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What can your kids cook?


123tree

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So this isn't really a food topic but more of a self sufficient or pathway to adulthood topic.


As a child if my parents were busy they would ask either me or my sisters to start dinner before they got home. Or ask us to make dinner for the family. I guess we started doing stuff like chop or peel vegetables in primary school and then sort of just did it in high school.


Now I am a parent, there is no interest from my kids at all to help. I wondered what sort of dinner type food can your kids prepare and what are their ages.


I am thinking maybe pasta with a jar of sauce poured on top sort of thing. I know that lots of teenagers are great cooks but I am thinking of the really basic side of things.

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DS first cooked spaghetti bolognese when he was 18months old (I am totally genuine in that) but did not keep it up regularly, he has cooked that on and off over the years and a few odd dishes he makes great schnitzel and is ok at baking but this is about it


I know we should get him to help but it takes too much energy really, he makes pizza with my mum and helps my dad BBQ with wood fire and has helped cooked at scouts but nothing is consistent


Oh he wants to do cooking in Year 9 but we can't get to the bottom of why (in a curious way we don't need to know) as I said he has no interest really

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TheGreenSheep

DSs can cook eggs and bacon from about 10-11yo, make their own lunches from 8yo.


DS14 can cook, he can light the bbq and roll and cook burgers and a simple risotto in the thermie. He loved food tech in year 8. He will cook mates brekkie when they stay over. He plans and makes lunches for school. Last nights meal was swedish meatballs, mash and beans. Several steps, numerous ingredients, but he got there and it was delicious. He has dyslexia, so at times it can be super challenging reading the recipe as he misreads the amounts, or skips ingredients or steps. He cooks better, well more confidently, if he can just do his own thing.

DS11 is tasked with cooking a meal a week, he picks the meal and print the recipe and I shop it, then we cook. Hes doing spag bol this week. I encourage them to cook meals they like so that theyre more engaged in the end results.


I hate cooking with the kids. Necessary evil.

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I did Home Economics in school ages 11 and 12. The stuff we cooked was mousetraps ( a toasted cheese type snack), stuffed potatoes, pizza, pasta, scotched eggs, fish with white sauce, filo parcels, pancakes from scratch, scones, a homemade granola etc.

Maybe you could look for a kids cooking class ( so taking mum and dad out of the equation) so they want to come home and cook for you. That's what started me being interested in cooking at home, I wanted to show off what I had learnt.

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My repertoire (god, had to google that spelling) as a teen was spag Bol, tuna mornay, and anything from a tin like beans on toast, and 2 min noodles. And I could peel and boil spuds and carrots and peas. I wasn’t so good at cooking the meat to go with the veg. Oh, and pancakes from a pancake shake thing.


My 6 YO can make toast and pour himself a drink from any container (milk, juice, etc). It’s a start. My kids are very good at raiding the cupboard and fruit bowl for snacks though.

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My oldest (12) can cook some simple meals. He has issues with executive functioning so more complex recipes lose him, but with no problems he can cook:

eggs (scrambled or fried)

2 min noodles with peas and a fried egg

mashed potato

bacon and eggs

Nagi's baked sausages and veg (leaving out the gravy)

Chicken burgers

chicken snitzel with steamed veg (the timing can be a bit rough on the veg)


Now my younger kid (10)? He enjoys baking/cooking. he's often in the kitchen helping me with dinner prep.

He will make:

Muffins (my recipe, with some input)

Cheesecake (Some parental help)

Spaghetti

Eggs

Noodles or different variations

Stir fry (some help)

Scrolls with help with the dough as he's too puny to knead it properly)

chicken burgers

toasted sandwiches

Chicken sticks with veg

Pasties (veg in pastry)

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ClaudiaCosette

My kids (7 & 8) like to help with pizza - they're a bit fussy on what toppings they like, so I give them a pizza base each and they chop and top themselves.


They can also mix pancakes and muffins themselves (simple recipes). They can make themselves toast and they get their own breakfast and snacks. We have a few kids' cookbooks so sometimes they find something they want to try and I help them with it (usually desserts or sweet stuff! But I figure it's all good cooking practice).

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DS10 can cook mac n cheese. Noodles and peanut butter toast.

DS8 can cook steak and sausages and corn


So I suppose between the two of them they might survive?

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My kids (7 & 8) like to help with pizza - they're a bit fussy on what toppings they like, so I give them a pizza base each and they chop and top themselves.


They can also mix pancakes and muffins themselves (simple recipes). They can make themselves toast and they get their own breakfast and snacks. We have a few kids' cookbooks so sometimes they find something they want to try and I help them with it (usually desserts or sweet stuff! But I figure it's all good cooking practice).

