa Granola
1 tbsp Raw Creamy Almond Butter
Sprinkle of Chia Seeds
Sprinkle of Goji Berries
A few raw Almonds

Recipe

1. Run frozen açai smoothie pack under hot water for a few seconds to loosen it up and manually break it in half. Cut open the pouch and empty contents into your blender.

2. Add 1/2 frozen banana and almond milk into blender, and blend until açai mixture is smooth.

3. Pour mixture into a bowl, and add on whatever toppings your heart/tastebuds desire!