12 Volt Cooking in Truck

It's getting late, but I'll try to detail my meal.
My meal is a chicken breast, carrots and Rice-a-Roni - using 2 lunchbox ovens.

I first start by getting a foil loaf pan, found at truck stops or Walmart.
I put in some butter - 3 1/4 to 1/2 inch pats, depending on how the butter is packaged (some are thin and long, some short and fat) - with the Rice-a-Roni.
I also put in a little wild rice because it tastes better.
After 1/2 hour or so I will stir it up. It needs to be browned well.
Another 15 minutes and it will be ready for the water.

A few minutes before I add the water to the rice I will start the carrots.
A layer of carrots with about a quarter inch of water in the other oven, also in a liner.

When the rice is browned well I add the seasoning and some Italian herbs and stir it up, then add the water.
It is then covered with tin foil.

I then prepare my chicken breast.
The breast is washed and trimmed of fat, and that annoying tendon thing in the middle is removed.
It is placed on a sheet of tin foil, then a little soy sauce and Italian herbs are applied. And it is then wrapped up in the tin foil. A couple layers of paper towels go under it, as it tend to leak a bit.

The chicken needs about 25 minutes to cook well, so I place the chicken (with the paper towel lining) atop the rice about 30 minutes after I put the water in the rice.

From there it is just test the carrots for your tenderness preference, and make sure the chicken is hot to the touch.


Carrots take longer to cook than many others.
I can cook asparagus or broccoli using the one oven for everything, adding it in a foil pouch at the same time I add the water to the rice. Well, asparagus would go in after about 20 minutes.

The liner for the veggies is simply wiped with a paper towel and is ready for the next time.
The liner with the rice is thrown away.

 

Rather than using the alum pans, i bought a roll of Heavy Duty Alcoa Foil. It is thicker and i made my own "pans" out of it. Seems like the cost was cheaper per use.

 

Hmmmm. I'll try that. I'm a penny scrounger.

 

I use an electric single burner bought from Walmart for $10. With that I boil pasta, heat up soup, cook instant rice, pan-fried shrimp, tacos, mac & cheese, etc. For breakfast I can boil oatmeal and farina. I just keep a small steel pot and a non-stick pan.

There isn't much I can't cook using the single burner and I manage to eat pretty well OTR. It sure beats having to use the truck stop micros as well.

 

When I was OTR I made about anything you can imagine in a lunchbox stove. Just experiment and you'll get the hang of it. You can eat much healthier this way.
Also I bought pans at Walmart, DollarTree, Family Dollar, and Kroger. Do not pay truck stop prices.

 

You can get 3 aluminum pans for .88 cents...at Walmart.

 

That is, when that Walmart carries them, and they are in stock.

Many stores don't carry the 3 or 5 pack. That is why I check at every Walmart I go to and keep a good supply in the truck.
The same tins cost 3 times as much at a truck stop.

 

Can you use a durable metal baking pan instead of the foil pans?

 

I had to bend up the ears...at each end of the metal pan...so it would work