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I have a 14yr old daughter that I'd like to teach how to do some basic cook'n. Her mom doesn't cook, or wouldn't take the time......and she can't cook worth a ___ anyway.
Have gotten her to help make homemade pasta, but that was a couple yrs ago when I was cool....now I'm a nerd.
Do I "make" her help, other than setting table or doing dishes? Tried the trade off where she helps cook and I do all dishes....no go. Or do I just wait for her to be interested?
Do you guys have any recipes that help get your kids interested? Any "tricks"?
FYI - I am single and have the kids every other week for the whole week.
There is a difference in teaching kids how to cook, and motivating a disinterested teen into doing something they don't want to do. You can work with kids in the kitchen who want to cook, and have fun. But dragging a teen into the kitchen when they don't want to be there is a whole other issue. And define "cooking", maybe you set the bar so high she is overwhelmed. Start with Ramen, making a salad, some brownies, from a mix. That makes it pretty laid back...the goal is getting her interested in making food? If you want her to work on a three course gourmet meal with homemade pasta...that is a bit much. Start where she is at...not where you are.
How about trying to have her be in the kitchen when you preparing some kind of simple dish - that later she could make on her own - and she could do part of it with you. While doing that you could be having a fun conversation. Another incentive may be to have her bake something that would be fun, as a desert. Nothing like success to get her interested.
I think most would start with something she really likes. What is her favorite food or what does she want to make for her Mom to impress her?
Take her to a bookstore with a good cooking section. There are some cupcake decorating books that are so funny and might get her interested in doing something in the kitchen. Got to start somewhere.
How about a cooking class with Dad? Most of those teachers can make anyone interested in cooking. Or maybe one night with a personal chef to work on meals while daughter watches/helps? We all know that other adults are way more interesting than Mom or Dad.
There are cookbooks for all interests. For the scientific or engineer, Cooks Illustrated magazine and books are great. There are picture cookbooks and books for children or teenagers.
I buy mixes for my daughter to make on her own. She gets very excited about being able to do the whole thing from start to finish, and she's always offering to make muffins or brownies for us. She can also make a batch of bread dough (using the stand mixer) or sugar cookies from scratch.
Personally, I wouldn't start with homemade pasta...I cook just about everything from scratch but homemade pasta is too much work.
I've been teaching my 10 yo girls how to cook since they were 5. One has more interest than the other but both seem to enjoy it. These are some random suggestions and some ideas I have used:
1-great spiral bound cook books for kids for gifts. I use these recipes all the time because they are simple-not necessarily because they are geared towards kids so tell her to disregard the kid models in the pictures.
2) knife skills- We took each knife out of the stand and talked about what each one was for and how to best use it. Keep your knives extra sharp and give her confidence with supervised use.
3) Definitions- I made a list of common cooking terms and we looked them up and found examples. Next I made a list of French terms which was extra fun when I told them we were having a French Lesson.
4) pretty aprons- don't laugh- girls love pretty aprons and they should be used to keep clothes clean.
5) proper equipment- took them around the kitchen on a scavenger hunt for all the different equipment I have. After we got everything out we talked about how they are used and how to care for them.
6) use of math skills in cooking.
7) how to read nutrition labels and how to shop for best prices and best products in the grocery store
8)Let her decide on a special dish she likes and have her do the shopping with cash and a budget. The more she has invested time and energy wise, the more interested she will be.
9) let her show off her skills for other family members or friends. If she can show off her skills to others she will want to go further and further into cooking skills
10) all of the above might seem like overkill but it works for us. After all cooking is not just walking into a kitchen and starting "to cook". It takes some prep and knowledge to be successful.
I've found the best way to introduce a child to cooking is by doing so with food that is not normally something you would serve or at the very least a different version.
For instance, make individual snack pizzas - not necessarily for dinner. The 'crust' is a cheap biscuit flattened and then baked according to directions. Then add a little pizza sauce. Top with each persons favorite topping. Have available whatever they normally like......pepperoni, sausage and/or bacon, (precooked), olives, mushrooms, mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan, etc. Bake or broil long enough to heat up the meat and melt the cheese.
Or, using the same type biscuits make a version of pineapple upside down cake. Melt some butter in the bottom of a small pan and cover with brown sugar til most of the butter is absorbed. Add a layer of crushed pineapple then cover with a layer of biscuits. Bake until the biscuits are done.
For breakfast, use the same type biscuits once again and roll a cocktail sausage inside then bake. Scramble up some eggs and you are good to go. This is the breakfast my 14 yr old daughter loves to make for us.
My son who is 10 loves to make his own chicken strips (actually asked to make them tonight for dinner!) I buy the chicken ready to use and he puts the strips in a bag with either the store bought shake and bake type thing or one we make up and coats them, puts them on the pan and I put them in the oven. Super simple and it's his meal he makes for the family.
Anything that is easy and interesting and can be 'theirs' instead of yours. Once they get interested in making their own things they branch out from there. Often, however, they do not want to make things that they consider mom's or dad's signature dish. They want their own dishes.
I used to "help" my mom cook all the time, but I never learned to really cook until I had to PLAN the meal, which is really the hardest part of cooking to me.
Let her plan dinner one night, her choice, and let look through recipes, gather the ingredients, and then YOU offer to help her.
Maybe when she chooses what to cook, she will be more motivated. That helped my boys get interested.
How about just telling her. " OK, I get it. You're not interested in learning to cook. But you need to learn some basics so you won't be helpless in the kitchen when you're on your own." Teach her how to use a knife, how to saute, how to chop veggies, fruits, etc. How to melt butter without burning it. How to chop up a whole chicken. How to use a crockpot. Not only the hows, but the whys. I learned the how, but never the whys. As a result, I'm a slouch in the kitchen.
I was forced to cook sunday dinners when I was 14 for a couple of years (mom worked 12 hour shifts on Sunday), and I. HATED. EVERY. MINUTE. OF IT. I wasn't taught the basics, so dinner was a disappointment frequently. ;P
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