/ck/ - Food & Cooking

learn to love rice and beans; you'll be eating a lot of it. lentil soup is another cheap and healthy one-pot meal, and when you want some luxury cook up some chili. get a resealable metal container so you can keep some cooking oil with you without having to throw it out every time you feel like deep frying some potatoes.

I survived for months on peanuts, raisins, and water.

No cooking required.

>>7302

I do like rice and beans. Also like rice instead of pasta, since I don't have to throw away water after it's cooked. Soaking the beans is going to require some water discard, but that's workable. Just going to have to remember to start soaking tomorrow's dinner beans tonight.

>>7309

Yeah, but… I need warm food from time to time. (It's going to be November-December when I'm starting in the truck.)

Going to try and work some fresh fruit in there too, since pears and apples are so darn easy to eat.

My goal is to do somewhat better than "survival" - I don't want to be looking forward to a Subway cold cut sammich with spinach as fancy food.

>>7310

get a several gallon refillable container with a pour spout and find some space in your truck for it. you can fill it up with tap water at rest stops and save a shitload of money compared to buying bottles.

>>7325

This was the plan. Paying $5 once for a jug is a better deal than paying $5 a case for bottled water.

Still different from a typical kitchen, in that there is not a limitless supply of water, and discarding the used water still needs to be considered as a challenge.

You could go the stir fry route. Basically it's meat, vegetables, and sauces with high heat. And cooking time of 5 to 20 mins. You won't have high heat but don't worry about that. The stir fry style of cooking is enough to cook up something tasty fairly quickly in one pan.

>>7333

Good thinking.

I do actually have high heat - the butane stove is what I used to use under my big wok. (I will not have a wok with me in the rig.)

And yeah, something wholesome and satisfying about onions/cabbage/carrot and a spot of pork. Especially when I can do the pot of rice first.

>>7311

Something you should keep in mind: high fiber foods like fresh fruits, fresh veggies, and beans will induce bowel movements more frequently, potentially affecting your transit times.

>>7335

Important to think about this kind of crap. Thanks!

Of course, we're supposed to stop every 2-3 hours anyway, to check the tires, load securement… and I've found I get wicked headaches if I don't have regular bowel movements.

At trucking school now.

PB&J is growing on me. Portable, no refrigeration required, fast. Definitely not with grape jelly, however.

Fresh fruit seems to be going OK, not causing any unexpected crap during the day.

bovril m8

just lots of bovril

Learn to pack a bike on your top bunk if you don't have a team driver, put the wheels n' stuff on when waiting for a load and go get yourself a meal, or some fresh fruit from the store.

Eat tons of fruit 'lad.

>>7414

That will be tricky and possibly impractical for several months. First few weeks with any new company are usually team driving with a company trainer.

Current timeline would put me solo in early winter, when much of the world I drive in will be covered in snow.

>>7447

If you're going to be in the cold a lot it probably would be okay to bring more fresh food with you. I'd say stuff like tomatoes or broccoli or even minced meat or eggs.

>>7456

Yeah, plan is to stop for veggies and eggs every few days. Gotta see how I'm equipped in the truck; if there's a built-in fridge (common) it's a sure thing. If I have to buy a fridge, maybe take a little longer.

The trucks keep the engines running almost all the time; so in the truck will be basically room temperature (64-74F or so); need some kind of fresh food storage.

Update:

Am now about 80% done with my training. (After the initial 4 weeks of school, there was another 3-4 weeks of company training - so not quite out on the road immediately.) Sadly, heading home from training to spend time with family for holidays.

If nothing else, the people are sincere - they really are wishing me a good weekend. I just want to get in my truck and work. There are people still in the world that mean it when they say "thank you" to someone who pauses to open a door for them.

The world is not yet entirely dead.

In any case, try and have a good meal this weekend. I know that a lot of you will get stuck with social obligations to eat terrible meals; try and enjoy the conversation at least, and then make something worthwhile out of the leftovers.

