cooking in the truck

No cooking this week it's been drive sleep repeat.

 

I read you guys talking about storing food in the fridge.... in the truck? Well, those who don't have a fridge, no power inverter because of company rules, and buy bags of ice almost everyday like I do, can't store much. So, I cook just enough for 2 meals so food will not spoil and will always taste fresh.
I cook very light, don't fry anything, very little oil and eat vegetarian. Not much cleaning afterwards. And I can reuse my plastic containers. Just wipe them clean and they are ready again.

 

#### company policy. I put in inverter anyway. I mean what they don't know won't hurt them but even when the mechanics see it they don't say anything. Most won't unless its some uptight A-hole shop foreman. I'm not going to put myself in a ###### situation living out of an ice chest for any company and leave my options open. Crock pot with a strapped on lid does wonders while driving. We already get treated like ####, I'm not going to live like it too. Gotta stand up and draw the line somewhere.

 

For drivers w/o inverters (myself included) I highly recommend the Koolatron KCR40 fridge. It can run off the 12v plug, and works very well in all but the most extreme heat. I've had it since last December, and have kept food in it for a couple weeks, once it's been cooked. I don't keep raw meat for more than a couple days, but that's common sense even with a "real" fridge. It also saves power since it only runs when it needs to. It is pricier than the average 12v coolers, but well worth the money, and it has lasted longer for me than any of the cheaper coolers ever did.

 

In over 3 yrs I had about 3 or 4 coolers. Koolatron seemed to be the best (more expensive though).... it lasted the longest (over one yr) but none of them ever kept food as cold as with ice bags. I spend $2.00 almost everyday with bags of ice but it keeps everything really cold. And at the end of a driving day I love to drink carbonated water with lemon juice, mint extract and some ice cubes.... hmmmmmm......

 

I agree with you... But this is my situation: I have driven about 11 trucks so far in this same company. Some of those trucks had wiring for power inverters.... I have 2 power inverters (1500 watts and 1000 watts) but had sooo much headache with them.... one time had electrical problem maybe caused by using too many things in the truck at once (had electrical pot, laptop, fridge...) and had to take truck to Freightliner... and had to hide power inverter.... Then, my last power inverter went bad.... So, I got tired of it. So no more power inverters in these trucks. The company will install driver's power inverter (no more than 1000 watts) and they will charge $100.00. I never paid for any installation though.... Always made sure the trucks I chose already had the wiring.

 

seafood chowder the easy way. this will be a meal for two, or just one with leftovers.
1 lg can clam chowder, brand of your choice.
1/2 soup can of milk
1 can shrimp, whole or bits wither way will work.
1 can of crab meat, or immitation crab chunks, again your choice.
handful of bacon bits.
open can of soup and pour into crockpot, add millk, shrimp, crab, bacon bits. cover and run down the road til you can smell it. by then it should be hot and hd time for all the flavors to blend together. serve with crackers of your choice, enjoy.

 

The downside to the coleman coolers they dont last very long probably a year was the longest for me. But they r great when they r working...canned soup like the progresso's with the pull tab top are great in the winter you can put them on the dash and heat them with the defroster this works really well on those hormel meals you can buy that need no refrigeration..Ive been eatinghealthier the last few months. I get the tuna and salmon in the single serving bags just tear open add some franks and mmm good..

 

Works best only with large car automatics ... not 18 d o's .... of course, you could park and use 'em.

SL

 

you can get a crockpot at most truckstops that plug into the cigarette lighter. usually runs in the $30 range. soups, stews, chili, pot roast, cake, corned beef and cabbage, bbq beef/pork, ranch chicken. the creativity is limited only by the imagination.