Express pasta cooker

mrgoodtude · Jun 5, 2006

This may be of no interest to anyone but, Cynthia and I love new "junk" and we were watching an infomercial on this tube you put pasta in pour in boiling water and voila in 10 min perfect cooked pasta! I love my pasta! It was 19.99 I think plus shipping (don't love pasta that much) We were strolling in Wally world the other day and there it was on an endcap $9.44 so I bought one. One thing I miss on the road is my kitchen
I love to cook and you really have to be creative on the road to enjoy home cooked meals. I watched Emril on the cook channel the other day and a truck driver as his guest made a pizza at his truck with a gas grill and a clay pottery base he purchased at home depot (looked pretty good).
At any rate I will make smoked shrimp, roasted corn and a spring pasta salad from the truck this w/e (load permitting) and was curios with all the creative types on the forum what is your favorite home cooked road recipe?
Mike

TeamCaffee · Jun 5, 2006

We bought an electric rice cooker and have been amazed at all of the different things it can be used beside that fact it makes great pasta. I am now on the hunt for a miniature electric skillet that will serve two. Have you tried anything yet with a BBQ grill? DaveKC suggested one this last winter and they have been discontinued. We are going to look at Bass Pro shop and see what they have. We can make a lot of what we make at home but trying to get it all done at the same time is a trick that I haven't learned.

Tennesseahawk · Jun 5, 2006

I finally bought my George Foreman type (Hamilton Beach) grill. At $45, it's large enough for two good sized steaks, or 3 chops. It has a removable grill so washing's a whiz. Now I'll make it a point to stop at a Supercenter and grab some porterhouse and some potato salad. I'll have a better steak than any truckstop can put in front of me, for half the price.

Packmule · Jun 5, 2006

Hawkman,

We have a George Forman JR. It works great in the truck and Quick too.
We cook steaks (If we've had a good week), Hamburgers, Hotdogs, and it works great for Grilled Cheese sandwitchs. We have also made BLT's with it, fliped it to the flat grill surface and made egg's and pancakes.
It will pull some pretty good watts if you run it very long but because it cooks so fast it really doesen't affect the battery charge.

My wife uses her rice cooker in many ways. It will heat water very quick, so sometimes she uses it to make a pot of water for more than one cup of coffee. She will cook rice and then pour in a can of stewed tomatos and let it set and simmer,Hummm good to the last drop...!
Also makes a good soup heater upper.

We are always looking for ways to get away from TS food and eat healthier.

Dan

mrgoodtude · Jun 5, 2006

Oh hell forgot about the george foreman grill, got it a toaster a charcoal grill a convection oven ($69 at sams) Micro wave (standard issue) then we ran into the space issue so we went to wally world and purchased 2 heavy duty plastic truck bins (they rest on the e-track in front of truck) to store all our junk. Guess we don't need a truck we need an Rv with a 5' box.
Mike and Cyn

outwardbound 2 · Jun 5, 2006

ok cooking for oneself sounds good to me, but how do you wash the stuff on the road? I haven't seen anyone doing dishes in the restrooms of the flyingJ's
and it's hard to cut a steak with a plastic knife

mrgoodtude · Jun 5, 2006

We try to stick with paper cups, plates, etc standard picnic type fair. As far as the cooking apparatus we don't cook everyday but when we get to a nice rest area and or a campsite a spigot with a brush and soap is\all we need. We still eat out fairley often and do our fair share of sandwiches but its nice to change it up a bit when we have time.
Mike and Cyn

Packmule · Jun 5, 2006

We have a small sink in the truck that is fine for rinsing off the George Forman and we use paper plates and cups to eat off of. As for as plastic knives, we have two steak knives in our silverware drawer and have not run into a problem with this during inspections on Military bases, but as a precautionary measure we wrap them in foil and I put them in my tool box when going into Canada. It was explained to me by a Canadian border crossing guard that I questioned about the legality of the steak knives and that is what he told me to do with them. In the toolbox out of reach they are work tools, in the cab of truck and accessible they are weapons.

Before I installed the sink in our truck we used a plastic tub for washing dishes and our faces as well as brushing our teeth. and yes we discarded this water in the grass or an area that was suitable to dump grey water. We did not just sling it out the truck window in the parking lot.

Eat well,
Dan

TeamCaffee · Jun 6, 2006

We have not had any problem crossing the border with our steak knifes or our paring knives. We also have a small sink to use for our dishes. We found a smoothie machine on sale at Wal-Mart the other day and boy do those taste good for supper. We are going to have to check on the George Foreman Grill. If we are going to cook something like that I would rather cook outside. Some times that lift gate can also be used for other things!!

Packmule · Jun 6, 2006

You are so right!! When the weather is good we enjoy cooking outside, just requires a drop cord and it's like having an outside BBQ. It's fun to watch passerbys noses start searching the air when that steak or hamburger aroma hits them. We have thought about a small gas grill but was not sure about carrying the small propane tanks.

As far as the knives, I just did what the border guard recommended. I don't think they would give much grief if they found them in the truck, but then again theres always that one that wants to be a ###.

Life on the road can be great with a little immagination.

Dan

Tennesseahawk · Jun 12, 2006

Cooked two meals so far with my GF grill. Tell you what... if more drivers out there knew what they were missing, the truckstop restaurants would go out of biz. I picked up some ribeye at Walmart, cooked it med-well, and it was the juiciest steak I've ever had. It tasted like prime rib, it was so marbled. If you want a steak that tastes like heaven, ask and I'll tell you. :9

Packmule · Jun 13, 2006

Hawkman,
You should try roadkill on your GF!! You'll never go back to the meat dept. The money you save really adds up. A little seasoning and tenderizer is sometime needed. And to subsidize your income during slow periods or long layovers, stockpile your roadkill and the sell hot BBQ sandwiches and steak sandwiches right from your truck. Remember it's all in the sauce!!!
A couple deer will just about get you through the winter, but you need some Possum for that tasty southern breakfast of Possum and Grits!!

OK this has gone far enough, I;m going to sleep, Loonggg run last night.

But if anyone wants to send in their favorite Roadkill receipe,I'd sure like to read them.

Dan