athena1277 Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Dd turned 10yo several weeks ago. I would really like to start teaching her to cook some simple meals. I'm just not sure where to start. One problem is she is terrified of turning on the gas burners. It's really easy, but she is afraid there will be too much gas getting into the air before it lights and it will start a major fire. Yes, she is a worrier and always afraid of getting hurt when trying something new. She can use the oven and take out hot things with a mitt. The other problem is that she has to eat gluten-free. Because of this, some easy things that other kids could make are too complicated for her starting out. Any ideas for helping her learn this skill would be appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barefoot Explorer Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Maybe you could teach her some crock-pot meals. That way she can make a soup or a roast and not have to worry about high heat. I actually envy you for having a cautious child. Mine wants to flip the bacon at 4 years old. Yikes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenangelcat Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 When my kids hit that age, I'm just going to pull out Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything and start at the beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnificent_baby Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 When I'm teaching my 9 year old, I make her do everything I would do (for the most part). I do light the gas range and any chopping. She measures, stirs, etc. while I tell her step by step what to do. She isn't crazy about cooking, but does get really excited to use her own (kids) cookbook. Just let her jump right in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renmew Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 All three of my kids can cook up eggs, scrambled or over-easy, on the stove, and make quesadillas (corn tortillas, pre-grated cheese) in the microwave. Well, I turn on the stove for the girls, but then I can walk away. All can also make their own sandwiches, being pbj or deli meat. I'd say start with some of her favorites, and turn on the stove for her until she is ready for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slipper Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 My daughter is 11 1/2. A couple of years ago, I started teaching her how to cook. She also has Celiac Disease and even the smallest contamination or cross-contamination can make her ill for weeks. I told her when she was diagnosed (age 6) that she would be responsible for her health as much as possible as this is a life-long condition. We started by teaching her how to read labels and identify gluten in all of it's various forms. I want her to be able to go to college and not worry about what to eat - to go to classes, come home and cook something fabulous and for it to be effortless. She knows how to cook simple things and some complete meals. She's small for her age so I've been the one to keep her away from the stove until recently. She has some gadgets (tea-maker, rice cooker that also steams vegetables, water boiler teapot that plugs in, her own toaster, sandwich maker, etc). I've shown her how to prep vegetables properly, put them in steamer bags and microwave them. She did a lot of oven cooked items (baked fish, shrimp, chicken, hamburgers, meatloaf) and up to more complicated things (breading her own chicken and fish, creating sauces for the fish and shrimp). Eventually, she would pair the things she cooked in the oven with homemade mashed potatoes (cooking potatoes in the microwave), main item, salad (making her own dressings since she loves oil and vinegar) and veggies. Our relatives have encouraged her by gifting her with cutting boards, utensils and a knife set. She writes down the recipes she loves and puts them in her own cookbook. (We re-portion the recipe to feed 1 - 2 people). She does packaged desserts (oven) without problem and will occasionally try desserts from scratch in cookbooks. Our most enjoyable activity is to watch cooking shows or look at magazines, find a recipe and think - "We can do that gluten free" and figure out how. I heavily encouraged experimentation and even failure, all for the sake of trying. If a recipe bombed, we sorted out how it could be improved and tried again. She wants to learn how to decorate cakes so that's our next step. (Although the very next thing we are doing are those pudding cakes - remember? - you bake a cake, poke holes in it and then pour pudding on top? She's dying to try it out). When we have company, I let her cook for all of us and it's fantastic. The guests are always impressed with the meals. (On cleaning, she bombs, but I guess we can't have everything all at once - lol) Good luck, you'll have tons of fun - there are SO many things you can do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Dd11 can cook anything. Better than I can most days since i am a decent baker snd a lousy cook. We are working on her baking skills and her knife skills are rough because her hands are small, but she does good. The most important thing I taught her was how to follow a recipe. She has her own copy of How To Cook Anything and a apron that fits her. She lights the gas stove herself - it just took a little practice for her to get used to it. We are still working on masteringncleanupmskills here too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orthodox6 Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 When we had gas, the pilot light remained lit. All I had to do was turn the knob. I'm puzzled why this would worry the girl so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena1277 Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 Thank you for all the ideas! She can fix a sandwich and usually fixes her own simple lunch. Any other ideas for meals she could learn? I think I need to make a list of all these ideas and help her work through them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Mine all started with baking. Now they all can cook just about anything we have a recipe for. My ds15 is a great omelet chef and dd loves to create her own desserts now. My ds17 does not like to cook but is able to do the basics to survive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnificent_baby Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 When we had gas, the pilot light remained lit. All I had to do was turn the knob. I'm puzzled why this would worry the girl so much. Mine doesn't. You turn it to high, it clicks several times, lights the flame, and then you turn it to the desired temp. Occasionally, it doesn't light right away, so there is gas coming out for a few seconds. It worries me sometimes too! :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 We don't have the gas or gf issues to deal with, but I do freak out when my kids use sharp knives, electric mixers, and the food processor, but the more they practice, the more I relax. I pretty much just handed my kids fun cookbooks and told them to have at it. They all gravitate more toward snacks and desserts than meals, lol, but they're branching out. They've discovered allrecipes.com, so I've been cooking less and less. I do have to keep tabs on the 9yo, since she struggles with math and we usually double recipes. I also prefer to drain pasta than let them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 We started with scrambled eggs, then pancakes. Once DD mastered the perfect pancake, we moved on to stir fry (lots of chopping practice there) and then on to anything baked in the oven (baked chicken, roast beast, baked potatos, cassaroles, etc). On the baking front, we started with cookies because they are easy. She has now mastered cakes and brownies and does a good biscuit. We haven't attempted pie crusts yet because that's advanced magic, but she can fill and bake them once the crust is done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieSong Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 One of our dds learned to cook by watching Rachael Ray and trying out her recipes. The others learned by helping me bake cookies, make pancakes, eggs, brown ground beef, etc. Could she make some kind of simple soup? Could you start the burner for her, at least for now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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