Welcome to The Receipt, a series documenting how Bon Appétit readers eat and what they spend doing it. Each food diary follows one anonymous reader’s week of expenses related to groceries, restaurant meals, coffee runs, and every bite in between. In this time of rising food costs, The Receipt reveals how folks—from different cities, with different incomes, on different schedules—are figuring out their food budgets.
In today’s Receipt, a 38-year-old attorney celebrates her birthday with steak and martinis, grills gochujang burgers and lamb skewers, and makes negronis and carajillos. She lives in Dallas, Texas. Keep reading for her receipts.
The finances
What are your pronouns? She/her
What is your occupation? Attorney—I’m a partner at a large international labor and employment law firm.
How old are you? 38
What city and state do you live in? Dallas, Texas
What is your annual salary, if you have one? $330,000. My household includes my husband and myself, and our total income including my spouse’s annual salary is $440,000.
How much is one paycheck, after taxes? $4,729.12. My spouse’s is $3,163.
How often are you paid? (e.g., weekly) Biweekly
How much money do you have in savings? $161,958
What are your approximate fixed monthly expenses beyond food? (i.e., rent, subscriptions, bills)
- Mortgage/Insurance: $3,021
- YouTube TV: $79
- Netflix: $16.77
- Portrait Coffee: $20
- Discovery+: $5.40
- Hulu: $8.65
- Atmos (Gas): $37
- Amazon Prime: $5.40
- MosquitoNix (Exterminator): $140
- U-verse (internet): $88
- Reliant (electricity): $291
- Water: $110
- Peloton: $47
- Pool: $130
- Lawn: $130
- Cocktail Club: $15
- Total: $4,144.22
The diet
Do you follow a certain diet or have dietary restrictions? No, but we try to eat vegetarian for a few meals a week because I read somewhere that it’s better for the environment, although I don’t know how much of an impact the two of us are really making.
What are the grocery staples you always buy, if any? Bananas—between my husband and our elderly corgi, we’re going through seven to eight bananas a week. Also, onions, lemons, cilantro, yogurt, potato chips, sourdough bread, and mayonnaise. We are a very pro-mayo family and always have Duke’s and Kewpie stocked.
How often in a week do you dine out versus cook at home? We follow the same routine almost every week: I menu-plan and then we grocery shop together for the week on Saturday or Sunday. We cook at home Sunday through Wednesday and eat out Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Lunch is a mix: If I work from home, I will make myself something. If I’m going into the office, I will take leftovers or buy lunch, typically a salad or a sandwich.
How often in a week did you dine out while growing up? One to two nights a week, plus Sunday lunch. We almost always got Tex-Mex or pizza, and my mom set strict limits on what we could order to keep the bill down (water, no sodas; no appetizers). On Sundays we picked up sandwiches or something else casual on the way home from church.
How often in a week did your parents or guardians cook at home? Five nights a week. My mom cooked almost every meal despite hating to cook and being busy with her own small business. We ate “freezer food” like chicken strips and Stouffer’s lasagna, dishes that started from a seasoning packet, and soups that involved dumping multiple cans into a pot. I had no complaints at the time, but I am jealous of people who have family recipes passed down through the generations.
The expenses
- Week’s total: $863.92 for the household
- Restaurants and cafés total: $784.81
- Groceries total: $79.11
- Most-expensive meal or purchase: Birthday dinner at Stillwell’s, $457.04
- Least-expensive meal or purchase: Jumbo red onions from Central Market, $0.50
- Number of restaurant and café meals: 6
- Number of grocery trips: 2
The diary
8:20 a.m. My husband makes coffee every day when he gets up, so I pour myself a cup on my way out the door. For Christmas he got me a fancy rechargeable Ember travel mug that keeps it very hot no matter how long it takes me to finish it. This week we’re drinking Portrait Coffee, which I take with a splash of Califia Almondmilk ($3.97). Portrait is a Black-owned brand and I’ve been a member of its subscription club, A Seat at the Table, for a few years (a 12-ounce bag every month, $20.00). I recently became a (very small) investor in its Wefunder campaign! I honestly can’t remember the last time I bought coffee from a coffee shop.
11:47 a.m. I’m not good at prepping meals specifically for lunch, but I do like taking leftovers to work. Mostly because it helps me avoid the analysis paralysis associated with deciding what to eat every day when I’m already sick of all the lunch spots in the general vicinity of my office. Today I have half a leftover sandwich I bought yesterday from the sandwich counter at Central Market ($8.99). Central Market is the upscale grocery store owned by the H-E-B grocery chain. Don’t get Texans started on H-E-B…we love it. This sandwich has chipotle aioli (on both sides), grilled chicken, pepper Jack cheese, pickles, red onion, pickled jalapeños, and arugula on ciabatta bread. Despite all these added “spicy” elements, it’s not really spicy, but it does have good flavor. And it’s held up pretty well for being 24 hours old. For a side I have Siete Sea Salt Kettle Cooked Potato Chips ($3.78 for the full bag, previously bought), my current favorite. Not only do they have great crunch and saltiness, but I’ve also convinced myself they’re good for me because the only ingredients are potatoes, avocado oil, and sea salt. I also drink a Lemon LaCroix (free from the office break room).
