Day 3 - Bristol, South Dakota to Kearney, NE

What a beautiful day!  We hit the road about 9:20 AM in whatever this time zone is...I have lost track!

It was cold and windy, but much better than yesterday and the SUN joined us!  The roads were good and no traffic.  South Dakota is not unlike Ontonagon!  And more hilly than I remembered, but then we hadn't really ever visited this part of the State. 

We ended up driving about 7 hours today.  A little longer than we planned.  We landed in Kearney (car-knee), Nebraska, between Grand Island and North Platte.  We caught a glimpse of some interesting things along the way. 

 

Caboose Java anyone?

Or how about the cream? 

And some really beautiful old buildings...

 

And another 

But some of our favorite finds were the American Flags!

The Pheasant and Flag are at the Redfield Fire Department.  

But the highlight of today, for me, was making dinner!  So, for those of you who know me, you know cooking is not my favorite thing to do.  But I have really been looking forward to trying out recipes and ways to cook in the RV.  I think mostly because I love a challenge!  

Today, I decided to make a Taco Pasta dish in the slow cooker.  I have a smaller oval West Bend slow cooker.  I have had it for years.  I don't know if they make the same ones any more.  It is a simple one.  It has a knob that features Off, Low, and High.  That's it.  But it is also doesn't use much power so it worked fine in the RV as we drove today.  

Before we left home, Rick browned a pound of ground beef and separated it into two food saver packages and we froze them.  He also used the food saver to bag portion sizes of country ribs and chicken we will use another time.  

Since this dish didn't take long, I took the small package of ground beef out to defrost for a couple of hours before I started the slow cooker.  When we stopped for a lunch break, I put it all together.  

The ground beef, 1 can of crushed tomatoes, 1 can of corn (drained), 1/2 chopped onion, 1/2 chopped orange pepper, 2 teaspoons of chicken bouillon, 2 cups of water, 1/2 can Rotel or salsa, and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook on low until everything is hot or you are done driving.  Add one 7 oz. box of Creamette small shells.  Cover and cook on High for 25 minutes.  Stirring once and checking the noodles at about 20 minutes.  Then add one can of drained and rinsed black beans and a cup of your choice of shredded cheese.  I chose Mexican 4 Cheese Blend.  Let sit about 5 minutes until the bean warm and the cheese melts.  

I have to say, it was a success! It made enough that we have leftovers, so we will have one more meal out of it!

Dinner is served!  

Tomorrow we are off to a new adventure!