INPUT ARTICLE: Article: If you're in a rush, Hamburger Helper can be prepared entirely in the microwave with the same basic approach as above. To start, crumble your beef into a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat the meat on high for about five to seven minutes or until any residual pinkness is gone. Break up the meat and stir at the three-minute mark. Don't forget to crumble the meat as you put it in the bowl and to break it up halfway through the cooking process. Microwaving a single solid block of ground beef will lead to uneven cooking. Any of the draining techniques covered in the section above will work just as well here. Remember that, to avoid clogged drains, pour cooled grease into the garbage, not the sink. Stir well to combine in the bowl with the cooked ground beef. Stop the cooking to stir the mixture every five minutes or so. Don't cover the bowl completely as it cooks. You can use a microwave-safe lid to reduce splatters, but leave it open a crack so that steam and pressure do not build up in the container. Use oven mitts or a towel to protect your hands when you stir. After a few minutes of cooking, the bowl will be very hot. Test the pasta for done-ness every time you stop to stir the casserole. Your dish is ready to serve when the pasta has a semi-soft texture that offers a little resistance (in other words, when it's "al dente"). Carefully transfer the hot bowl out of the microwave and let it cool somewhere safe for high temperatures (like an unused burner on the stove). As in the method above, the cooling period is important — the sauce will continue to thicken even after the bowl is removed from the heat.

SUMMARY: Microwave beef on high until cooked all the way through. Drain the grease. Add pasta, milk, hot water, and sauce mix. Microwave on high for about 14-19 minutes. Remove from microwave and let cool when pasta is al dente.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Before purchasing check local codes to ensure that you can use a chimenea and will have room to properly place it.  Your area may have restrictions on the type of fire pit you are allowed to have. Get in contact the planning offices in your area to see if any restrictions apply. Chimeneas are heavy and moving one isn’t always easy. However, you may have more options closer to your home than other types of fire pits due to the chimenea’s chimney and smaller mouth.   Find a flat, stable, non-combustible natural surface. Bricks, gravel, granite, paving stones and concrete are great options. Don’t place your chimenea under any trees or other overhangs. The longer smokestack produces a lot of heat which is directed upward. This could cause objects above it to catch fire. It’s a good idea to place sand or lava rock in the bottom of your bowl. Fill it to about two inches below the opening. This helps to keep the base of chimenea from overheating while burning a fire. The easiest way to get a fire going in your chimenea is to sort your wood, kindling, and tinder.  To help you build the best fire, sort your materials by size. You don't need many large logs for a chimenea. If you have a new one, your first several fires should be much smaller. Your chimenea needs to get broken in. If you build too big of a fire, the heat could crack the clay. If you plan to cook any food over your fire, don’t use any starter logs or gels. These items contain chemicals which get into the smoke and can get on your food. Make sure that you use dry wood. If there’s any moisture in the wood, it will be harder to start your fire. You can easily find tinder in your own yard from dry grass and leaves that you rake up. Otherwise, newspaper works well. Keep a bucket of dirt or sand nearby in case you need to put your fire out quickly. Consider placing a few bricks in the bed of your chimenea as well, to act as a bed for your wood. You can stack the logs on top of the bricks. Your chimenea is similar to a fireplace inside a home. So you can stack your materials with the larger pieces on the bottom. Or you can use the teepee method.   If your chimenea is relatively new, it’s a good idea to start with small fires the first couple of times. This will season your chimenea and not cause it to overheat or break. To make a teepee fire, place your tinder in the bottom of your bowl. Keep your tinder in a ball and lay your kindling around it. Stack the sticks around your tinder in the shape of a teepee. You can then place your larger logs around your kindling. Keep a little open area so you can easily reach in and light your tinder. If you're breaking in your chimenea, don’t add larger logs, just use kindling and smaller sticks.   For a criss-cross, or log cabin stacking method, stack a few logs over your bricks. Add your tinder, then stack your kindling over in a criss-cross. You don’t need a lot of wood as the chimenea is meant for smaller fires. Never use pressure treated wood. It emits toxic fumes. You can tell if the wood is pressure treated by its green tint. Don’t fill your chimenea with too much wood. Your fire should be small enough so it does not ascend into the smokestack. When lighting your fire, the safest way is to use a long match or lighter.  You may want to light your tinder in a couple places to help the fire get going. If you are using any newspaper, you can also shove balls of it under your larger logs. Light the newspaper with your tinder. Pine wood is a good option in a chimenea as it smells nice, wards off mosquitos, and burns well without getting too hot. Hardwoods like oak, ash, cherry, maple, will burn best in your chimenea as these don’t produce as many sparks and last longer than softwoods. If you do plan to use wood that emits more sparks, use a spark arrestor. This metal piece of equipment goes inside your smokestack and will extinguish sparks. As your wood begins to burn down it will create coals. You can use these coals to keep start new logs, or for cooking. Be careful not to add too much new wood, causing your fire to get too high.  Use a poker or large stick to move your coals and embers together. Add some oxygen by blowing on the coals to add more heat. Once you’re done enjoying your fire pit, properly put out the fire.  Never use water to put a fire out in your chimenea, especially if you have a clay one. The shock from the temperature change can break the clay. Let the fire go out naturally. If you’ve been properly monitoring your fire, you won’t have put too much wood in your chimenea. If you have a lid for your smokestack, place it over to restrict air flow. You can also dump sand on your embers to help extinguish the fire. A chimenea needs a bit more attention than other types of fire pits due to the materials it's made of and design.  Invest in a waterproof cover to keep it dry. Chiminea sealer will help to keep the clay from cracking. When you shovel out your ashes, rinse any rocks you have in the bottom. Let the rocks dry completely.

SUMMARY:
Check with your local municipality to make sure you can legally use a Chimenea. Place your chimenea in a safe place where you won’t have to move it. Gather your materials for a fire. Place your materials in your fire pit. Light the fire. Maintain your fire. Put out your fire. Keep your chimenea in good shape.