3:44 p.m. In an effort to ease our return to in-person work last year, my office started putting out a tub of snacks in the break room every day. I grab a bag of Cheez-Its from the tub and a Diet Coke. (Both free—to me, at least; our managing partner tells me we are racking up major snack-related expenditures as an office…)
6:33 p.m. I get home and immediately start prepping one-pot spaghetti ($2.38) with cherry tomatoes ($5.96 for two pints) and kale ($2.50), a recipe by Anna Jones from NYT Cooking. (All ingredients were purchased the prior weekend.) I typically text my husband when I’m leaving work to start dinner prep, but I knew this recipe would be so easy that I didn’t need to. Literally all you have to do: Halve some cherry tomatoes, tear up some kale, and throw them in a large skillet with olive oil, lemon zest, and water. The best part is that it all simmers together—no need to boil a separate pot of water for the pasta.
While I’m cooking, my husband makes us cocktails. We are longtime members of Al Culliton’s virtual Cocktail Club ($15 a month), and the monthly recipes are inspired by a historical theme. July’s theme is cocktails inspired by Borscht Belt resorts (think Kellerman’s from Dirty Dancing), and this week’s drink is “Midge Maisel’s Martini,” which is three parts dill-infused vodka to one part dry vermouth and a little saline. It’s reminiscent of a dirty martini but crisper and more refreshing.
8:00 p.m. After dinner we make carajillos, which are just equal parts espresso and Licor 43, shaken. (I use the recipe in Bon Appetit, if you can call something so simple a recipe.) I don’t have an espresso machine, so I use a very old bottle of Grady’s Cold Brew Concentrate ($10.98 for the large size) that I keep around specifically for espresso-based cocktails. Carajillos are great after-dinner drinks that feel like dessert.
8:16 a.m. Portrait Coffee with Califia Almondmilk again; this is going to get repetitive! Spoiler alert: I really only eat breakfast on the weekends.
12:08 p.m. I microwave the leftover one-pot spaghetti and proceed to eat a full plate of pasta at my desk. It has lost the glossy sauciness of last night, but it’s fine. I ignore a call from a government attorney and finish my lunch while scrolling Instagram.
3:33 p.m. After returning the call I previously ignored, I decide I’ve earned an afternoon snack. I grab a Diet Coke and a mini bag of Planters Salted Peanuts (free from the break room).
6:50 p.m. We’re having another easy dinner tonight—taco salad. And not even taco salad with a cool twist. Just your basic old-school taco salad. I brown ground beef and onions and then add salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and Mexican oregano and a can of pinto beans. I put a layer of Fritos in each of our bowls and top with the beef and bean mixture, iceberg lettuce, tomato, avocado, shredded Monterey Jack, salsa, and sour cream. Nothing fancy, but we both comment on how good it tastes.
8:15 p.m. After dinner my husband makes us white negronis with Nolet’s gin ($19.99 from our local dive liquor store, the best price I’ve ever seen), Noilly Prat dry vermouth ($11.49), and Luxardo Bitter Bianco ($27.99). While white negronis are often made with Suze, the Luxardo Bitter Bianco is less aggressively bitter, and you get a negroni that is truly “white” or clear in color instead of one that is actually yellow. I know the Hugo Spritz is probably the drink of this summer (at least according to TikTok), but my vote goes to the white negroni.
7:51 a.m. I have an early call and a flurry of emails needing immediate attention, so I’m working from home today. I pour myself a cup of Portrait Coffee with almond milk (in a regular non-travel mug this time) and sit down at my computer to get to it.
11:41 a.m. I get a brief reprieve and decide to make lunch. This is risky because I’m waiting to hear back from a client, but I’ve been looking forward to making a grilled cheese with some leftover store-bought pimento cheese all week. I use sourdough bread, the pimento cheese, Kewpie mayo ($4.48), and sliced tomato, and toast it while constantly refreshing my email on my phone to make sure I don’t miss anything. Between the buttery bread, gooey cheese, and slippery tomatoes, it’s a tasty mess. I add some jalapeño Tabasco ($3.56) on a couple of bites to cut the richness. Blessedly, I get to finish my sandwich before the emails start flying again.
