Do Sleepers Have Microwave Ovens In Them?

The microwave oven, I think, can be a boon to a new-age health-conscious trucker who wants a low-fat hot meal that's both convenient and fast. No fuss. Driving all day long is hard enough. Trying to cook from scratch in a tiny little cab sounds like no fun to me. I like to cook but in the comfort and roominess of my home kitchen and the barbecue on my back patio. I want to spend my precious little downtime showering, shaving, going to the barber, combing my hair, brushing my teeth, doing my laundry, working out, taking care of personal finances on the laptop and most importantly, getting plenty of sleep.

Back to microwave meals: There are a whole bunch of Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers frozen products on the market. Have a Lean Cuisine breakfast sandwich, or two, instead of eggs, bacon and hash browns drowned in grease. Truck stops often push horrible food choices on drivers. The sodas, doughnuts, candy bars and greasy hamburgers and fries are not my bag any more. I rarely touch coffee and prefer decaff iced tea. I cannot tolerate caffeine. If I make a hamburger at home, it is 7% lean ground beef over the propane grille.

I suppose most truck stops will also let you use there microwaves and tables to sit down to your own microwave meals inside.

Another item than can be a health boon in the cab is a refrigerator or electric cooler. Healthy stuff like lean roast beef and low fat swiss cheese can be packed in that for sandwiches as well as non-fat yogurt, low fat cottage cheese, lowfat buttermilk, fresh fruit and skim milk.

Another important health thing for me would be a gym in a truck stop with a bench press, an exercise cycle and a sit-up board to do crunches. A healthy trucker needs to stay in shape and eat right like mother would approve. 70% of American truck drivers are shamefully obese. Some develop serious medical conditions that put them out of work.

Personally, I think there should be a federal law that mandates that all truck stop restaurants must provide a certain level of healthful prepared meal options on their menus that are low/no fat and low/no sugar and low/no sodium.

Most companies do not provide a refrigerator and microwave. There may be a few who do, I'm just not aware of them. Almost all of them will allow you to put in your own equipment to satisfy your needs on the road. My refrigerator just recently quit on me. I miss it terribly, but since I was going home for a month for surgery I didn't bother replacing it. I'm getting back on the road in a few days, so I've got a new one being shipped to the house.

Most companies do not provide a refrigerator and microwave. There may be a few who do, I'm just not aware of them. Almost all of them will allow you to put in your own equipment to satisfy your needs on the road. My refrigerator just recently quit on me. I miss it terribly, but since I was going home for a month for surgery I didn't bother replacing it. I'm getting back on the road in a few days, so I've got a new one being shipped to the house.

I am going to do some experimenting with truck stops on my own. I am going to look up the places with the best reviews on the web and drive out there in my car to check them out. I'm also going to be looking at the menus for healthy low/no-fat low/no sugar meal choices especially for breakfast and dinner. As a driver I would probably have stuff in the cab to make healthy sandwiches for lunch. I just read reviews on these Lean Cuisine breakfast sandwiches and people largely said they tasted gross. I'm not talking about fast food joints at stops, but restaurants with tables and waitresses that serve you at tables or booths, no counters for me.

I have a hunch that a Denver omelet might be OK, lower-fat-wise if I were to tell the waitress to hold the cheese, toast and the hash browns. I don't think they use much fat to fry omelettes unlike eggs over easy. Ham is a leaner pork option over bacon and sausage.

Just a heads-up Todd...the majority of chain TS(Loves, Pilot, Petro, TA, etc) do not have full service/table service type restaurants. Many are fast food like Subway, McDonalds, and Popeyes Chicken.

Walmart’s are an OTR driver’s best friend; easy to stock up on weekly food supplies and not break the bank on your spend.

Just a heads-up Todd...the majority of chain TS(Loves, Pilot, Petro, TA, etc) do not have full service/table service type restaurants. Many are fast food like Subway, McDonalds, and Popeyes Chicken.

Walmart’s are an OTR driver’s best friend; easy to stock up on weekly food supplies and not break the bank on your spend.

