Teaching kids to cook puts them on the road to independence and social success! Children can start at age 11, adding one recipe per year after that. They may not appreciate being assigned a cooking chore, but in the long run, you're doing them a favor by teaching them a necessary skill. And adults who now how to cook can eat healthier and cheaper.
Here are five easy, inexpensive recipes to get them started on the right track!
Age 11: Spaghetti
It's easy, and most kids like it. Start my just teaching them to make the pasta and heat up a can of sauce with some meat. After they've mastered this, teach them how to add some chopped veggies, like garlic or carrots or peppers. Then add some homemade garlic bread (just chop fresh garlic up, add it to butter with some parsley, and spread it on bread. Broil it, and you're done! Just check the timer. I'm forever burning mine).
Age 12: Chicken pie/chicken rice casserole.
This is one of my children's favourite meals, so we taught this young. And it's not that difficult:
Add leftover chicken
1 can cream of something soup (whatever is in your cupboard)
1 cup gravy (leftover, or the instant kind, or a can)
a lot of frozen veggies, or chopped fresh carrots, etc.
Heat it all up, and then either put it in some pie shells and bake it, or add rice to it, add a bit of sour cream, sprinkle with cheese and breadcrumbs, and cook as a rice casserole. It's great either way!
Year 13: Chicken and potatoes
Learning how to make a roast chicken is a perfect introduction to the teen years! It feels like a very grown up thing to do, but it's remarkably easy. And it gives them the ability to come up with the leftover chicken to use in the above recipe!
Most kids, though, feel very threatened by making a whole chicken, plus they think the meat is gross, so it's best to leave this until age 13.
The benefits of learning how to roast a chicken is that your child will realize how easy it is! And if you teach them how to make different side dishes, from baked potatoes to mashed potatoes or rice, then they're all set. Now no matter which meat they roast they can make a meal! Gravy is a little trickier, but you can talk about this as a science experiment!
Year 14: Grilled ham.
We make ours my dipping slices in maple syrup and then grilling on a frying pan or on the barbecue, depending on the time of year.
The ham is not the difficult part. The challenge at age 14 is teaching something impressive, like scalloped potatoes as a sidedish. It's not difficult, but it requires using a sharp knife, and so probably shouldn't be learned until this age.
Year 15: Shepherd's Pie.
Again, it's easy. But I leave it until later because I always find this meal takes a bit of time because of all the peeling of potatoes and chopping and mashing, and the kids don't like doing that work as much. Here's our recipe, though you may have your own favorite:
Brown 1 1/2 pounds ground beef.
Add 1 tin of tomato soup
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
a pinch of garlic powder and salt and paprika
Layer this in a pan. Cover with frozen veggies. Add mashed potatoes on top of that. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake at 400 for half and hour. If it's not brown on top, broil for a minute or two.
You now have five recipes that are easy, comfort foods that are inexpensive to make. Choose your own family favorites for the remaining years.
Teach them regularly, give them one night a week to cook, and you will soon find that your teen is more responsible, more amenable, and more independent!
And now I'd like to invite you to download my FREE grocery shopping chart, to help you get organized before you head out!
Sheila Wray Gregoire is the author of four books, including To Love, Honor and Vacuum. She blogs at http://tolovehonorandvacuum.blogspot.com
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