3:30 p.m. I grab a Fresca ($7.49 for a 12 pack) from the fridge. While I am ride-or-die for Diet Coke all year round, my love of Fresca is summer-specific. The association stems from drinking Fresca by the pool at a childhood neighbor’s house. Now, I add Campari to my Fresca for an adult pool beverage (inspired by the Jamaican staple Campari & Ting, which is Campari and Jamaican grapefruit soda), but I’ll have to save that for the weekend.
6:45 p.m. My husband preheats the grill, which we try to use at least once a week in the summer. Manning a hot grill in 100+ degree Texas weather is a lot, but it opens up a whole new world of recipes, and I’m leaning into becoming a “girl who grills.” Tonight we’re having gochujang burgers with spicy slaw (recipe by Rick Martinez) and grilled corn on the cob. While the slaw marinates and the burgers and corn cook, I sip a glass of Las Jaras rosé ($28). (I went through a wine club phase a few years ago, and Las Jaras is one of the only ones that I’m still a member of.) Dare I say it’s a perfect summer evening?
8:30 p.m. I have another glass of rosé while we watch the finale of Season 2 of The Bear. I would’ve watched it all the first weekend it came out, but my husband is not a binger, so we’ve stretched the season out over six weeks. It’s worth the wait and totally sticks the landing.
8:15 a.m. Portrait Coffee and almond milk.
12:00 p.m. I’ve planned a lunch for some of the female attorneys in my office and our two female summer associates, since it’s the summer associates’ last week at the firm. We go to Zodiac, the restaurant on the sixth floor of the original Neiman Marcus in downtown Dallas. It’s a “ladies who lunch” institution, and I always went there with female partners when I was a young associate, so it’s a nice full-circle moment for me to get to be the one taking junior attorneys. Every lunch at Neiman’s starts with the legendary complimentary popovers with strawberry butter and a small cup of chicken consommé. I’ve found that sometimes an older restaurant’s signature items can be overrated, but these are just as good as I remember. The popovers are so light and airy, and the consommé is deeply flavorful. I decide one popover isn’t enough, so I get the popover French dip ($24) for my entrée with water to drink. ($24 total, reimbursed by my firm)
5:15 p.m. Somehow, I forgot to have my normal afternoon Diet Coke, so I get one from the break room now, but I skip the snack since it’s getting late. Also, the only thing left in the tub by this time of day are those crumbly Nature Valley granola bars, which aren’t enough to tempt me.
7:00 p.m. We go out to eat every Thursday, and it’s almost always Tex-Mex. There are so many good Tex-Mex restaurants in Dallas, but everyone has their own neighborhood favorites. Tonight, we go to Mi Cocina, which is a local chain known for their Mambo Taxis, or margaritas with a swirl of sangria. I get a half order of the Nachos Mi Tierra ($11.95), which are topped with beans, fajita beef, cheese, onions, and serranos, and come with a side of guacamole and poblano cream sauce. The waiters always ask if I am okay with the serranos and I feel a dumb sense of pride in confirming that, yes, I can handle the heat. ($98.17 total for two)
8:00 a.m. I’m working from home again, so I pour a mug of Portrait Coffee and almond milk and head back to my home office.
12:10 p.m. The best part of working from home is making my own lunch. I fry two slices of sourdough in olive oil, each on one side only so the other side stays soft—a tip learned from Bon Appetit! I top it with Kewpie mayo, Fishwife Rainbow Trout Jerky Gems ($12, previously bought), a hardboiled egg, arugula, and flaky salt. The smoky trout makes for a perfect tartine—hands down, this is my best lunch of the week.
7:15 p.m. Tonight, we’re celebrating my 38th birthday. My real birthday is next Tuesday, but I’ll be in Chicago for work. Also, a weekday birthday just kinda sucks as an adult. I’ve chosen Stillwell’s, the steakhouse in the swanky new Hotel Swexan (a fusion of Swiss and Texan). I have to get a martini at a steakhouse, and my preferred style is a Tito’s vodka martini, very dry, with a twist ($20).
To start, we get the roasted bone marrow ($26) and grilled oysters ($28). The bone marrow is rich and unctuous, but the oysters miss the mark. They are tiny and topped with such a large pile of dry breadcrumbs that it’s almost like eating a mouthful of sawdust. However, things improve with the wedge salad ($18), which was conveniently split for us and elevated by the thick-cut candied bacon.
Our waiter convinces us to try the Harwood premium beef from the restaurant’s Akaushi cattle, which is a wagyu breed of Japanese cattle. I choose the 12-ounce filet ($78) and it’s perfectly crusted and cooked, with a rich, beefy flavor. We also get the creamed spinach ($12), which is fine, and I go out on a limb and order the celery root pave ($14), which is thin layers of celery root and caramelized onions topped with truffles and cheese. This is probably the best possible way I can think of preparing celery root since it involves truffles and cheese, but we are still left wishing we had ordered some form of potatoes. I have another martini with dinner.
