Got the cold “ham sammich” blues? I hate to tell you this, but it may be a few months before you’ll have time to sit down to the warm “meat, potatoes and gravy” meals again.

The good news is that auto-steer changes the game for what you can eat in the tractor cab these days. Just imagine – your lunch can even include a fork now.

When I was a kid and we rounded up the cows, we’d build a sagebrush fire in a pit to prepare some coals, then throw in some raw potatoes and cover them with the coals. 

Then four hours later when we made it back to the corrals, the potatoes were cooked perfectly. Of course, we had to throw away the charred skins and use a lot of butter and salt, but they were edible and filling – much better than another flattened bologna sandwich.

One crusty potato wasn’t too bad a couple times a year, but it’s a whole different pickle when you have to take a lunch out on the tractor day after day after day. On a recent farmer forum, producers from all over the country chimed in to offer ideas for beating the ‘ham sammich’ blues. Here are their ideas:

• Cold pizza
• Beef or chicken, cheese, lettuce and tomato wrapped in a tortilla
• Beef jerky in a bag
• Cold chicken legs or wings
• Salami slabs and cheese slabs with crackers
• Bag of frozen shrimp and cherry tomatoes (will keep cold till noon)
• Pickles wrapped with deli ham (and a little cream cheese helps)
• Grapefruit or apple
• Slices of cheese wrapped in cold cuts and speared with toothpicks
• Hardboiled eggs
• Cucumbers, radishes, peaches
• Fried egg sandwiches
• “Cook” your meals on a valve cover or radiator in double tinfoil; hot dogs or bratwurst sausage works well for this
• Small baggie of Cheerios or cold cereals for snacks
• Breaded pork chop or veal cutlet on a kaiser bun
• Mountain Dew and Pop Tarts (not original, but we all know how many times this can save you; at least there’s no worry with the expiration dates)
• V-8 juice will tide you over
• Carrots and spam singles
• Styrofoam boxes with leftovers make life better; it’s $.06 well spent
• Can of beans – carry an opener and a spoon
• Plain unseasoned popcorn
• Cans of salmon, tuna or kipper snacks (holds well if you don’t need to open it)
• Cold cheesy breadsticks with marinara dipping sauce

If you’re up for a little preparation, you can prepare and freeze your own calzones and burritos, using fillings as you desire, and warm them up on the radiator. Here are those basic recipes:

Calzones

Take refrigerated dough (basically any refrigerated biscuit or croissant), and stuff them with browned hamburger and cabbage; then bake according to refrigerated dough instructions on the label. Use double tinfoil to wrap them before they hit the freezer.

You can stuff these with almost anything. Other ideas are:

• Chopped cooked chicken, ranch seasonings, white cheese (Swiss or provolone) and veggies
• Hamburger, onion, peppers, garlic, cheese and pizza sauce
• Ham, Swiss cheese, broccoli chopped small (precooked a bit) and mustard
• Tuna salad with cheese
• All veggies with a white cheese sauce
• Leftover roast or steak, sliced thin, grilled onions and a little cheddar cheese
• Any sausage with cheese and veggies

Freezer burritos

Prepare a cooker of rice, adding in diced tomatoes, chopped onion, minced garlic and chili powder to taste before it cooks.

Make flour tortillas pliable for wrapping by moistening a dishcloth under the water faucet and squeezing out extra water; wrap the tortillas in the towel and microwave for one minute.

Load each tortilla with toppings, as desired. Toppings could include:

• Refried beans
• Black beans
• Grated cheese
• Sour cream substitute (hot sauce mixed with Greek yogurt works well)

Fold tortillas over toppings burrito style, wrap in tinfoil and freeze. Then warm them up on your radiator.

When that tractor breaks down, you’ll find you deal with it much better on a full stomach.