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Jun 05, 2023

Food Diary: How a 26

By Bon Appétit Contributor 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

By Bon Appétit Contributor

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 26-year-old mushroom farmer brews a daily blend of her own herbal tea and works long, intense days on the farm. She lives in Lebanon, Oregon. Keep reading for her receipts.

What are your pronouns? She/her

What is your occupation? I run a very small commercial mushroom farm; a local grass seed farm wanted to expand and hired me to start it. The farm features a variety of oyster mushroom species, lion’s mane, and pioppino. I’m also in charge of our small market gardens and other miscellaneous farm tasks.

How old are you? 26

What city and state do you live in? Lebanon, Oregon

What is your annual salary, if you have one? $57,000

How much is one paycheck, after taxes? $1,700

How often are you paid? Biweekly

How much money do you have in savings? $4,000

What are your approximate fixed monthly expenses beyond food? (i.e., rent, subscriptions, bills)

Do you follow a certain diet or have dietary restrictions? I was a vegetarian for 10 years, but my body started having some health issues so I decided to see what would happen if I incorporated meat back into my diet. I mostly stick to chicken, turkey, bison, and lamb, and since adding them in, I have felt an improvement to my health. I don’t think this is true for everyone. It’s just what my body needs to feel okay enough to meet the physical demands of my job and lifestyle.

What are the grocery staples you always buy, if any? I always have chicken breast in my freezer. It’s a versatile ingredient that I can add to any dish so that it’s more filling and higher in protein. I also always have some sort of hot sauce on hand, whether it’s one I made or bought from the store.

How often in a week do you dine out versus cook at home? Most weeks, I only cook at home. I dine out for rare occasions: I live in a weird area without many great restaurants, and I don’t give myself a budget to eat out because I can’t really afford to do so. I also love to cook and have a lot of specific tastes that I find aren’t met by eating out. When I’ve lived in cities, this was not the case—I would spend way too much money eating out!

How often in a week did your parents or guardians cook at home? I think at-home meals averaged four to five days a week. It’s weird because food is such an important thing in my life, but I can’t really remember meals at home at all. I know they did cook a bit for me, but I can’t really remember what they used to cook or how often it was.

How often in a week did you dine out while growing up? We dined out a lot when I was growing up. My parents were able to cook good food, but they didn’t always have the time and it was a whole family experience to eat out. It ranged from fast food to chain restaurants to local restaurants.

Taco Bell is one of my guilty pleasures, so I always have a ton of hot sauce packets stashed away ready to use at my convenience.

7:30 a.m. Mondays are always my day off, so I sleep in until 6:45 a.m. (I normally wake up at 3:45 a.m. on work days so I have time to drink coffee, brew tea, and make breakfast.) I make my usual French press coffee with Sisters Coffee Co. I buy six-pound bags from them every few months ($103.99 per bag, previously bought).

9 a.m. I’ve been struggling to eat like I normally do because of allergy-induced acid reflux. Avocado toast seems to be a safe meal that I can still enjoy without too much irritation. It’s Seattle sourdough bread ($5.99/loaf from Grocery Outlet), avocados ($3.99/bag, Grocery Outlet), Mt Vikos feta cheese ($3.49, Grocery Outlet), chive flowers from the garden, a squeeze of lemon juice from a lemon I’ve had cut open for over a week, red pepper flakes, and oregano from the garden. Everything is previously bought. Simple and delicious.

11 a.m. I’m going to meet up with a person I recently started seeing. We’re having a walk and hike in the park so I’m not sure when I’ll eat again. I make a plain cheese quesadilla with Dubliner cheese ($4.75, bought a long time ago at Grocery Outlet). Taco Bell is one of my guilty pleasures, so I always have a ton of hot sauce packets stashed away ready to use at my convenience. Goes amazing with my quesadilla.

7 p.m. The person I’m seeing makes me dinner! I’m used to being the one who cooks for everyone, or I’m always at least involved, so this is a weird experience for me. He is vegan and makes me some vegan chipotle chicken tacos with beans and rice. Delicious, but also food is my love language and someone cooking for me just fills my heart!

I’ve been an herbalism student for a few years now (I’ll never not be learning, honestly) and making daily tea formulas helps me practice and self-experiment.

7:45 a.m. I super-slept in today! Another day off. I make my usual French press and sip slowly on the couch.

