Meal Prep Ideas Using a Pressure Cooker
Interested in doing meal prep for a trucker? All it takes is a little planning and a stove or cooking appliance like a pressure cooker. Spring through summer, vegetable and fruit stands are inviting to passersby, but it’s not always convenient for a big rig driver to stop and shop.
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My husband is a professional driver, and whenever he sees a produce stand and is able to pull over, he stocks up on our favorite veggies. When he arrives on the home front, I’m happy to see him, he’s glad to be home, and he looks forward to a homecooked meal. He’s brought peas, okra, tomatoes, squash, watermelon, peaches, and whatever else that’s in season.
The fresh vegetables from the roadside stands are farm fresh and taste so much better than storebought.
Therefore, I cook large batches of veggie and put them in food storage containers which are kept in the freezer until it’s time for my husband to go on the road again. The frozen meals then go in his cooler, and he can eat nutritious food throughout the week.
Where to Find Meal Prep Food Storage Containers
- Walmart – I found a pack of thirty food storage containers with lids at Walmart for about $10.00. They are safe to use in the top rack of a dishwasher, and they are microwave and freezer safe. Frozen meals are convenient for truckers who either have a refrigerator or cooler in their big rigs. Of course, the food needs to be heated up in a microwave. Drivers can also heat up food in a truck stop microwave.
- Amazon – You can order various types of plastic meal prep containers from Amazon. Currently, I use single compartment containers similar to the first item shown below. However, I prefer to use either two- or three-section types (similar to the second and third photos below).
You can put meals such as casseroles or stews in the single-compartment containers. However, the two- and three-compartment containers work better for vegetables with liquid. Your trucker man may not mind his food sloshed together, but it’s nice to store the different foods separately. Make it appealing to his eye, and he’ll feel like he’s eating at home with you, not a truck stop or sleeper cab.
Sealable Gallon-Size Plastic Bags
Store food in plastic containers or sealable bags. Remember that when the ice melts in a cooler, water may seep into bags or certain containers. Therefore, double wrap foods in bags. You may also want to place each container in a gallon-size bag that zips. My husband prefers plastic containers with lids that twist on rather than snap-on lids. The compartment containers we use have lids that snap on. So far, they haven’t come loose. But that’s no guarantee that no water will seep in. A driver may not be able to pull over in time to drain the water when traveling for hours at a time. So it’s a good idea to stock the truck pantry with plenty of gallon plastic bags and keep the food covered securely.
Once you have purchased the bags, containers, and food, you are ready to prep the meals.
Shredded Chicken Meal Prep
Shown below is the barbecue chicken and yellow summer squash meal I packed recently in the single compartment container.
I like squash cooked with onions, squash casserole, squash cooked on the stove, baked in the oven, grilled, and especially in my Farberware electric pressure cooker.
The barbecue chicken was cooked in a pressure cooker, and I had intended for it to be pressure-cooked in barbecue sauce. However, imagine my surprise after I had nearly poured all the sauce in and realized it wasn’t barbecue sauce another of my go-to sauces. Nevertheless, the barbecue still went in with the chicken. It actually turned out quite tasty. I shredded the chicken thighs just in case my husband decided on making a sandwich. (See the chicken recipe below.)
Though the meal in this container includes pan-fried squash, my favorite is yellow summer squash casserole.
Truck Chicken and Squash Meal Prep
Barbecue-Raspberry Chipotle Chicken
Shredded barbecue-raspberry chipotle chicken thighs cooked in a pressure cooker and shredded
Ingredients
- 1 package of 6 or 8 Chicken Thighs
- 1 tbsp Santa Fe Seasons Six Seasonings a blend of herbs and spices
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1/3 bottle Robert's Reserve Raspberry Chipotle Sauce
- 1/2 small bottle Barbecue Sauce
Instructions
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Season the chicken with herbs, spices, and pepper (if you don't have Six Seasonings, use your favorite go-to seasoning for chicken).
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Pour the raspberry-chipotle sauce over the chicken.
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Add the barbecue sauce next.
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Close the lid and seal.
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Cook on the chicken mode of your pressure cooker.
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When the chicken is done, release the pressure from your cooker, and shred the chicken thighs.
Four Shredded Chicken Serving Options
- Shredded chicken sandwiches with a bun
- An open-faced sandwich on one slice of bread, sauce poured on top
- Shredded chicken over rice (cook the rice, and put one or two servings in a container, add the shredded chicken on top, and cover with the sauce).
- Shredded chicken dipped in ketchup (It helps to shred the chicken in large pieces for this one.)
- Chicken salad – make a sandwich
Come up with more shredded chicken meal prep ideas, send me a comment about one, and I’ll add it to my chicken meal prep menus.