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Welcome toGrocery Diaries, a new series that illustrates just how varied and personalized healthy eating really is.
Chelsea Kyle. Food Stying by Drew Aichele. Prop Styling by Campbell Pearson.
Why do they buy what they buy?
How much do they spend?
Who are they shopping for?
Chelsea Kyle. Food Stying by Drew Aichele. Prop Styling by Campbell Pearson.
Theres a big difference between fresh and canned.
The canned is okayand Ill eat itbut I just really love the fresh, she tells SELF.
Sue-Ellen occasionally buys canned callaloo, but nothing beats eating freshly picked greens from her garden, she says.
Sue-Ellen moved to the U.S. from Jamaica when she was in elementary school.
Eating traditional foods brings up memories from home.
Grocery shopping for those foods isnt always easy, but Sue-Ellen manages to honor her traditions.
Here are 10 items she picks up in a typical grocery trip.
She buys canned callaloo when she needs to, but thetaste just isnt the same, she says.
I like my callaloo with a little more crunch and a little less salt, she explains.
Now Sue-Ellen grows callaloo in the summer and freezes it to last through winter.
She cooks it with tomatoes, peppers, and onions, to serve alongside many of her meals.
Sunday dinner is really big where I was born in Jamaica, Sue-Ellen explains.
She starts the day by makingackee and salt fish for breakfast.
Ackee and salt fish is our national dish in Jamaica, she explains.
(Sue-Ellen eats ackee and jackfruit to stick with her meat-free diet.
Jackfruit looks similar to salt fish when its broken up in pieces, she says.)
I want to be Jamaican.
Sue-Ellen says she laughs and responds, You are.
In addition to preparing ackee with salt fish andjackfruit, Sue-Ellen sometimes serves it with tofu.
In Jamaica, we roast yellow yams over an open flame, Sue-Ellen says.
Thats not something she can do in her house now, so sheboils or bakes them instead.
Sue-Ellen especially likes how the sweetness complements some spicier flavors.
It goes well with curry chickpeas.
Its like a comfort meal, she says.
When eating green bananas, it feels like Im home again, Sue-Ellen says.
Her absolute favorite thing about green bananas is thenostalgia that comeswith eating them.
My mom used to mash the green bananas and put butter on them.
I remember eating that, and it tasted so good.
And they go well with nearly any meal because they taste similar to potatoes, according to Sue-Ellen.
I grew up eating mangoes off the tree, Sue-Ellen says.
Some people in Jamaica eat two or three mangoes in a row.
We just sit there and eat them like a meal.
Now Sue-Ellen mainly buys them frozen touse in smoothies.
Smoothies just taste so much yummier with mango, she says.
Sue-Ellen is thankful that these are readily available in her neighborhood grocery stores.
I eat plantains at almost every single meal.
I love them and theyre just a familiar food, she says.
I feel like a cast-iron pot is really helpful in making it crispy, she says.
She prepares tofu using a variety of seasonings, like grilled jerk tofu (her sons favorite).
One of the best things aboutjackfruit is that its so versatile, according to Sue-Ellen.
Sue-Ellen particularly likes using this brand on busy days because it comes preseasoned in the pouch.
Although these recipes fire off the gamut, Blue Mountain curry powder is a staple in all of them.
This is made with truly authentic ingredients.
Its the real stuff, sye says.
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