9:30 a.m. Avocado toast again. Pretty much the same as yesterday, but I pair it with some Lynden Farms hash brown patties ($6.49, bought at the beginning of May from Grocery Outlet) fried in some olive oil ($17 for the big bottle of Bertolli olive oil from Grocery Outlet). Probably not going to make my stomach feel great but worth it. They taste and look like McDonald’s hash browns but they’re less greasy, which makes them all the better. They also crisp up better in the pan and it’s my favorite.

At this time, I also start brewing my daily tea. It takes about an hour: First I boil all the root herbs and dried berries, then I add leafy herbs to steep after about half an hour. I bulk order any herbs I don’t grow from either Mountain Rose Herbs or Foster Farm, and occasionally Starwest Botanicals if MRH or FF don’t have what I need. I budget around $50 a month for herb restocks and it usually works out pretty well, along with spring bringing in lots of herb harvests from the farm. Today the blend is: marshmallow root ($13/4 oz., Foster Farm), burdock root ($28/lb., Foster Farm), elderberry ($16/4 oz., Foster Farm), ashwagandha ($12/4 oz., Foster Farm), raspberry leaf ($8/4 oz., Foster Farm), plantain leaf (harvested from the farm), lemon balm (harvested from the farm), nettle ($30/lb., Foster Farm), marshmallow leaf ($14.25/lb., Mountain Rose Herbs), meadowsweet ($33.15/lb., Starwest Botanicals), and calendula (harvested from the farm). I’ve been an herbalism student for a few years now (I’ll never not be learning, honestly) and making daily tea formulas helps me practice and self-experiment. Today’s blend should be helpful for multiple things, but mostly for the stomach and allergy relief (especially since most of my stomach issues seem to be allergy-related right now).

11 a.m. Finally get around to drinking my tea. It’s been steeping for a while so it’s very infused and medicinal tasting. It’s still super hot and of course…I burn my tongue trying to take the first sip. It’s super green tasting (kind of grassy and earthy, like a bland green juice), mostly due to the nettles. I didn’t put a lot of flavoring herbs in this one. Normally, I’d add ginger or hibiscus to add some good flavor, but I’m trying to be really selective on what herbs I’m working with right now due to my stomach.

3:30 p.m. I need a snack before therapy and before I head to an evening market in Corvallis to see a friend vending there. I eat half a Hu hazelnut butter chocolate bar ($4.99, previously bought at Safeway). These are sooo tasty and satisfy all my sweet cravings.

6 p.m. I’m at the small neighborhood market in Corvallis with lots of very small local vendors, visiting a friend who is selling some creations and dahlia tubers. I order a wood-fired pizza ($12 plus $3 tip) from a vendor called Steve’s Pizza, but have to wait an hour for it to be ready. I sit with my friend at her booth and talk to some people while waiting.

7 p.m. Pizza is finally ready! The market is over so I take the pizza to my car and eat the ENTIRE thing on my drive home (about 25 minutes). It is so delicious, with a perfectly baked crust and a great ratio of mozzarella to sauce. It’s hard to find good pizza around here, especially after living in big cities with plenty of bomb food. I’m so unbelievably full.

8 p.m. I drink a cup more of the tea I brewed this morning. I continue to let it cold-steep through the day since some of the herbs are demulcent herbs, so they extract better through cold steeps. The tea will help me digest that pizza.*

Every year, I make a green hot sauce at the end of summer with all the peppers from the farm before the first frost hits.

4 a.m. Yay, happy “Monday”! I’m pretty worn out because I didn’t fall asleep until midnight, so I feel like today’s coffee is necessary rather than just a nice part of my morning routine. I used to barista at specialty shops around the country so I used to make it fancy and weigh everything out, but now I just eyeball it. Three scoops, grind, boil water up to the line I drew on the French press, stir. Once it gets hotter in the mornings, I’ll start making big batches of cold brew but I’m trying to enjoy the last few weeks of French press.

5:35 a.m. I was too lazy to grocery shop after attending the market last night so I am pretty limited on food—need to go tonight. I start making avocado toast exactly the same as yesterday, mostly because I have nothing left. I’d normally pair it with something high in protein, like homemade turkey sausages, eggs, or Greek yogurt, and homemade granola, but I’m out of ingredients for all of those. I also am using my last slice of bread. Things are getting pretty slim around here.

