re: Messed up roast

Hi Pat, first of all, don't take it too hard, I think most of us had our share of problems when we first started. Someday you will look back and laugh at this. My all time classic goof-up was a liver loaf. I know, I must have been been out to lunch to even try something with that name. Let's just leave it at... it was totally inedible!
I am guessing here, but it sounds as though you had a cut of meat that needed to be pot roasted and you dry roasted it instead. To cook a piece of chuck or round roast like that, it is better to cook in a little liquid with a cover on it for the 3 or 4 hours. A dutch oven works well for this or one of those really inexpensive little oval roasters that has a cover. They are enameled metal, usually dark blue with white specks. Lacking anything with a cover, you could tightly cover your pan with aluminum foil. The 350 degrees should be okay, but I prefer 325 degrees.

You can look up recipes here on kitchen link using pot roast as a search term. There will be several recipes using soup mix or canned soup. You might look for some of the ones that Gina/FL has posted, her recipes are tested and good. There are many others also.

A good basic cookbook is really helpful. One such as Joy of Cooking is good. I haven't bought a basic in several years, someone else may have better suggestions.

A basic cookbook will also give you pictures and suggestions for using the various cuts of meat available. There is also a Cooks Thesaurus here on the net that has excellent pictures of the cuts of meat. Lots of other helpful info also.