 

This is pretty much what I was going to say for my 7yo (and to a lesser extent 4yo). They put their lunchboxes together sometimes, using some things I have frozen and some fresh things. The 7yo can also do some simple nachos in the oven.

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The kids doing home ec/food tech at school has delivered such great benefits. Each kid was able to make omelettes and toast since they were 9 or 10, but after each one did food tech, they were really keen to be creative and all family members are on the weekly roster to cook dinner. Meals they cook include spaghetti bolognaise, vegetarian lasagne, quiches, shepherds pie, chicken stir fry, chicken stroganoff, lentil based vegetarian curries, steak and veggies. They love to bake as well - pavlova, macarons, brownies, biscuits.

Cooking rosters are great in reducing thought load.

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DS7 can follow the recipe to make pancakes, fruit crumbles, custard, simple cakes & biscuits and loves to help out with peeling and chopping veggies. He’s able to make himself beans, spaghetti, tomato or avo on toast. He made meringue nests for Christmas with supervision, which I thought was impressive!

He’s careful but easily distracted so I’m always around to give him a hand with hot stuff.

DS4 loves to help chop & peel veg & fruit, loves to measure flour, crack eggs and stir while baking.

My siblings & I grew up cooking alongside my mum (I could cook a full roast dinner by 14, still remember the pride I felt in that) and I want my boys to be fully capable of cooking a healthy meal from scratch not pre-prepared. We’re still working on the cleaning up bit 😉

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DS is 7 and DD is almost 5. Together they can make banana muffin mixture, and I help with putting them in the oven and getting them out. It is slightly messier than when I do it. DS can also peel and chop veggies (potatoes, carrots, broccoli etc) for dinner and enjoys doing that. They can also do pancake mix. They can also make toast and warm milk/milo in the microwave. I cracked it with home schooling on a couple of separate days last year and did “mummy’s school of life” and taught them to use the dishwasher and washing machine, so they can put washing and dishes on, and they can both hand washing out and unpack the dishwasher. DD loves unpacking the dishwasher which is great for me!

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Now I am a parent, there is no interest from my kids at all to help. I wondered what sort of dinner type food can your kids prepare and what are their ages.


I am thinking maybe pasta with a jar of sauce poured on top sort of thing. I know that lots of teenagers are great cooks but I am thinking of the really basic side of things.

DH and I enjoy cooking and we try to cook from scratch so the kids have learned because they are around and I get them to help. They don’t always want to but that subconscious learning stays with them.


From probably age 4, I have got them to help wash, peel and chop veg. It might or might not make it into the final dish (some items are so mangled i discretely toss it). I get them to help stir from when they could stand. I rarely made them help from beginning to end while in primary school but they would help for parts of it most days.


They loved the feeling of independence, so I had the toaster and electric egg cooker set up so they could make their own breakfast around age 5/6yrs. I would put a small pat of butter in a butter dish too so they didn’t ruin the whole tub.


By late primary/early high school age, they were able to make simple meals and by mid high school age, they can menu plan, shop, budget and cook a decent meal.


I’ve been criticised by people for being ‘lazy’ and making my kids do this housework, but my theory is that my job as a parent is to teach them how to be successful adults. Part of that is knowing about housework and how to feed oneself.


My kids have also been expected to make their beds since primary school and strip their beds once a week for washing. They know how to use the machine and how to remake the beds too. Of course I didn’t expect perfection from a young child and had to resist remaking it because they were so proud of their own handiwork, but I am always available to help. During school term, I will wash and remake the beds for them if they strip it. If they don’t, I will strip it and have a snoop in their rooms while I do so. It’s motivation enough for the teens to do it themselves and keep me out.

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My son burned his fingers at about 3 helping me cook the spag bol for dinner!


From babies they sat in their booster at the bench when I prepped dinner and from about 18 months they had a butter knife “cutting” vegetables with me.


DS loves to cook and DD loves to bake so she will often just make cakes, biscuits, muffins etc. she makes them from scratch (I love a packet).


When I was married I did a lot less paid work so they helped if they wanted but when I separated we became a team for this stuff.


So in the mornings we all pitch in to get breakfast ready and make lunches, at dinner they help with serving up or cooking some elements.


During lockdown 1 we started following Nat’s what I reckon and we now make spag bol from scratch and we love it.


So they can comfortably follow any recipe really (no fancy French techniques or anything but DD can cream butter and sugar like a demon which I HATE doing) they just might need help with some steps or hot ovens/stoves.