Because I work 10-to-12-hour days, I have to prepare good lunches and snacks to get through the day. It’s usually physical work, such as moving around 10-pound mushroom blocks, intense cleaning, running around the farm, and working on maintaining the gardens, so I try to find ways to incorporate protein but not make meals so heavy I want to fall asleep after eating them. While making my toast, I also put on some basmati rice (I honestly have no idea where it’s from or how much it was; it’s a previously bought five-pound bag from like a year ago). I’m going to pair the rice with some ground turkey I made last week (bought in a three-pack from Costco a few months ago) and roasted sweet potatoes I made last week ($13/bag, also from Costco). I open up a can of Bush’s black beans ($5 for three cans, bought last week at Safeway) and add those too.

Every year, I make a green hot sauce at the end of summer with all the peppers from the farm before the first frost hits. It’s kind of my way to save all the peppers without doing much preserving. I’m opening up my last jar from last summer for this meal, knowing I’m probably going to blow through it pretty quickly. I can’t entirely remember all the crazy pepper varieties I added to this sauce, but definitely lots of green habaneros, jalapeños, poblanos, and Anaheims. It’s spicy and amazing. I LOVE green hot sauce. I finish off my lunch prep with some feta. It’s a pretty typical lunch for me.

6:15 a.m. I strain out the remaining tea still steeping from yesterday. It’s become thick and slimy from steeping so long, and it’s exactly what my stomach NEEDS. I pour it into a quart-size mason jar and will sip on it throughout the day, along with water. It’ll help me stay hydrated.

10:30 a.m. I sit down to eat some mixed nuts and seeds (sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans, and salted pepitas) that I bought in bulk from the co-op a few weeks ago ($58 total, First Alternative Co-op).

12 p.m. Finally time for a lunch break. The day has already been filled with crazy “Monday” things: catching up with events during my days off, cleaning things up, harvesting, and inoculating mushroom blocks. There is a microwave for staff use, but it’s across the farm, so I just decide to eat my lunch cold, definitely subpar. It is filling me up, however, so at least I won’t be hungry later.

5 p.m. I finally get home and start to prepare dinner since the person I’m dating is coming over. I do not, under any circumstances, want to go to the store, so I’m having to think really hard to come up with something to make. If he wasn’t coming over, I honestly would have just cooked a frozen bison burger I made (ground bison, on sale for $6.99/lb. from Fred Meyer, previously bought).

I finally settle on making teriyaki tofu (one of my favorites always) and a salad with a bunch of things I harvested from the farm today. I make a teriyaki sauce of half mirin and half tamari, sweetened with brown sugar and spiced with red pepper flakes and thickened with cornstarch (all of which I’ve had in my cupboard for at least a year). I simmer it for a while to get the sauce nice and thick. I cook jasmine rice (again, have had for ages stored in a big jar) and cube the tofu ($4.99, previously bought at the local co-op).

As for the salad, I add in frisée, red lettuce, spinach, beet greens, some lovely beets I finally got to harvest today, and some chive flowers. I made a vinaigrette a week or two ago with an apple cider vinegar base that I infused with a whole bunch of weeds from the farm: dandelions, wild violets, plantain, and purple deadnettles. These were some of the first harvestable things once the worst of winter weather let up. The vinaigrette is a bit floral and bright and all-around super yummy. I coat the tofu in cornstarch and fry in olive oil until it gets a bit crispy. Then I coat it in my now-thickened teriyaki sauce and top it with green onions from the farm, and voilà!

All around, this meal turns out lovely. I haven’t made it in some time and I always forget how yummy it is. Plus, it’s always great figuring out something to make that you don’t need to stop at the store for.

Mushroom farming is hard and extremely sensitive—contaminants can take out whole yields if you aren’t on top of proper cleaning management.

4:30 a.m. I slept in today—there was no way I was getting out of bed at 3:45 a.m. Coffee is a welcome friend right now. Brewed same ol’ same ol’, classic and delicious.

5:30 a.m. Because I had a date night instead of grocery shopping, I have pretty slim pickings for breakfast. I have two butt ends of bread and one very sad avocado to make avocado toast with. I top with a bunch of green onions that end up making the toast taste a little smoky.

I brew my daily tea as well. For tension and stress relief, it’s a blend of: Damiana ($15.40/4 oz., Starwest Botanicals), mugwort (harvested from the farm), passionflower ($13.78/4 oz., Starwest Botanicals), Skullcap ($16/4 oz,, Foster Farms), hibiscus ($5.25/4oz, Mountain Rose Herbs), and rose (harvested from the farm). I’ll need some extra stress relief to get through work today because things are a little bit chaotic at the farm. Slowly sipping on this through the day should help. Mushroom farming is hard and extremely sensitive—contaminants can take out whole yields if you aren’t on top of proper cleaning management.

