Finding Food

How does it work?
As in my last post, let me explain a few things for you guys who aren't truckers:

Food has always been an issue for truck drivers.

You can just see the lack of nutrition that most truck drivers get and that is without running team and without a baby on the truck. Fast food and restaurants are so easy and convenient that the majority of truck drivers do not even take a second lot and this is understandable as many of them this is their life and this how they live it.
However, for those of you interested in keeping slightly better health on the truck and slightly more money in your wallet, it can be very simple to install a few things in your cab to enable you to cook.
For the less mechanically minded a microwave can be easily secured with some industrial strength velcro to one of the cabinet tables in your truck. Many truck stops also sell crock pots - these are crap. They don't heat very well and be realistic. You don't have time to slow cook a meal when you need to be driving. They also sell small ovens which do work, but you cannot cook very much in them other than pizza or toast. Then there's the toastie pie maker (grilled cheese sandwich maker) and the small electric sauce pan; these are awesome and fairly cheap. The biggest appliance that comes to mind is are the large coolers that run off the cigarette lighters. We used one for awhile, but they don't last long and they fail miserably in the Arizona heat. After awhile you will find your self loading it up with ice just to keep it working.
Now, if you are slightly mechanically minded and you want to invest a little bit of money in improving your living conditions you can quite easily install a refrigerator and an oven in your truck (best decision we ever made). First off all your truck must have an APU or generator. These pull fuel from your engine to run itself and does so more efficiently than idling (running your truck in park mode). Next you will need the largest inverter you can find, take a look at the wattage that it has rated on it and be aware that while your fridge/oven and microwave might only use a certain amount in general use they will draw substantially more when starting up or getting to a certain temperature. The inverter itself will need to be installed by a mechanic (not a truck stop mechanic) and then you can quite easily remove one of the cabinets in your truck and use some metal hinging from a home depot to bolt the fridge in place into the wall. A microwave can then be velcroed onto the top of it. However, if you want an oven you will need to sacrifice the top bunk as an oven cannot be safely velcoed. In order to plug all the devices in I recommend a large size power strip that can be velcroed to the size of the cabinet and that in turn can be plugged directly into the Inverter. Of course if you work for a company like my husband's then your truck would come with an 8 cubic foot fridge/freezer and a microwave bolted into the wall so all the hard work is done for you. Be aware that doing this sacrifices a lot of storage space, but is very worth it.

On to other things: Team Truck Survival
When running in a team truck and cooking your own food the best way to find food is to do a weekly run at Walmart and then stop for a period of 3-4 hours each day in order to cook something. If you are cooking with a microwave, box dinners and tv dinners are awesome. If you don't have access to a fridge you can get access to milk and butter from the truck stop restaurants. Of course if you have an oven you can be even more creative.

But what about the baby?
Now with a baby on the truck things become even more difficult, especially if you are using the scheduling system I mentioned in my last post. Those 3-4 hours that you originally used for cooking as a team are now used for sleeping, so you may suddenly find yourself eating out or eating whatever you can cook or make real quick (because face it that baby is probably hungry too).
While at the moment I am currently happy eating sandwiches and cereal I know that this is not something I nor my husband want to do forever so I am looking into a couple of various solutions.

Solution One:
Cook up a bunch of meat and freeze it whenever you have a day off. According to my own research the meat should be good for about a month and a half. Store it in smaller freezer bags so that you have enough in each for one day. That Way whenever you use the amount in the freezer bag in the fridge then you replace it with the next.

Solution Two:
Whenever one of the team members has time off. By this I mean is unloading and everyone else in the truck is asleep this is the best time for housework. Clean the truck, fold the laundry and make damn sure you have something cooking in either the microwave or the oven while doing so. As soon as it is cool put in a storage container and  store it in the fridge. Now you have a decent meal for you and your partner.

Solution Three:
Also, whenever you have free time, try and prep some cool meals that will give you nutrition. These include salads (potato/pasta/couscous/etc..), salads and hmm....salads. Oh, and if you can handle it refrigerated sandwiches. And if you don't like your sandwiches refrigerated like myself then slice and dice and prep your filling.

That's pretty much all I've come up with. I am open to more suggestions.
Safe Driving!