Courtesy of South Block
My daughter and I are big fans of acai bowls. We’ve had a range of them at everywhere from Costco to Vigilante Coffee to Playa Bowls to our local Car Wash Coffee and other indie health-focused cafés, but South Block’s are our favorites. During this time of quarantine (and despite what we’re seeing in other States, particularly after Memorial Day Weekend, we’re still under stay-at-home orders in this area), it’s important for those who can to support local businesses, which in turn are supporting their communities and employees.
Several of South Block’s locations are open for curbside pick up or local delivery, but for the special Warrior (or PB&J) Acai Kits, we opted to order online via The Fruitful Market + Cafe in Clarendon (next to the original South Block) — mostly because we live in MoCo, so local delivery wasn’t an option for us. Plus, we loved that shopping at Fruitful Market is in itself an act of good will, because 100% of the profits from that location go to South Block’s nonprofit organization, Fruitful Planet, which provides fruits and vegetables to those in need. After ordering online, we drove to Fruitful Market and picked up, but they would’ve also done curbside delivery to my car.
My family of five couldn’t wait to put our acai bowls together. The kits come with the frozen organic acai base (blended pineapple juice, organic acai, bananas & strawberries), 1 pint of granola, 1 pint of strawberries, 1 pint of blueberries, and 3 bananas. They take about 30 min. to thaw, so we set them out in the afternoon and had a debate about whether they qualified as a meal, snack, or dessert. We decided since we’d had a big breakfast, they would be a “light” lunch.
After the acai was ready, we layered in the toppings, and a few of us also added honey to the bowls, but they’re delicious with just the included fruit and granola too. My oldest son also scooped in a tablespoon of peanut butter, which made me think that next time we’ll order the PBJ Acai Bowl Kits, in which the frozen bases are blended unsweetened almond milk, organic acai, peanut butter, bananas & blueberries.
Here are South Block’s instructions for the Kits, which cost $55 and include 6 servings (but we managed to stretch that to about 8):
STEP 1: thaw your frozen base for 30 min. (suggestions while you wait… do some yoga, take a jog, take a shower or walk your dog!) Or place in the refrigerator overnight for the perfect bowl for breakfast!
STEP 2: top with your favorite toppings
STEP 3: inhale ahh-sigh-ee ? exhale negativity
FRUITFUL MARKET + CAFE is open limited hours: weekdays 10AM-2PM, but don’t worry, the other South Block locations are open and ready for business every day of the week in Clarendon, Rosslyn, Ballston, and five other locations throughout Northern Virginia and D.C.
This post is sponsored by South Block, which provided complimentary Acai Bowl Kits to my family. No compensation was provided.
