Junior Chloe Flowers-Stiles establishes a happy lifestyle by simply doing what she loves most: eating food.
Apart from indulging in her typical three meals a day, Chloe also explores her cultivated passion by dividing her palette into three main sections: cheese, coffee, and chocolate. Together, these food categories have allowed her to form connections with her friends and family, forging unforgettable bonds.
As for her favorite cheese, Chloe enjoys aged, ancient cheeses: blue cheese, brie, and asiago are a few of the ones that she snacks on throughout the week.
“I have cheese all the time,” Chloe said. “Every single day after school, I get my cheese, I put my jam on it, and then a cracker. It’s a cheese cracker sandwich.”
Chloe’s cheese sandwich creations are frankly quite simple; her mom buys fig jam, crackers, and a variety of bold-tasting cheeses from Aldi. This low-maintenance yet satisfactory snack is the perfect addition to Chloe’s active, packed days.
Aside from Chloe’s passion for all things cheese-related, she also considers herself a coffee fanatic. Like many people, Chloe is a Starbucks supporter, occasionally indulging in one of their cold brews or chai tea lattes; however, Chloe also prefers to concoct her own coffee drink every morning as a quick way to wake up and sip on something she loves.
“I buy my own cold brew,” Chloe explained. “I put milk in it, [mainly] oat or almond milk. Every morning I wake up, I get my Meijer brand coffee and my milk—half and half [ratio]. I put whipped cream on top. [It’s] delicious.”
Chloe’s passion stems from the general bond that society has formed around the coffee culture. Her fondness has amassed over the years through coffee runs with her friends and the influence of public appeal.
“Most of my friends like coffee or chai,” Chloe said. “I’m more of a coffee kind of person. If coffee is a ten, chai is at an eight. My mom loves coffee, America loves coffee, and I love coffee. I think that it’s a communal thing that everyone can share.”
Along with coffee, Chloe’s devotion to chocolate has been an unwavering, dominant part of her life, extending all the way back to her childhood when she would trick-or-treat every year on Halloween.
Consecutive years of intense trick-or-treating and eager candy collection have allowed her palette to evolve into refinement over time; with this, Chloe’s preferences have diverged from the classic Hershey bar to Dove chocolate. Once her comfort with Dove chocolate was established, she was forced to branch out when her mom started purchasing German chocolate from Aldi.
Furthermore, Chloe’s specific fondness for certain types of chocolate has evolved in a cyclic rotation back and forth between dark chocolate and milk chocolate—white chocolate has never been an option for her considering its lack of cocoa beans.
“I used to like dark chocolate, but I have gone back to milk chocolate,” Chloe said. “I think that I had too much dark chocolate and got sick of it.”
To add another layer to Chloe’s love for food, she also has assumed a vegetarian-based diet, avoiding all types of meat with the exception of chicken nuggets and pepperoni pizza.
Her decision to not focus predominantly on meat was hardly derived from concern for the environment or the desire to eat healthier. Instead, she simply is disgusted by the taste and texture of the majority of meats.
Overall, Chloe’s passion for food has allowed her to connect with the people around her, giving her a hobby to pursue over the years.
“I think that the first place to start is making your body happy,” Chloe said. “The more food I try, the happier I become. [It] gives me strength to pursue my goals.”
