Speaking About Eating...Anybody Use Long Shelf-life Meals?

Guardrail's thread about veganism got me to thinking. I'm not a vegan but I avoid meat when away from home ffor other reasons. Not wanting to hijack the other thread, I thought I'd start a new one to ask this question...

I enjoy heat-and-eat Indian entrees by a company called Tasy Bites; some are vegan but some have dairy content. At home I microwave them, but one could just as easily heat the pouch in one of those 'lunch bucket' heaters that a lot of posters here say they use in their trucks. They are inexpensive and nutritious. But they are primarily Indian (the country) cuisine so limited taste-wise.

There are several companies which make long shelf life foods for heat-and-eat, which are intended for backpackers or survivalists, or just for having an emergency food supply on hand for weather emergencies or natural disasters. There is some availability or vegetarian/dairy, vegan, and even kosher entrees. My question is...has anybody tried using these in their trucks and, if so, what was your experience?

Thanks in advance for the feedback. Safe travels and Happy Holidays...

Don

Does this count?

Besides that the only non perishable food stuff I eat are soups... not ramen that stuff is nasty but the higher quality dried soups...

I have had those military meals before... they're not half bad... maybe if I had to live off them I would grow to hate em, but that's true for anything... hence why i hate ramen so much. had to live off that and dried beans for about 2 months... not much else to eat because my fam was so dirty poor and all the food banks in the area gave you stuff that needed other stuff... like boxes of mac n cheese... umm hey i need milk and butter too guys -.-

That's what I did when I was over the road I bought a lunch box cooker and the disposable pan and just dumped the contents of my meal in there and heated it up. I started off just eating out but it's so expensive that way.

Personally, I hate boxed food that has to be heated. In my honest opinion, its the worst thing to eat and will cause wieght gain down the line.

now, if you really wanna get down with food in the truck, and If you really wanna do it cost effective and also have nutritious food, I would recommend getting a nice cooler that works well. An Iceless cooler would be cost effect, though take care, some of them are made cheap and will die quickly... If you have room a mini fridge works great.. I know drivers who keep theres on the top bung strapped down with a couple straps.. Takes no power really, like 300-500 watts to run. Also get a electric skillet, you can do eggs, bacon, steak, whatever in it.. Stock up on essential items (such as, canned beans, soup etc..) for emergancy's.. like a truck break down, or blizzard, traffic jam.

Heres what I had in my truck when I rolled;

*ARB 34qt Cooler/Freezer - Pricy, 700$ on Amazon, worth it. Plugs in to a 12v or 120V *George Forman Grill - 20 or 30 bucks at walmart, worth it IMO *Crock-Pot for stews (you can get the pre-packaged tyson stews that work well. Its got the vegies, meat, broth. Toss it on 8 or 10hr cook while you drive (Strap it down so it don't topple over) *5gal jug of water with a spigot - Got from walmart, easy to refil there too as its 34c a gal. Cheaper then buying bottles *Paper plates and ceramic plates *Cups, spoons, fork, knife, cutting board *paper towels etc etc

I would make myself sausage, egg cheese sandwhichs for B-Fast, depending on my mood, i'd either have a salad and some fruit for lunch and then a burger w/ salad or chicken and salad for dinner..

this is all my personal opinion though, take what you want from it.

David

That's what I did when I was over the road I bought a lunch box cooker and the disposable pan and just dumped the contents of my meal in there and heated it up. I started off just eating out but it's so expensive that way.

As much as I enjoy eating out (who doesn't enjoy it when you rule out the negatives... you don't have to cook and it tastes good and no dishes to wash) I plan to have probably at least 90% of my meals home cook style. Going to buy a small crockpot (I have a large one but it's capacity is for a family or party... any small batches would sizzle and evaporate more than cook), a george forman (simple and quick way to grill something) and a skillet (pretty much does everything else the previous 2 items can't). I also would like to invest in a table top bbq grill but not sure that would work out. open flame near a truck has got to be a no no i'm sure and probably everywhere around a truck stop too... just not enough places I can see myself being able to safely use it.

So with the 3 devices I mentioned I can have a pretty good variety of home cooking style meals... and it'll cost way way less than eating out. I easily spend $8 when I eat fast food, sometimes more, do that 2-3 times a day, 7 days a week... there goes at least $150 of every paycheck each week when I could spend half that and cook my own food, possibly less. walmarts are about as common as mcd's so it shouldn't be an issue to find one and restock when needed.

I might eat out 1-2 meals a week just as a nice treat but it would probably be sit down restaurant not fast food.

beverages are a different story... I like my sweet tea and it's kind of hard to store a pitcher of sweet tea in a mini fridge let alone prevent it from spilling. So I'll probably either buy cases of my favorite kind of pre made stuff (pure leaf sweet tea) or buy large cups worth at fast food joints... that's my exception but that's like $3-4 a day. while driving a large beverage will last me several hours and most mcd's sell a large drink for a little over $1... not a huge expense.

That's what I did when I was over the road I bought a lunch box cooker and the disposable pan and just dumped the contents of my meal in there and heated it up. I started off just eating out but it's so expensive that way.

As much as I enjoy eating out (who doesn't enjoy it when you rule out the negatives... you don't have to cook and it tastes good and no dishes to wash) I plan to have probably at least 90% of my meals home cook style. Going to buy a small crockpot (I have a large one but it's capacity is for a family or party... any small batches would sizzle and evaporate more than cook), a george forman (simple and quick way to grill something) and a skillet (pretty much does everything else the previous 2 items can't). I also would like to invest in a table top bbq grill but not sure that would work out. open flame near a truck has got to be a no no i'm sure and probably everywhere around a truck stop too... just not enough places I can see myself being able to safely use it.