10:15 a.m. I was very right about needing extra stress relief today, work is causing some anxiety spirals! We’ve been struggling with some contamination that went undetected. I sit down to eat a Kirkland Signature brand nut bar that’s basically just an off-brand Kind bar. My work provides some basic snacks for employees so it’s nice to have something to snack on if I forget to pack some.

11 a.m. On Thursday afternoons, we go into town for the farmers market, and the market is only a few blocks from my apartment, so I get to take lunch breaks at home. I eat my tofu teriyaki leftovers cold because I don’t have a microwave and don’t feel like turning on the oven. It’s as good as it was last night, but I definitely eat too much because now I really just want to lie down.

7 p.m. It’s payday today, so I finally can stock up on groceries. I try to do one Costco trip a month and one bigger grocery trip at another store so I don’t have to go frequently. I seem to stick to my budget better that way. At Costco, I stock up on chicken breast ($25.02 for a six-pack), ground turkey ($24.99 for 4 lb.), eggs ($6.99/24), Liquid I.V. ($28.99), and more ($121.57 total). I’m super, super hungry after the long day, but I manage to resist a hot dog on the way out…I still have to stop at Fred Meyer and resist impulse buys there too. I’m feeling like tacos or something are in my near future—at Fred Meyer, I stock up on some limes ($5.49/2lbs) and cans of chipotle pepper in adobo sauce ($1.49/each), plus carrots ($0.79) and other groceries. ($36.59 total)

8:30 p.m. I’m finally home and ready to eat something. I’m so hungry and exhausted and really just want to be lying down so I decide to make something quick and easy. I bought Einstein Bros. bagels at Costco for $5.99 a dozen, so maybe I’ll just have one of those. I need to mention that I was once a bagel baker in Philly and buying crappy store-bought bagels hurts my soul, but I’m lazy and busy. I toast my bagel and top it with my last tiny Grocery Outlet avocado, along with some whipped cream cheese from a tub I’ve had in my fridge for an unknown amount of time. (It’s not expired and not moldy and smells fine so I guess it’s fine, right?) It’s definitely not my greatest meal but it will hold me over until the morning. My food should be a bit more exciting now that I’m stocked up on the essentials.

I scramble two eggs and pair with two of my last Lynden Farms hash browns and Taco Bell hot sauce packets. Chaotic? Maybe, but I feel like I’m eating a good diner breakfast.

4:15 a.m. Coffee! I actually went to bed at a decent time last night so I’m not feeling as dead today. I can actually enjoy my coffee rather than chugging it as an essential life force.

4:30 a.m. I brew some tea for the day. Not entirely sure what I want today, so I kind of just intuitively pick up as I go. I end up with a blend of elderberry, rose, damiana, plantain, hibiscus, meadowsweet, and raspberry leaf. I bring the water to a light simmer and remove from heat to steep through the morning while I laze around, drink coffee, and cook breakfast. This is one of my favorite tea blends to make: The hibiscus gives it that sweet but sour flavor, paired with the astringent softness of rose and raspberry leaf.

5:30 a.m. I’ve been eating eggs rarely the last few months; sometimes they start to gross me out randomly. But I want them again. We only have five adult chickens at the farm, although three dozen youth chickens are going to be laying soon. For now, I’ve got to buy eggs. I scramble two eggs (the ones I got from Costco last night) and pair with two of my last Lynden Farms hash browns and Taco Bell hot sauce packets. Chaotic? Maybe, but I feel like I’m eating a good diner breakfast.

6:15 a.m. I’ve been a little tired of fancy lunches and want something classic. I make a bagel turkey sandwich with some turkey I bought last week from Safeway ($11.25/.75 lb.) and some beet greens and beets from the farm.

12:30 p.m. I eat my turkey sandwich, and, honestly, it’s not great, but it’s something to keep me going.

7:30 p.m. Finally home! I sear some chicken breast I picked up last night at Costco with oregano, rosemary, and thyme harvested from the farm and throw together a little salad with other farm greens. I finish off the vinaigrette from Wednesday and throw some beet slices and green onions on it for an extra why not. Food can be a bit difficult to think about after a 12-hour workday, but this is easy and healthy so I can’t complain.

I pull out one of the cold chicken breasts I made last night and just eat it whole, with my hands.

