I have a question about storage containers for a kind of niche issue.
A member of my household is a long-haul trucker, but he does weekly runs. Truck stop options are generally garbage. If he's going to be home weekly, since I'm already doing food prep on the weekend, it's just as easy to throw some stuff in a container for him.
I have Souper Cubes and I personally use Pyrex with silicone lids (or microwave without the lid on) if I'm bringing something to work, however, heavy glass is not really practical for him.
Does anyone have any suggestions for these requirements?
The idea is that we freeze the meals in advance and when he leaves for the week, he leaves with a week's worth of frozen meals and shoves them in his fridge/freezer. When he stops to eat, he grabs a meal, heats it up, *does not have to throw away the container*, but also does not need to stick it back in the fridge.
Space is a huge issue; he has a fridge/freezer that's about 3 cubic feet total and buying additional appliances is not currently in the budget.
He's not always going to be at a location that has running water, so expecting him to wash the dishes is really just not especially practical. Yes I'm aware that if food residue sits for a week unrefrigerated it's likely to get gross; I've no sense of smell so I don't care, and if there's enough mold to concern me I'll throw on an N-95 mask and take them outside and hose them out before washing them.
Pyrex and ceramic are too heavy/bulky, stainless steel is lighter but not microwavable, and if we end up having to go with plastic I'm probably just going to go with the Take-Aways. :-/
I know that's kind of a niche issue but I'm not having much help with Dr. Google.
Thanks in advance!
How sealable do they need to be? Stainless steel bowls encased in plastic wrap would meet most of your requirements. There are microwave safe stainless bowls but they need to be specifically designed for it.
I mean...that'd depend on what we put in them, right? Baked chicken, rice and broccoli could get away with not being entirely watertight. Soup or chili...not so much. ;)
Silicone. Same material as souper cubes. Still plastic lids, but you already know that since you use them. Better option would be the member of your household how to carry a set of dishware in his truck and wash them since then it doesn't matter what you're transporting the meals in when you heat them in a regular bowl/plate. But he really seems to be uninterested in putting ANY effort in at all to feed himself, does he?
Do you have any recommendations for appropriate silicone containers? As to the rest...have you ever been in a semi for *any* length of time? Sometimes you stop somewhere where there IS no running water (like on the side of the highway, or at a customer, or at a distribution center where there are no facilities, or at a construction site). When you do have running water nearby, it's not a sink where you can wash your dishes. It's either a sink in the bathroom where you wash your hands or a shower. I don't know about you, but I don't wash my dishes in the shower and I absolutely don't wash them in what amounts to a gas station bathroom, nor would I recommend anyone else do so. And that doesn't take into account packing your dirty (possibly dripping dishes & flatware) into something that won't leak all over your clothes or anything else you happen to be carrying, the 6 foot climb in and out of the cabin dancing around a completely non-moving chair (I'm 5'3" and have bad knees; getting into or out of the cabin is a nightmare), the quarter mile trek across the truck stop parking lot or any of the lovely weather like ice, pouring rain, sweltering heat. This is not at all a reasonable expectation for a brief stop for lunch, or first thing in the morning for breakfast. Dinner might be a different matter, but you're making it out like he's refusing to move five feet with a paper towel, and that's nowhere near close to reality. The entire cabin has \*maybe\* 10 square feet of floor space in total, and I'm being overly generous there, because there's not a lot of storage either, so things like a trashcan need to go in that space. Yeah, you can use a bathroom trashcan, and ten percent of your total floorspace goes with it. He's been on the road for 8 years and feeding himself \*just fine\*. It's just we're looking into doing it in a more healthy and sustainable way.
If you can be flexible on the plastic issue, there are a lot of bento box options that meet all the other requirements. They're not collapsible that I've seen but they don't take up a ton of space and are generally microwave & freezer safe, light, watertight, and sturdy. Many but not all are dishwasher safe. There are some microwavable stainless steel ones, but they are pretty expensive.
Stainless is actually microwavable if it lacks sharp edges. There are few options out there but Black & Blum is the one I’ve been using for over a year now. The boxes nest and the lids stack. Not quite as space-efficient as some of the plastic ones but pretty decent. Also very easy to clean which is probably a benefit on the road. No running water sucks but even a bathroom sink and some paper towels should work fine.
I'll check those out, thanks!
Have you looked into collapsible silicone containers? Brands like Sea to Summit make collapsible bowls and plates that are silicone — they're microwave safe, freezer safe, don't hold odors, and they collapse flat which would be huge for his limited space. The lids are silicone too so no plastic there. They're super lightweight, basically indestructible, and if he needs to rinse one at a gas station bathroom sink it takes like 10 seconds. Not as rigid as glass but honestly that's kind of a plus in a moving truck — no shattering. Not the cheapest upfront but they last forever. Another option — Stasher silicone bags. Basically reusable silicone Ziploc bags. You can freeze meals flat in them (saves a ton of space in a 3 cu ft freezer), microwave them right in the bag, and they wash out easy. For a trucker doing week-long runs, the space savings from freezing things flat vs. in bulky containers could make a real difference. Good luck to him out there — long haul is no joke.
I hadn't heard of Sea to Summit, I'll check them out! I had some reusable silicone bags, but they weren't especially durable. I've no idea what the brand was, but it's been several years so it's quite possible that things have improved, so I'll look in to Stasher. Thank you! I went on the road with him for a couple of weeks, and I'm really glad I thought to preemptively pack granola bars and oatmeal. I was typically able to grab an apple or three, but one place we stopped, the absolute healthiest thing available was a premade peanut butter & jelly sandwich. Thankfully I bought two, because the next stop didn't even have anything that healthy. It's no wonder truckers have health issues. Between not being able to move 11 hours a day, needing to sleep for 8, and the absolute garbage meal options...sheesh.
\- he packs a microwave safe glass container to rinse and re-use \- freeze meals in loaf pans lined with plastic then with parchment paper- he removes the layers adds to glass container and microwaves By far the most economical option without microwaving plastic or lots of extra containers
Not OP, but I thought this was a very smart idea. Could even use aluminum loaf pans. Extra light, reusable a couple times at least, recyclable.
Try googling silicone camping dishes you'll find lots of options. For just cleaning enough to put them in the truck to bring them home a bathroom sink will do just fine.
If you live near IKEA they have metal microwave safe containers. The plastic lids are sold separately and are spill-proof.
Souper cubes will also fit these containers with no issues
This is NOT microwavable.
There are some great food and water cookers for vehicles that plug right into vehicle.
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The no-sink is actually not a problem. He just needs to keep a spray bottle of water+vinegar (basically a knockoff cleaner) in the truck, and a roll of paper towels. Eat, spray, wipe, set aside. Toss the dirty paper towels.