Our kitchen at the moment is a long thin U and is not great for us all to be in at once but we get by. In the new house I moved the sink to the centre of the island bench (from one end) so they have room at either end and they have power points in the bar back as they inevitably want to do stuff at the same time.

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My kids couldn't cook to even feed themselves when they lived at home. It was not something I got into with them because I was flat out trying to work and earn enough to keep a roof over our heads. The could make toast, baked beans on toast, use the microwave and electric jug, so microwave meals and 2 minute noodles were within their scope.


They are now adults. My son is an AMAZING cook, he has made meals that could grace the tables of the finest restaurants.

My oldest daughter has a vegetable garden that takes up her entire backyard. She preserves, decorates cakes, bakes her own bread, makes incredible food.

My youngest daughter...well, she has not forgotten her beginnings. If she "cooks" a meal, it basically needs to be mostly made first and she just finishes it off.

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I didn't learn to cook until my mid 20's; it just didn't interest me til then. I mean I could feed myself - toast, microwaving stuff, two minute noodles - but proper balanced meals with lots of veg, not so much.

I think focus on safety stuff first - pasta and jar sauce still achieves that, because you have to be careful not to burn yourself - and then don't worry too much about the rest. You don't want cooking to become a chore. If you need them to prepare meals for the family that's different, obviously.

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My kids are 11 and 13. They both enjoy baking (DS11 more than DD13) and can follow just about any recipe and get a fairly good result - neenish tarts and lammingtons any one! My waistline is really struggling with all this Covid baking.


Cooking is another matter. They have no real interest in cooking (just like me it's a chore) and since I'm home full time again now with Covid I don't expect them to but I reckon if they were given a recipe they could probably make most things including spag bol or lasagne, tacos, tray bakes etc . Generally if they are going to cook anything I will still help them, more for moral support and to make it go faster, but things they have done by themselves.....DD is great at cooking bacon, DS does great scrambled eggs, they do pasta with jar sauce for lunch, nachos in the microwave, they make their own sandwiches. They can do a basic steak or sausages on the BBQ.

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DD1 could prepare a full meal for the family in year 7. She used simple recipes (pastas, curries, roasts, slow cooker) and the meals were mostly great. DD2 (14) can also cook similar meals. DD3 (13) can cook pasta dishes. All 3 can bake and have done since they were early primary school.


The school they attend has a year 9 campus where students cook all their own meals. High incentive to know how to cook before they attend!

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I would have thought nothing but toast and two minute noodles however they obviously learned by simply being in the vicinity while DH and I cooked as they are all adults who can cook now. Just as their tastes have improved as they matured so did their understanding that if they didn't cook once they left home they would get hungry.


I am not someone who encouraged my children being in the kitchen with me ( bad mum ), it was too small and there were too many of them. I got no joy from cooking, it was something I did because we had to eat but no future adults were harmed by this.

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By high school I want my kids to be able to cook a meal on the night/s we are home late. Though our schedules have changed a bit so I have not done this as much as of late.


Dd14 can cook some things and I have just started with DS12 who has ADHD. What I have discovered is DS does pretty good, but needs detailed instructions, I have been leaving him with meat and vegetables. I detail it to the level of how long to boil the steamer for, when to put each veg in and even how long to preheat the oven for. The good thing about meat and vegetables is it is low maintenance time wise. Whereas when my DD cooks something like spaghetti she often burns it or overcooks the pasta she she gets busy doing something else. Maybe if I wrote the times out for her it might go better lol!


My hope after time is I will no longer need detailed instructions...

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By high school I want my kids to be able to cook a meal on the night/s we are home late. Though our schedules have changed a bit so I have not done this as much as of late.


Dd14 can cook some things and I have just started with DS12 who has ADHD. What I have discovered is DS does pretty good, but needs detailed instructions, I have been leaving him with meat and vegetables. I detail it to the level of how long to boil the steamer for, when to put each veg in and even how long to preheat the oven for. The good thing about meat and vegetables is it is low maintenance time wise. Whereas when my DD cooks something like spaghetti she often burns it or overcooks the pasta she she gets busy doing something else. Maybe if I wrote the times out for her it might go better lol!


My hope after time is I will no longer need detailed instructions...

 

Google has been of tremendous help in our household. I’ve always cooked by reverse engineering restaurant dishes and improvisation (not saying my food is of that standard, but that’s how I got ideas and if I couldn’t figure something out, I’d improvise). I’ve never followed a recipe in my life. The kids, however, insisted on recipes from the beginning, so we/they would Google for recipes. Both ways work & the older two now also improvise a lot.

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