G-Town:

Looking at the TA website alone, it claims to have 240 FULL-SERVICE restaurants coast to coast with names like Iron Skillet, Black Bear Diner and Country Pride. I'm sure there is always a Denny's along most truck routes as well as countless mom-and-pop roadside cafes and diners with adequate big-rig parking provisions. Denny's these days has health-and-fitness menu items even.

Still, a Subway sandwich is a much healthier choice than a greasy hamburger at a fast-food joint. I would have my cab cooler packed with healthy sandwich-making materials at all times. Deli roast beef and ham is one of the leanest animal protein things as well as deli turkey. Reduced-fat swiss cheese is for fat-conscious people. Where I fudge on my diet is that I still have to use real mayonnaise on my sandwiches and creamy horseradish and mustard on roast beef. That low-cal stuff called "lite mayo" is GROSS! If I were having a baked potato at a restaurant, I would pack in my own non-fat plain yogurt to use instead of sour cream and butter. I'm sure restaurants don't mind if you carry in your own condiments. I sub non-fat plain yogurt for sour cream at home all the time.

Flying J usually has Dennys, Petro has Iron Skillet and TA has Country Pride.

People who want to eat healthy will find a way. As for the frozen weight watchers and lean cuisine...they are so high in sodium that even weight watchers counselors do not recommend more tha one per week.

many health conscious people will argue a microwave due to radiation and cancer comnections.

I have a microwave, George Forman grill, and Walmart mini fridge as well as a 12 volt cooler. Right now the fridge and George Forman are at home to make room for students. You won't find the kind of food you want at a truck stop. Many Flying Js have Denny's, most TAs have a Country Pride, and many Petros have Iron Skillets. These are sit down restaurants with high carb offerings. If you order an omlet make sure you order a cracked egg omlet or you will have pancake batter in your eggs to make them fluffy and pretty. You could have all sorts of cookery on your truck. Some people do some, almost, gourmet cooking. I have made steak, pork chops, bacon and fried eggs with cheese.

Meant only as a heads-up Todd, not a hard fast rule. Do whatcha gotta do...

I have a microwave, George Forman grill, and Walmart mini fridge as well as a 12 volt cooler. Right now the fridge and George Forman are at home to make room for students. You won't find the kind of food you want at a truck stop. Many Flying Js have Denny's, most TAs have a Country Pride, and many Petros have Iron Skillets. These are sit down restaurants with high carb offerings. If you order an omlet make sure you order a cracked egg omlet or you will have pancake batter in your eggs to make them fluffy and pretty. You could have all sorts of cookery on your truck. Some people do some, almost, gourmet cooking. I have made steak, pork chops, bacon and fried eggs with cheese.

Big Scott, as driver on the road I don't want to be cooking during my personal time on the road. I want to reserve that time for physical exercise. My idea is to find the healthiest things that can be tossed in the microwave, stowed in a cab cooler or slapped on bread to make cold sandwiches and the best hot prepared meal choices where a truck can actually park for a meal. Wal-Mart has most everything I need for grocery supplies: yes. I'm not trying to avoid the complex carbs like fibers and starches but rather added sugars and added fats like butter, grease, lard and oil. Iron Skillet marks the following dinners on their web-based menu with a "heart" logo for stay-fit choices: these have lower fat calories than other things:

1. grilled chicken dinner 2. pot roast dinner 3. petite sirloin steak dinner

These websites also have nutrition information for various menu items: a 5-oz. portion of fried breakfast ham, for example, has 90 fat calories.

Even at TS restaurants, some menu selections make much better health sense than others.

Things to avoid at restaurants for me are: hamburgers, cheese, fried chicken, fries, bacon, sausages, spaghetti with meatballs, biscuits and gravy, donuts, milkshakes, butter, sour cream, gravy, candy, sweet rolls, desserts except for maybe a smoothie made with fruit (I'd tell the waitress to hold the sugar).

It sure seems like Todd Holmes has always got the answers to every one of his questions but then doesn't want the responses that are given to him. All of the mods and their replies to him are right on and he still doesn't seem to want your answers. I guess he'll learn the hard way.