Every dessert on the menu looks good, but we take the waiter’s recommendation and order the peanut butter bar ($22), which involves various crunchy and creamy layers of peanut butter mousse and chocolate. It is delivered with a single candle affixed to the plate to mark the occasion, which I much prefer to a circle of waiters singing happy birthday. ($457.04 total for two)
9:00 p.m. Our dinner runs long and we are 15 minutes late to our reservation at Isabelle’s, the cozy hotel bar downstairs. I hate being late, but luckily, we are still able to get prime seats by the fireplace. It’s truly insane that the fireplace is on in July, but it makes for a fantastic atmosphere. I order the “Breakfast of Champions” ($20), which looks and tastes exactly like an espresso martini. Even though I’m not hungry at all, I can’t resist eating all of the potato chips out of the trio of bar snacks (which also included mixed nuts and olives) that arrive with our drinks. We call it a night after one drink because after all, I’m turning 38, and three drinks is my limit. ($52.30 for two drinks)
8:03 a.m. It’s the weekend, so I actually have time to make myself breakfast with my Portrait Coffee and almond milk. I make soft scrambled eggs in butter on toast with a side of bacon.
12:00 p.m. We want to see Oppenheimer and the only option with decent seats available is the noon showing at the Cinépolis theater in Victory Park, which is one of the theaters with recliners and a full menu. I skip popcorn in favor of eating a real meal and order an avocado caesar salad with grilled chicken ($16.50) and a bottomless Diet Coke ($8.00). ($24.50 total) The salad is decent, but it’s weird to eat something I’ve never had before in the dark because I can’t see what I’m putting in my mouth at all. I also can’t enjoy my “bottomless” Diet Coke because I know Oppenheimer is almost three hours and I don’t want to be making multiple trips to the bathroom. I only have about three sips total but make it through the movie without getting up!
6:45 p.m. We have dinner tonight at Barsotti’s, which was previously known as Carbone’s until the NYC-based Carbone opened in Dallas. After a legal battle, the restaurants reached a settlement in which Barsotti’s agreed to change its name. Barsotti’s is much more low-key than Carbone (which offers some of the best people watching in Dallas), and it’s a great place to get classic Italian. We order two negronis each ($17), fried ravioli ($18), the chopped antipasti salad ($15), linguine w/ clams ($24), and spicy broccolini ($12). No complaints here. ($175.14 for two)
8:30 p.m. During a post-dinner Target run, I impulse-buy a pint of Dr Pepper Float Blue Bell Ice Cream ($3.97). I have tried all the fancy gourmet ice creams out there, but nothing is better than Blue Bell. I don’t even care that it had a listeria outbreak a few years ago—it’s worth the risk. This special-edition flavor is a real feat of food science—the Dr Pepper swirl perfectly captures the frothy texture that results when the soda and ice cream mix.
8:10 a.m. I make a light breakfast before we head to the tennis courts. I heat two Pederson’s Natural Farms spicy sausage links ($6.99) in a skillet, slice a banana, and get a scoop of Fix & Fogg Almond Butter ($8.29). I sprinkle the whole plate with flaky salt (even the banana). I started eating this breakfast a couple years ago when I did the Whole30 program, but I like it so much that I eat it even when I’m not doing the program.
1:00 p.m. We have brunch with my parents for my second birthday celebration of the weekend at Hudson House, which serves what it calls East Coast-inspired comfort food. I order a frozen bellini ($14), a breakfast wrap with egg, kielbasa sausage, hash browns, cheese, and avocado ($13), and pancakes for the table ($16). I don’t know when ordering pancakes for the table became a thing, but what a game changer. I never want a full order for myself, but three to four bites is perfect. These are light and fluffy and lightly lemon-poppy seedy. My parents pick up the check for my birthday, which I estimate to be about $150.
2:56 p.m. We make a trip to Central Market to buy ingredients for dinner tonight, including lamb, pita, and Yukon gold potatoes, as well as some of our weekly staples like bananas, yogurt, potato chips, and sourdough bread. ($75.14 total) It’s a light trip for us because I’m going to be out of town for most of the week on a business trip, so I haven’t planned many meals.
7:05 p.m. We pull out the grill again tonight. I make lamb skewers (inspired by an Alison Roman recipe) spiced with turmeric and cumin with grilled pita, quick pickled red onions, cilantro, and a yogurt sauce. My husband is the designated saucier in our household, so while I prepare the lamb, he mixes up Greek yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, and cilantro stems. I have a glass of Las Jaras rosé while I man the grill.