>>8122

Holy shit. Great to come back to a weeks old "Imma self improve" thread, and see the success story. I need to take after your example.

>>8147

Trucking really isn't for everyone. If you have a large collection of material possessions, if you have friends and family that you want to see regularly… probably not a great fit. Don't get me wrong, there are some great driving jobs that will get you home every night and still pay well, but OTR is a completely different lifestyle.

On the other hand, if you're living with your parents, are starting to get sick of vidya, don't mind going away from "home" for 3-4 weeks at a time (then coming "home" for a weekend and heading back out), have a driver's license and are over 21, it can be a great opportunity. A lot of companies will pay for your training (my costs so far have been food - they paid for school, they paid for hotels. I drove up there, but am eligible for gas reimbursement, and if I didn't have a car they would have bought me a bus ticket). The pay isn't bad, either, once you get out of training. (The company I'm with, if I can roll at least 2500 miles a week (a bit over 400 a day, over a 6 day week, entirely doable), I should be making over $40k a year, and that's figured before the 3, 6, and 12 month raises. On top of that, there are serious tax advantages, and a reasonable number of companies offer a "per diem" pay plan (which means that about 30% of your pay ends up non-taxable, depending). Even if they don't do a per-diem pay arrangement, you can still deduct most of your travel for work expenses from your taxes, since you're not going home every night. Far better than a McJob, and I went into it with about the same qualifications required.)

Up until this point, I've just been kind of sliding through life. Now things are starting to feel like I belong.

I honestly wish my situation would have let me do this years ago.

>>7300

While trucking is a fine job for now, keep in mind that within the next 10 years, possibly even 5, long-haul trucking will start being gradually phased out for self-driving trucks. Prototypes are already on the road in europe. You should look into more specialized roles like hauling hazardous materials, cross-border (dealing with customs), logging, mining, etc.

http://news.yahoo.com/daimler-tests-self-driving-truck-german-highway-214036272.html

And don't bring any stove that creates an open flame! Microwaves and hot plates are ok. You have 200-300 gallons of diesel under your bunk.

>>8222

> long-haul trucking will start being gradually phased out for self-driving trucks

99% of the trucking business _can't_ afford the $5M+ cost of self-driving trucks, so this is just baseless.

>>8222

Diesel doesn't burn unless it is hot.

To ignite the ton of liquid immolation under my pillow requires spreading it out. A lot.

The engine typically mixes a pint of fuel with something like 6000 liters of air to burn it.

Fire is the least of my worries.

And yeah, in a decade I will find something else to do… but for now, this will get me out of debt.

>discarding water is a huge problem

>>8258

Bigger than you think.

No drain in the truck.

Most places you can park a truck are right next to where other trucks are parked. Dumping it out the door is a no-no on pavement. During freezing months, that makes a slip and fall hazard for yourself and other drivers (number one cause of injury in the industry). During warm months it is just rude.

To dump cooking water safely would probably involve about a 500 foot walk (carrying hot water), and a walk back, in most situations. And even then, you're throwing away water you probably had to buy. If you didn't buy it, you're still down however much water you're throwing out from your carrying capacity and you'll have to refill it again later anyway.

Much better all around to not waste water. Especially if there is a different option available.

>>8260

I spent a couple of years living in a class C motorhome, so I've got a little hands on experience with that. Although, since you're not independent there's no way you own the truck, so I suppose your hands are tied.

Lot of rest stops have proper legal means of dumping black (or grey) water though. The trick for you will be finding a way move it since I reckon you can't go cutting holes in company property. Making a small sink might be easier than you may think however, as all you really need to do is buy a small plastic fixture and run the drain to say, a five/ten gallon jerry can. Even better is if you run a pump to the tap and now you've got a slice of civilisation with you in the cab, though I don't know what the electric hookups look like in an 18 wheeler, probably not halal. What's the electric hookup like in there anyway? Why can you run a hotplate but not a toaster?

