Campus food

It looks like someone has figured out what our family is all about. This past week, we had a porta-potty dropped off right in front of our house:

Nothing like a stinky Don John to make any worries over what our old mailbox looked like seem sorta trivial by comparison.

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Speaking of porta-potties, when Mom and I went to college (last century, literally), we had one crappy little dining hall. We walked in, got our dining cards punched (no scanning in those dark ages), and were met with a single U-shaped serving area that provided just a few options, all of them bad. Once a week, we could collect a ticket when we got our cards punched, which we could turn in to receive a small, tough, gristly steak. Mostly we just passed our tickets over to the lax jocks who needed the extra protein to fuel the muscles that kept the lacrosse championships coming (back in those days anyway). No need to worry about putting on the freshman 15 at Hopkins.

When Brad visited JMU, one of the biggest selling points was the awesomeness of the food, which was ranked fifth "best campus food" in the whole country last year by the Princeton Review (one spot ahead of Virginia Tech—take that Hokies). JMU has almost 30 different dining locations, including the Festival Food Court not far from Brad's dorm. That's where, in one of the first weeks of school, Brad had one of the best things he's ever tasted: an açaí bowl with granola and fresh fruit on top of what is essentially a very thick smoothie made with frozen açaí berry purée.

Original Açaí Bowl from SoBol of New Hyde Park

To my delight, I have since found Organic Açaí Purée Packets at Trader Joe’s, which are not only unsweetened (which are a little harder to find) but significantly cheaper than the name-brand stuff available at Wegmans. Now we can all eat a little like Brad, even if we missed out on the total dining experience he gets to enjoy at college.

Açaí Bowl with Granola 2.0

Açaí Bowls

Inspired by Brad

Time: 10 minutes

Cold banana is the key to getting the right consistency (you can make 1-ingredient ice cream out of nothing but frozen bananas). Keep a few unpeeled bananas in the fridge for making these bowls (or banana bread). The peels will blacken over time, but they'll still work fine. Trust me, the smoothies don't taste like banana.

2 bananas (~200 grams peeled) cold from the fridge (see note)
1 (100-gram) unsweetened açaí purée packet (cheapest at Trader Joe's)
~¼ cup (60 grams) milk or unsweetened nondairy milk (such as almond), more if needed
frozen mango chunks, if needed
a good drizzle of honey (raw, local honey if you can find it)

Topping ideas: sliced bananas or strawberries; whole blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries; coconut chips or flakes, lightly toasted if desired; good granola

    1. Peel the cold bananas, then break them into a few chunks each into your blender or personal blender (you'll need the big blender cup).
    2. Hold the açaí purée packet under warm running water for about 10 seconds to thaw a bit; break into smaller pieces still in the packet. Cut the packet open and squeeze the contents into the blender cup.
    3. Add about ¼ cup milk. Blend until smooth; you're aiming for an end product that is thicker than a smoothie, but still scoopable. Add milk a little at a time if the purée is too thick; add some frozen mango chunks if it's not thick enough. 
    4. Spoon the açaí mixture into two bowls. Top with the toppings of your choice and a drizzle of honey. Serve promptly. Serves 2.