4:15 a.m. I actually feel refreshed from sleep. I accidentally fell asleep in my car at the laundromat around 9 p.m. last night. I got back around 10 p.m. and immediately crashed. Coffee is a welcome friend today! Prepared as usual. I’m getting a little low on my supply; I’m probably going to need to order in the next two weeks.

5:15 a.m. I cut one of the Costco bagels and put it in the oven. Just going plain today, since the eggs I ate yesterday kind of hurt my stomach. I’ve worked at bakeries, coffee shops, and brunch restaurants for years and breakfast has always been my favorite meal of the day. Lately, my body has decided it hates it, and it’s been a weird transition into becoming a non-breakfast person. Breakfast has become a forced meal, usually something small that I can eat without much thought.

I walk away from the oven for 10 minutes and come back to realize I never turned the oven on. Oops. I turn it on.

5:30 a.m. I warm up the tea from yesterday that has just been steeping in the pot. It’ll be very infused now. I’ll probably dilute it with extra water to get a full quart of it so I can drink it throughout the work day.

1:30 p.m. I definitely forgot to pack myself something for lunch. I open up a packet of Kirkland Signature brand salted almonds from a snack variety pack that work provides. They will get me through the next hour until I can eat something bigger.

2:45 p.m. I get home and am in a hurry. The person I’m dating and I are taking a little road trip to Grants Pass, Oregon, to see one of my favorite artists live and then camp in my car, but I still need to get all my stuff together and go pick him up. It’s almost a three-hour drive and the show starts at 8-ish p.m. I pull out one of the cold chicken breasts I made last night and just eat it whole, with my hands. A little chaotic, yes, but it tastes good and it’s easy to eat while I’m gathering everything. Once I finish my chicken, I pull out a Costco-size bag of Late July tortilla chips ($8.79) and munch on them while I continue to pack. These chips are my absolute favorite; they’re seedy, salty, and crunchy.

I decide to only pack a small bag of chips for snacks so we’d find food for dinner and breakfast once we’re in the area.

9 p.m. Well, pretty much nothing has gone according to plan. My car started overheating about halfway through the drive and we sat stuck at a truck stop in Drain, Oregon. Some amazing human helped us out (or tried to, anyway) and inspected for issues. We fill up the coolant and top off the oil and decide to head home and see how far we can make it. As we’re driving now, we can’t stop for dinner, but we eat snacks he packed for our journey: trail mix and pretzels, plus my Late July chips. It’s definitely not a fulfilling dinner, but honestly I’m a little too stressed to eat a real meal.

He makes me some peanut sauce noodles with vegan chicken, topped with some green onions I had brought him from the farm.

8 a.m. My car didn’t end up making it all the way back to Corvallis, and we ended up camping stealth mode overnight somewhere to allow the car to cool down. I’m pretty sure it has a major issue, so I’m feeling a bit stressed, but it’s Sunday and there’s not a whole lot I can do about it now anyway.

I decide to lean into having a day off that I don’t normally have off. We’re going to try to drive my car near his apartment so we can grab breakfast at a small Corvallis café called Interzone. They have nice coffee and a vegetarian/vegan breakfast, and after not eating dinner last night, I’m starving.

8:30 a.m. My car started smoking on the drive over there, so it’s parked and ready to be towed another day. At Interzone, we each order iced Americanos and breakfast burritos, his vegan and mine not. He pays, and it’s around $30 for everything.

9:15 a.m. Coffee is hitting differently today! First of all, I haven’t had espresso in ages. Even after being a barista for years, espresso affects me pretty strongly. It’s much-needed after the exhaustion of yesterday. The breakfast burrito comes out and it’s loaded with tofu and beans and potatoes and salsa and avocado and sour cream. Mmmm. I’m so hungry I could eat anything right now, but this specifically is hitting the sweet spot.

4:30 p.m. I’m still hanging out with the person I’m dating, and he makes me some peanut sauce noodles with vegan chicken, topped with some green onions I had brought him from the farm. Again, food is my love language and I’m not used to someone else cooking and providing food for me, so this is overwhelmingly sweet. It’s simple and tasty and exactly what I love.

9:30 p.m. He drives me home (I live about 25 minutes away), and I’m kinda hungry again. I make myself an Einstein Bros. cheesy bagel with cream cheese to hold me over until the morning. The bagel is amazing because of all the melted cheesy goodness and reminds me of being a kid eating the exact same thing. Grocery store bagels used to be my favorite thing when I was growing up.