Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
29 y.o. daughter lives 400 miles away with SO in studio apartment with very little storage. She is discouraged by her cooking attempts and says she is too tired coming home from work to even want to cook so grabs a sub or cereal for supper. She gets a great free lunch at work every day so I don't know how much incentive she has to really learn how to cook. She says everything she makes is a failure but once in a while she posts pic on her FB. Money is tight between the 2 of them as he is in graduate school.
How can I help her? I've started off by making a list of bare essentials in way of equipment, herbs, appliances she will need. I also suggested she won't learn to love cooking until she has a few successes under her belt so she shouldn't try anything except basics like baked chicken and pork chops, meat balls, pork tenderloin, etc. I think SO would like to join in as they are spending way too much money on eating out.
What else can I do to boost her confidence or help her learn to cook. She was so involved in extra curricular activities after school that she rarely helped me in the kitchen and here she is with no cooking skills. very sad. I had even less experience when I was newly married but I quickly learned how to cook and enjoyed it very much. My two 10 y.o. girls know their way around the kitchen better than oldest daughter does!
I second the crockpot, and also a couple of good cookbooks she can read that will teach her the basics. Teach her the basics of a good stocked pantry (for cheap as she's on a budget), and I always encourage cooking shows - whatever chef she would like to learn from and want to watch. But cooking is something she'll become successful at when she wants to learn and is interested in it..if she views it as a chore, she won't want to learn. It may take time. Definitely the SO should get involved, it's fun that way! Maybe they can make a list of thier favorite foods/dishes and make a goal to learn to make those first (and then can branch off from there once they find they are successful and motivated to learn/try new things?)
Better Homes and garden cookbook. Focus on the made in 30min meals. She'll get the idea and move to more complicated meals after that. Or not, some just can get into cooking but still love good food.
BTW Kudzu I've found that once my oldest reached college/20's she only did what she was motivated internally to do. I'm sensing guilt on your part, I wouldnt have any if I were you.
My son came home from a middle school book fair with a student cookbook. It addressed the needs of poor college students. He was quite thrilled to 'master' pita pizza, spaghetti with meat sauce and a skillet dinner using the ubiquitous mushroom soup. I offered to help with preparation but was ordered out of the kitchen. I spent that time reading through my home owners insurance policy; I was rather sure that there would be fire damage.
I agree with the opinions posted above. It's pretty hard to mess up a tried and true crock pot meal. Meals in 30 minutes is a good idea. If she knows how to boil water and use a can opener, she won't starve.
When I was 6 and 7 years old I remember my (much older) sister asking me how to set up the percolator, fry an egg and cook oatmeal. How do people not know these things? Answer: they weren't born to cook. Now, decades later, she calls me to tell me of her success with her Red Velvet Cake and Roasted Garlic Meatloaf.
In short, give her a few easy, basic, no fail recipes. Once she successfully makes an easy, quick, satisfying meal, she may realize that cooking is a good thing.
The crock pot is a good way go. No need to even buy a recipe book, just google some recipes. Tacos and fajitas are super easy. For the fajitas she could buy the frozen packages of fajita veggies from the store. P\
Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything has some great simple instructions if you want to go the cook book route, but give her age I would say she's probably better off with videos on the internet.
Lots of info on line for simple cooking. Yes, crockpot is a great way to start.
Keep it simple at first. Success builds confidence.
Cooking classes are sometimes offered at local stores, shops etc.
Easy things like: roast chicken, soups, meat roasts, brasing, salads with all kinds of stuff in them.....
I say buy fresh and use only s&p. Fresh chicken, steak, seafood, veggies, etc. Simple cooking, throw it on the grill/stove top grill. Keep it simple and don't eat as little out of a can as possible.
I would suggest starting slow and easy with this and go from there, it is tough to help someone learn how to cook from such a distance but the slow cooker I have is the one that comes with the tote bag and is used in our home about 4 days a week. Meatloaf, soups, roasts, beef and noodles, vegetables, etc.
This one is mine and I have 2 of them $40.89 is their listed price and well worth the investment.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