So with the 3 devices I mentioned I can have a pretty good variety of home cooking style meals... and it'll cost way way less than eating out. I easily spend $8 when I eat fast food, sometimes more, do that 2-3 times a day, 7 days a week... there goes at least $150 of every paycheck each week when I could spend half that and cook my own food, possibly less. walmarts are about as common as mcd's so it shouldn't be an issue to find one and restock when needed.

I might eat out 1-2 meals a week just as a nice treat but it would probably be sit down restaurant not fast food.

beverages are a different story... I like my sweet tea and it's kind of hard to store a pitcher of sweet tea in a mini fridge let alone prevent it from spilling. So I'll probably either buy cases of my favorite kind of pre made stuff (pure leaf sweet tea) or buy large cups worth at fast food joints... that's my exception but that's like $3-4 a day. while driving a large beverage will last me several hours and most mcd's sell a large drink for a little over $1... not a huge expense.

Actually, during the summer time, you'll see drivers with BBQ in front of their trucks. Some even offer it up if you got a slab of meat.

Rather then doing a pitcher of tea, you could get one of those Pure leaf jugs of tea and after finishing it off, make your own and pour it in. Keep it from spilling. I use to make my own sun brewed tea while driving.. Worked great when I had to sleep during the day and drove at night.. Tea sat in my truck window for 8hrs brewing. Worked for me.

And yeah, you can rack up around 300 eating out every week.. I mean really if you think about it, avg plate is $10 + 2.50 for drink = 12.5 x 3 meals a day = 37.50 + tip/tax = 40/day x 7 =$280/week x 4 weeks = 1120/month just in eating... Could easily cut that down to 300 buying your own food and cooking it. =)

Giving your self a meal 1 once a week isn't too bad. Every pay day I would do a sit down meal in a restaurant. Socialize with fellow drivers, catch the news.

I have had decent success heating canned salt (I mean canned meals) using the bunk heater! Support the can right at the heater outlet with a box or another can. Turn the heat up to some ridiculous number, and let 'er rip. About ten minutes. Shake the can occasionally if there's liquid inside. It will get almost too hot to touch. Reset the heater if you are done with your 10 minute sauna, et bon appétit!

In my previous career I would often have access to electricity and sometimes even a fridge/freezer, but running water was usually in the form of a garden hose, sometimes hundreds of feet distant. 3 of my favorite that I think will translate well to OTR are frozen rice, cold brewed tea, and the Rocket Grill. The rice needs electricity, a fridge, and a freezer; the tea needs a fridge, and the Rocket Grill needs electricity.

I get the largest rice cooker I have room for and cook up a big batch of rice. The larger the cooker the more meals between clean up. Single servings of the cooked rice is scooped into microwaveable zip loc bags and put in the fridge for 24 hours. This is the secret to freezing rice, chill it first. Then the bags are put in the freezer until mealtime. Take one out, microwave it, pour it in a paper bowl and add in canned meat, frozen mixed veggies, salads from the deli counter, or whatever you like. Zero clean up for each meal.

For Cold brewed tea I like the Arizona brand gallon tea jugs. One I drink the tea that came in it I fill it with water and add 6-8 tea bags, depending on the tea. Put that in the fridge for 6 hours then remove tea bags. Adjust # of bags and time to suit your own taste. The best advantages of cold brewed over sun tea is ease in brewing and that brewing in a fridge is not a prime breeding ground for bacteria, unlike a heated sealed jar for example. I usually just rinse out the jug and use it several times before giving it a good wash. Depending on the size of the fridge I will have multiple jugs available so I never run out.

The Rocket Grill is my favorite kitchen appliance, more so when I'm on the road. Sunbeam makes them and they originally retailed around $150. I've found them in several discount places around $50. Bought my first one at Big Lots. Basically it's a meat toaster, a George Foreman grill standing on end. The fresh or frozen meat (steak, burger, chicken breast, fish fillet, etc) is put in a parchment pouch and placed in the Grill. Set the timer, it cooks, then goes into warming mode. Unlike the GF grill that just keeps cooking. Probably not a big issue in a truck, but for the record you can cook a burger in a Rocket Grill for an hour and it's still edible. Not great, but still a viable food pellet. Remove the parchment pouch, which now has all those juices that pour out of a GF grill, and throw it way. Again, zero clean up. Occasionally I pour the juice over the recently frozen rice.

I enjoy heat-and-eat Indian entrees by a company called Tasy Bites; some are vegan but some have dairy content.

I *love* the Madras Lentils. I heat brown rice at the same time and mix them together for an extremely satisfying meal. I used to use flour tortillas in place of a spoon when I had an especially physical job, and that worked well, but I no longer have a good relationship with wheat flour. Only gripe is that there is a high salt content. You're better off making your own, but then you lose all the benefits of it being in a safe portable pouch.

I have had decent success heating canned salt (I mean canned meals) using the bunk heater! Support the can right at the heater outlet with a box or another can. Turn the heat up to some ridiculous number, and let 'er rip. About ten minutes. Shake the can occasionally if there's liquid inside. It will get almost too hot to touch. Reset the heater if you are done with your 10 minute sauna, et bon appétit!

This is what your post makes me think of...