My propane oven was a god send, cakes, frozen pizzas, and the odd chicken really do a lot to break up the monotony of road food. I'd be cautious about all that fuel, and I don't know if there are any special insurance reasons here, but you might want to look into one if you can vent it properly.

>>8266

>What's the electric hookup like in there anyway? Why can you run a hotplate but not a toaster?

No electrics other than 12 volt. I have a butane stove; it's similar in heating capacity to a hotplate. Most of the cook types around here will understand the constraints of "I have a single weak burner and nothing else" as a cooking environment, thus the comparison to a hotplate.

Could I rig up a sink? Sure. But then I still have to drain it someplace. And yeah, no modifying the company vehicle. Dumping wastewater, black or grey, means going over to the dump area… still a goodly way from the truck parking area, at the very few rest stops I've seen that have a dump.

>Could I rig up a sink? Sure. But then I still have to drain it someplace. And yeah, no modifying the company vehicle. Dumping wastewater, black or grey, means going over to the dump area… still a goodly way from the truck parking area, at the very few rest stops I've seen that have a dump.

The idea is to dump into a smaller five gallon jerry can so it isn't such a bitch to lug off to the dumps. Without any black water in your setup it's not like you'd need to deal with it more than once every few days, really. Granted the walk is no fun, but it's easier to heft the can than a pot or a bunch of jugs full of potentially hot water.

Also, didn't know dumping was a rarity, around these parts most of the stops have them.

>have a butane stove; it's similar in heating capacity to a hotplate.

Can't really add much to that. Though, might be able to save you some money on water, if you didn't know most truck stops tend to have a spigot near the diesel pumps. Dunno what they're actually for but I've never been told off for using them to top off my water tanks. Doubt anyone would begrudge you a couple of gallons, though it'd be a little less discrete.

>>8289

Either I dump out a pot of water at a time, or save it up for 3 days and dump out 3 days worth of pots of water at a time. Either way, I have to dump. Not a goal. Especially when company policy doesn't want me to even use a pee bottle.

Yeah, I can refill a water jug every day or two at a number of places. Most waysides have spigots for that.

I wouldn't want to go use a truck stop faucet next to the diesel islands for drinking water. I have no assurance that it's been kept potable grade; I have very reasonable expectations that it might get contaminated somehow. Those faucets are for washing down the pavement after fuel spills and the like.

make your own soup nigga. perfect for cold, can be stored in thermos, usually fairly cheap. egg drop soup is delicious.

check out some "one pan/one pot recipes" too, you could make a bunch of stews or boil seafood

>>8484

>NEVER trust your dispatcher

Learned that one last week.

Yeah, not worried about food much anymore. Got some shit figured out, and I don't think I've hit a subway once (Casey's has better sandwiches).

As for the sanity bit… this is the best I've felt in years, I'm sleeping more regularly than I have in 25 years, and generally doing OK. Then again, I knew what I was getting into, and wouldn't let the recruiters sell me a line of shit.

Dispatch is pretty cool, in general (except from the occasional horrible lie, which I'm learning to recognize). We are, in fact, allowed to go wherever we want (so long as we don't go excessively over dispatched miles), allowed to stop where we want (so long as it's safe and legal). Easiest way to buy groceries is to wait for a time after a drop, but before the next dispatch has come in telling where the next hook is… run into town bobtailed, pull into wherever (the "NO SEMIS" places are a lot more relaxed about you taking up two parking spaces instead of 14… besides, the semi is the trailer, not the truck ;) )… and pick up a bag of food, paper towels, etc. Better than buying bologna from TA, that's for damned sure.

And yeah, I totally get that this business will turn normal people into raving lunatics. but it seems to be turning at least one mentally unbalanced person into a productive member of society.

Shiny side up, and enjoy it when the cars tell you that you're number one in their book…