My husband has a new job and has to take a lunch everyday. He drives several hundred miles a day and eats in his truck, so no access to microwave, fridge, etc.. He is so far content with sandwiches, chips, fruit, nuts, etc.., but as I see this stretching into years........( I thought I was through with this when the kids stopped carrying a lunch!). Any ideas for homemade, yummy, economical lunches on the go??

-- connie in nm (karrellewis@aol.com), June 17, 2001

Answers

Hi Connie. I spent the last 7 years of having to take my lunch with me to work, and I can tell you that sandwiches will get old fast. My best meals was a food thermos filled with some left over supper or with some kind of soup to go along with a sandwich. If his meals seem to be getting a little on the routine side, at least leave him a little love message on his napkin. One time my wife cut the napkin into a heart shape. And if at all possible, try to save a little money back once in a while so he can stop in at a resturaunt to kill the monotany of having to eat what seems to be the same old thing all the time! (spelling?)

-- Russell Hays (rhays@sstelco.com), June 17, 2001.

My hubby was on the road alot a few years back. If you go out to a big truck stop, they sell food heaters and small fridges that plug into the cigarette lighter. If the truck doesn't have a working lighter, you can get the cord that runs from the battery to the cab with the plug socket on it.

Some of the things I sent for him (because sandwiches do get old)were burritos, tamales, pocket pies with all kinds of different stuffing. Lots of cut up vegetables with a stiff dip, fruit, energy bars....I would fill a small ice chest for him and I tried real hard to keep it interesting. He would be on the road for 3 days at a time sometimes. I am glad those days are over.

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@hotmail.com), June 17, 2001.

i can give you "the other side" from 19 years on the move or graveyard shift. Sandwiches were o.k. the first 6 months, after that I looked forward to the cooler filled with fresh vegetables, a little cheddar cheese and a small entree dish with a small portion of meat and homemade bread or any other mix of table leftovers. My co- workers would raz me about my "mini refrigerator", but I noticed most everyone started bringing those little tan and brown sixpack coolers. Something else that we found that was a good pack especially in winter was soup in a commuter cup so that it can be eaten with one hand. You can find those little coolers often at yard sales for a couple of dollars.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), June 17, 2001.

Bite size watermelon, muskmelons, strawberries, same with carrots, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, plus the dip, etc. anything out of the ordinary is a nice change. We love homemade muffins - we also make cakes in muffin pans.

-- Pat (mikulptrc@aol.com), June 17, 2001.

Ring the changes on the bread, too. Plain white; thick (toast)- sliced; wholemeal, multi-grain, Lebanese bread (or burritos or pita); bread rolls (plain, sesame, poppy-seed, wholemeal, multi-grain, whatever). Occasionally a plain jam (jelly?) sandwich. Get some long grass, dry it, line the lunch-box with it, then send bread rolls that day - he can take it as a promise (a roll in the ...). Carrot sticks, celery, a fork and a little salad in a container (or cold casserole, or cold stir-fry), Tiny Tim or similar tomatoes, a couple of cold cooked sausages, salami, pepperoni, a small easy-open tin of tuna, a few bite-size berries or grapes in an otherwise ordinary meal, a few mixed olives. Apples, bananas, pre-peeled and sectioned oranges or mandarines, plums, apricots (think of fruit that isn't too messily- juicy). A couple of paper napkins every day. Cup-a-soup packets, instant coffee, tea-bag with a mug and a thermos of hot water. Popper packs of fruit juice drink or milk - plain or flavoured. Two or three small bottles of plain or filtered water, some with just a touch of lemon-juice or lime-juice. Variety. Surprise.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), June 17, 2001.

Thanks for all the good suggestions. Only one that won't work is money for a restaurant meal. There are no restaurants -- this is the oilfield and these are all back dirt roads, checking on pumpjacks and tank batteries. They carry all their food and water and you never know how many hours they'll be gone. If they run into problems they have to stay out there. I try to pack extra food and have him keep emergency food in his truck ( cans of tuna, crackers, sardines). There is no place to get food if you work overtime.

-- connie in nm (karrellewis@aol.com), June 17, 2001.

If you have a thermos that will keep hot water HOT, pop a couple of hotdogs in there, by lunchtime they'll be cooked enough to put on a bun. See if you can nab some of those little packets of ketchup, mustard, relish from somewhere.

Salads in a container, with dressing in separate container.

Hubby often takes the small plastic pop bottles, fills them with water and freezes them overnight, keeps the small lunch cooler cold, and drinks the water in the afternoon as it melts. When I go camping I do this with iced tea.

Strips of beef jerky can be chewed on while driving, some of them in the shrink wrap plastic can be darned near indestructable.

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), June 18, 2001.

cheese,, sausage,, mustard and crakers,, make a great meal. If he goes fishing/hunting,, pack himm what he takes then,, its usaually simple but filling

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), June 18, 2001.

i used to drive an 18-wheeler and i always kept food and supplies in my rig. i never knew when i might get stuck somewhere, which did happen often, no place to eat except what i had with me. got stuck for 3 days in a snowstorm once.

go down to a nearby large truck stop ( not a little rinky dink hole in the wall old-fashioned dump). the new truck stops call themselves travel centers. you will be astounded at the variety of 12-volt appliances. if you live in the right area, go to a couple different truck stops. look for flying j's, petros, t/a's.

although i no longer drive a big rig, i still have my 12 volt appliances. they are great for camping, fishing, car trips on a budget, and emergency use.

i have a really neat 12 volt coffee maker. makes GOOD coffee. i still use it all the time. it even has an adapter to plug into 110 volt wall outlet at home. it makes maybe 3 cups at a time.

i also have a 12volt oven, looks like the old style lunch bucket, (folds over onto its top,i hope this description makes sense). anyway, this little jewel will not only reheat foods ( i would occasionally stop at the grocery somewhere on the road) such as burritos, egg rolls, sandwiches, etc etc, it would also cook, from scratch, small roasts !!! it was best to get those small disposable aluminum pans and put a small roast in it. toss in a few fixins and some hours later i'd have a good little pot roast. i could also make, or reheat, soups, stews, goulash, or whatever i could imagine. chicken pieces, pork chops, hamburger casserole. with a 12-volt refrigerator, you could stock his refrig and send him out on the road.

check into getting him one of those 12-volt cooler/refrigerators. i don't know what kind of room he has in his truck, but these things are neat. they plug into the cigarette lighter, and with no moving parts other than a fan, they cool like the dickens. or they will also heat if you reverse the polarity. i've seen these in walmart lately. you can get them as small as ones that will only hold about a six- pack of drink, all the way up to ones as big as a large coleman icechest cooler size.

i doubt he would have room for it, but there are also mini- microwaves, some are 12 volt but most use an inverter from 12-volt to 110 volt. those little inverters are neat!!

for whatever its worth, and it might not be something you'd want for him, but for the info of other readers, you can get 12-volt color tv's with built-in vcr's. i have one of those, and also a 12-volt electric blanket. you really need to have an engine running and making electricity to run an electric blanket, but that thing kept me warm and toasty on many a colddddddddddddd northern night.

you can find a lot of these in rv centers too, but if you shop several different truck stops for awhile, you can catch things on sale and get good deals.

good luck, let me know how it works out.

gene

-- gene ward (gward34847@aol.com), June 19, 2001.