So I am all for trying new things and I absolutely love convenience, but I am also a self-claimed control freak and sometimes have trouble with being told what to do.
So I recently starting seeing someone and we went to the store to go get some ingredients for dinner. I was on a strict budget as I usually am and had my mind set on bacon pasta. All I would have to purchase was the spaghetti, bacon, cream and an instant sauce.
However since the person I started seeing went with me to the shop he suggested that I try mince mate. This looked ideal! I had never made it before though, but the box basically already has everything in that you need, except the meat!
We decided on a lasagne mince mate- usually I wouldn’t have opted for the meal in a box option but I didn’t want to show my control freak side just yet as it’s still a very new thing we have going so I swallow my doubt and set out to make mince mate!
Upon getting home it was time to attempt to make the dinner coming from the box. As I mentioned above I’m not always great with being told what to do, so can you imagine what it’s like for me to have to consult a box every two minutes about the different steps in the process????
I will admit there was definitely a level of convenience to having everything set out and ready to be made, but it also felt so restricting. I know how to cook (most of the time – see the post about Mother’s Day) so I felt like I couldn’t just cook- I constantly needed to check what the box said. There was also the added pressure of the guy I’m seeing watching me cook for the first time, and also in the back of my head knowing he will be tasting my cooking for the first time. What if there’s something wrong with the mince mate or I mess up the instructions and the first time he tastes my cooking it’s disgusting? I would have been devastated!
Luckily it went pretty well, even though I was slightly annoyed at having to consult the box. You fry an onion with the mince, then you add water, the pack of spices they include as well as the pasta they include to the mince and onions. That gets left to boil as you make the cheese sauce they added to the box. Once the pasta is cooked you add the cheese sauce on top of the mince and pasta combo. Lastly you add cheese on top of that and pop in the oven for it to melt. I was a rebel and skipped this step, the cheese melted perfectly with the heat of the pasta. Sadly it didn’t have that crispiness though!
All in all, it was a really good meal, and you really do get a lot out of the box of mince mate. I just have a small side note though, if you intend to have left overs the following day leave it in the pot so that you add a bit of boiling water to it to get the sauce to be the right consistency again!
Love Jo xo
Jo’s Take Aways
- Don’t be afraid to try something new – it might surprise you
- Make sure what you’re cooking will be good as leftovers
- Get yourself some good company for while you cook!
Jo's food experiences 