That's not how an exchange works

[Chromatix]

Oddly enough, I have a "back of the box" recipe which I'm actually not sure how to follow. And it's for a "kit" type meal, where they've done some of the work for you but you have to finish the job.

Specifically, lasagne. Included are sheets of pasta and a large packet of sauce powder, which I assume is mostly cheese. The instructions are reasonably clear on how to reconstitute that into cheese sauce (using milk and water), but then comes what is for me the hard part: the meat.

"Preheat the oven to 200°C and brown the mincemeat."

I did do some cooking with my mother when I was young. Unfortunately, my mother became steadily more vegetarian with time - her favourite foods seemed to involve far too much in the way of onions, lentils, courgettes and leeks for my taste - so I never got the hang of cooking meat. I've heard all of the horror stories about how cooking meat the wrong way leads to food poisoning. And this little kit-box is telling me to try it with 500g of the stuff - a whole pound - which is not a trivial amount.

At some point, I'm either going to have to bite the bullet and try to do it anyway, or give up and make lasagne without the meat. Which is probably going to taste a bit weird, but has a much lower chance of going horribly wrong.

[TheSHAD0W]

At some point, I'm either going to have to bite the bullet and try to do it anyway, or give up and make lasagne without the meat. Which is probably going to taste a bit weird, but has a much lower chance of going horribly wrong.

There are meatless lasagna recipes, I recommend looking them up before starting to cook. Some are quite tasty. But I think you're worrying too much about the meat; when you brown something as small as minced meat, it'll wind up cooked through. It's only patties of ground beef that you may have issues with if it's not cooked well-done, or steaks cooked less than medium.

[Kanalah]

Taxguy it was basically starting with one of the boxed brownie mixes where you only need to add water.

[Argus]

"Preheat the oven to 200°C and brown the mincemeat."

It looks like the meaning of mincemeat varies from continent to continent.

But basically what you need to do is fry it while using a spatula or similar implement to stir the meat and break it into crumbs a few mm across. (Actually, it might be that any size smaller than about a cm is good enough, but it won't hurt to break them into bits that small.) Once you have a frying pan filled with brown crumbs, you're ready to drain the grease and proceed.

[taxguykarl]

Taxguy it was basically starting with one of the boxed brownie mixes where you only need to add water.

OTOH, starting from the basics Some of the contenders on Worst Cooks would probably find even that a challenge.
My mom's favorite killer fudge recipe came from the marshmallow creme label. Mrs. TGK found a good lasagna recipe on the ricotta package.

[Seanette]

My mom's favorite killer fudge recipe came from the marshmallow creme label.

That's a good fudge recipe. I vary it by using butterscotch chips in place of the chocolate.

[Chromatix]

...basically what you need to do is fry it...

So that doesn't have anything to do with the oven at all, even though it seemed to be associated with the instruction to preheat it. That probably contributed quite a lot to my confusion.

Preheating the oven must therefore just be preparation for the final stage, which is to bake the assembled dish for half an hour, just like the ready-made lasagnes.

Another problem with this particular recipe is that, unlike most proper cookery books, it doesn't give prior warning of what equipment you'll need. In fact, it doesn't even recommend what size of baking dish you need to assemble it in.

[taxguykarl]

That's a good fudge recipe. I vary it by using butterscotch chips in place of the chocolate.

I did a cookie and cream fudge from that by using white chocolate and broken Oreos.

[Seanette]

I did a cookie and cream fudge from that by using white chocolate and broken Oreos.

That also sounds quite good. Hmmm, white chocolate with mint of some variety added might come close to duplicating those white chocolate peppermint M&Ms only available around Christmas.....

[MoonCat]

Chromatix, lasagne is a bit time-consuming but not actually that complicated. The trickiest part is cooking the noodles; if you want them left whole you will need a pot or pan long enough to accommodate them. We used to cook them in a long roasting pan filled with water. When they were not quite done, we stopped the cooking and drained them; they cook the rest of the way when the lasagne is baking. You brown the meat, mix it into the sauce, put a layer of meat sauce on the bottom of your pan (we used a 9x13 baking pan), then a layer of noodles, then a layer of mozzarella cheese; then repeat until all the ingredients are used. Then it's baked (probably about 20-30 minutes).

I'm sure there are easier ways, though, for example with shorter noodles. And we've made it without the meat; it's just as good. You can use vegetables (parboiled) or portabella mushrooms. Or you can brown the meat, use a different kind of cooked noodle (elbows or whatever) and throw everything into a skillet until heated through. Takes less time

[Jetfire]

Browning meat (hamburger) as others have said is pretty straight forward. Just cook in a pan long enough that you no longer see pink or red and it's mostly broken up into small pieces.

I've got no taste for the store bought lasagna kits, so when I do feel like making one, I go all out.

My sauce is Hamburger, onions, peppers, mushrooms, a can of tomatoes and a can or two of tomato paste to thicken it up, and spices. I usually start with the meat and onion in the pot, cooking until the meat is cooked, then add the rest in. Spices (Pepper, salt, italian seasoning, crushed chilis mainly; whatever I have handy on the spice rack) get added while the meat is cooking. Then the peppers and mushrooms get added, and soon after, the tomatoes.

The middle cheese layer is Ricotta cheese mixed with a lot of freshly shredded parm.

Noodles I cook first. Put a thin layer of sauce at the bottom of the pan, then a layer of noodles. Thick layer of suace, layer of noodles, ricotta cheese mix, layer of noodles. Layer of noodles, and finally top it off with a mix of Shredded mozza and shredded parm. Bake until the cheese is browned, let sit to cool off a little, then cut and serve.

Sadly, due to the price of cheese mainly, it can be expensive (~30$ total IIRC for the chunk of 3 year Parm, carton of Ricotta and the chunk of Mozzarellissima); but it's a big dish lasagna that is worth it when you can afford it.

[notalwaysright]

The trickiest part is cooking the noodles; if you want them left whole you will need a pot or pan long enough to accommodate them.

I'm a heretic... I use no-boil noodles.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

OTOH, starting from the basics Some of the contenders on Worst Cooks would probably find even that a challenge.
My mom's favorite killer fudge recipe came from the marshmallow creme label. Mrs. TGK found a good lasagna recipe on the ricotta package.

The recipe I originally used to make homemade Lasagna came from the back of the Mueller's lasagna pasta box.


And for a yummy homemade German Chocolate cake, buy a bar of the Baker's German Chocolate - the recipe is inside the box, as well as the recipe to make your own coconut pecan icing.

I also like using recipes found in cookbooks and adjusting to my tastes and that sometimes works well too. I found my cornbread recipe that way, as well as my egg custard pie recipe.

And there are other times I just let my imagination run loose . . .. shrimp stir fry anyone?

[WishfulSpirit]

I'm thinking trophy wife personally. We have a lot of wanna be socialites out here.

Edit: In fact, most of the girls who graduated high school with me - that was their life goal. To be someone's trophy wife.

You don't live in the northeastern United States by any chance?

[telecom_goddess]

I get this all of the time; customer has me process a warranty exchange. I describe the need to return original device, or else customer gets charged cost of new device. Customer receives new device, along with shipping label and instructions describing the need to return original device. Customer does not return original device. Much drama ensues.

Most popular defense: "I didn't know that I had to return it!"

Oh my god. How can people be so dumb. I got a new phone recently, and had to do just exactly this on the first one due to a defect. I KNEW I had to return the first one, I couldn't just keep both! Jeeeeeesh it's not that hard people. Neat thing is I was only without it for a day while the exchange happened by ups!