Steve, there are a lot of books written that claim you can reduce or
eliminate your tax liability, and sometimes the authors of those books
go to jail.

Simply put, a business expense is a business expense if it's genuinely
used for business. About the only way you could legitimately write
off most of your restaurant meals is if you're a food critic.

If you don't use your truck 100% for business, you can write off only
the percentage of it that's business use-- and there are, I believe, a
couple of ways to do that. But you can't simply say "Gee, since
occasionally I drive around to inspect the properties I own, my truck
is 100% deductible."

And the same goes for gas, and the other stuff you wrote about.

If you want to debate the legality of your deductions, sure-- explain
to everyone here how each meal you eat truly relates to your business.