In Cab Cooking And Nature's Calling

My wife makes me home cooked meals and puts them in throw away tins freezer raps them and freezes them. When I am home on my home time I get them out of the freezer and put them in my fridge they defrost slowly and I cook them in my lunch box cooker while I am going down the road. When I run out of those I will go shopping and cook my own food. I love grilled cheese sandwiches with ham and tomato In fact I think I will make one now hehehe. . I try to get home every 3 weeks to stock up tho

Forgot this: Manifold Destiny - the definitive book on cooking while driving. Use your engine to cook while you drive.

Bill Scheller & Chris Maynard. 2008, 3rd edition. (First published in 1989)

Someone wrote a book?? wow......When I worked for Waste management back then, that's how a LOT of our drivers heated up their burriots or whatever. LOL Sometimes, they'd forget the food on the engine, and we'd find it, days/weeks later Tilting the cabs over for service or repairs lol Not always a good sight to find, luckily by that time, there was no stink left haha

I usually cook in a crock pot and/or heat in a microwave when running truck load. No frying and no flames for me.

As for the restroom thing, Errol has it right.

crazy as it sounds that actually never came to mind :) and who doesn't love a good crock pot meal, black eye peas with dumplings, ham chunks abd rice just may become my best bud. Just have to be careful with those beans

My crock pot and fridge both came from Wal-Mart. The 12 volt deals burned up on me. Oh, and my coffee pot too.

Thanks Rolling Thunder, so I'm thinking 12 volt is bad idea. Unless I just want to toss a few bills to the wind :)

Thanks Rolling Thunder, so I'm thinking 12 volt is bad idea. Unless I just want to toss a few bills to the wind :)

Meant to ask, can those converters run a small fridge. Any suggestions on a good type/brand. Have absolutely no experience with them at all.

As for the restroom, everyone is assuming that your stomach is cooperating. Here is a tip that I hope you remember. Don't drink tap water everywhere. Stick to filtered or bottled water. Even in the U.S. switching water systems can cause upset stomachs in some people. And trust me, if you are one of the people that have the fortune of finding that one source of water that disagrees with you, there aren't enough rest areas in AZ or NM.

I found out that the tap water from the TA in Colorado (the name of the place just left, it was my first stop when I left Texas. I'm sure it will come back shortly) disagreed with both my husband and myself. A small wastebasket on the side of the road with a trash bag was the emergency toilet until we could get to a place where we could properly dispose of the waste. (yes by flushing it down the commode) It sucked. But not everything is going to be sunshine and roses all the time and sometimes your bowels are not going to cooperate with your delivery schedule.

Most of the time though, everything will work out. There will be plenty of time to make it to the restroom and back on the road. As a woman, my restroom stops (this included parking the truck) took me an average of 7 minutes. Btw, you learn some really random facts about yourself as a truck driver since you have to keep logs. I would have never known that about myself otherwise.

As for the restroom, everyone is assuming that your stomach is cooperating. Here is a tip that I hope you remember. Don't drink tap water everywhere. Stick to filtered or bottled water. Even in the U.S. switching water systems can cause upset stomachs in some people. And trust me, if you are one of the people that have the fortune of finding that one source of water that disagrees with you, there aren't enough rest areas in AZ or NM.

I found out that the tap water from the TA in Colorado (the name of the place just left, it was my first stop when I left Texas. I'm sure it will come back shortly) disagreed with both my husband and myself. A small wastebasket on the side of the road with a trash bag was the emergency toilet until we could get to a place where we could properly dispose of the waste. (yes by flushing it down the commode) It sucked. But not everything is going to be sunshine and roses all the time and sometimes your bowels are not going to cooperate with your delivery schedule.

Most of the time though, everything will work out. There will be plenty of time to make it to the restroom and back on the road. As a woman, my restroom stops (this included parking the truck) took me an average of 7 minutes. Btw, you learn some really random facts about yourself as a truck driver since you have to keep logs. I would have never known that about myself otherwise.

Thanks for the tip. Luckily I don't have any issues or real emergencies on a normal basis and I can usually "wait my turn" until facilities are available but was wondering some good ways you all have had to deal with emergencies :) a small bucket and a few spare bags sounds like a good idea to have around. As for the water I REALLY appreciate that tip as I drink water 90% of the time and mostly bottled. I had never thought of the water differences from place to place (aside from Mexico but that's just wgat you've always heard) but I will Def be asking for bottled or bring my own bottled water when eating in a restaurant because I am aware alot of them serve up water from tap even though most people don't know it. And we all know an upset stomach is not fun no matter where you are, I could only imagine being in no man's land and getting the erge ever so often. Thanks again and be safe :)

There is a facebook page and website for cooking on your truck and has a ton of recipes and how tos... Not sure the website address but I'm sure a quick Google Search would work...

Thanks Rolling Thunder, so I'm thinking 12 volt is bad idea. Unless I just want to toss a few bills to the wind :)

Meant to ask, can those converters run a small fridge. Any suggestions on a good type/brand. Have absolutely no experience with them at all.

I have a 1500 watt inverter (company installed) and I run my fridge constantly without issue. I also plug my microwave (1000 watt, I think), crock pot and coffee pot into a strip when I use them which is plugged into the inverter. Just make sure you have an APU if you can`t idle because these things will suck the juice out of a battery pretty quick. My APU kicks on when I make coffee, for example.

Just check the wattage of the inverter and get a fridge with a lower rating. It only pulls juice when the compressor kicks on, so as long as the door stays closed and sealed, you will be in good shape.

Oh, the only 12 volt thing I have is my TV and it has lasted well over a year now.

Hope this helps.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.