Mekanamom Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Mine just learned how to make pasta noodles from scratch at a 4-H project meeting, and I was thinking of putting the 11 yo and 9 yo in charge of making a simple dinner once a week. (With help from me when needed.) This would be a case of me helping them, and not them helping me, if ykwim. How often do your kids cook dinner for the family? How old were they when they started? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle T Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 he does zero cooking for family, other than microwaving a bag of popcorn. Michelle T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imeverywoman Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Something's gotta give. And soon. :eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I've been baking and cooking with my kids since they could stand upright without falling over. They can all make any breakfast they like, lunches, and some dinners, and lots of desserts, and pizza. It is only in the last year or so that they may use the stove and oven without me hovering over them. I have to be home, though. I also prefer that they use sharp knives for paring and cutting only when I am around. I do have one son who hates cooking. He says that frozen meals and a microwave will supply good enough food for him when he grows up. Still, he has to help me make meals sometimes, just to keep his hand in. I keep hoping someday he'll like it. The other 3 DC are great at cooking and baking, but I never did teach them to clean up. That's the next thing on my agenda: How to wash pots and pans, etc. I'm very fussy about the care of my kitchen equipment, but I have to relinquish that control or they will never learn how to wash up. Naturally, they still have a lot to learn, but the basics are there. I don't usually let them cook dinner for the family by themselves -- I figure when they reach age 14 they can each take one night a week to cook. By that time, everyone will be fully trained in meal planning, shopping, preparation, and clean-up. We are in the process of moving from my Southern cooking methods to a healthier style, too, so there are some major changes on the horizon. I love to cook and bake, with the kids or without them. RC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imeverywoman Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 my kids LOVE cooking with me, but to prepare themselves a meal on their own...it ain't happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenschooler Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Everyone cooks around here. I started them as early as I could, with my evil goal in mind :D. Dh always cooks on Sunday - he likes to either throw something on the grill, cook up a big pot of chili, or something to that effect. On Wednesdays, dh & the kids eat at church. Each of the two older dds have a night (although which night is flexible, depending on what else they have going on), so that leaves three for me. Dd9 helps me on those nights, and she's starting to really show an interest. That's my girl! :) I cook breakfast almost every day, but often the dds will jump in and do it. Cooking breakfast is so much easier to me than dinner, for some reason. They've been cooking breakfast and helping to make lunch and dinner since they were wee little (6?) with supervision, and get their own 'dinner nights' when they are around - can't remember - 11? 12, maybe. No, more like 10 or 11. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natalieclare Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I haven't made breakfast in a couple of years, unless I want to do something special --and we always have a hot breakfast. I sometimes make lunch. I am usually the one making dinner, but I really really enjoy it when my kids are in the kitchen with me, collaberating. Sometimes they are in charge of a whole dish; other times they just help with the components. We intended to do the once-a-week-it's-your-turn thing, but I'm just too disorganized...strike that...spontaneous for that. With me coaching by cell phone, my girls (14 and 13) often cook when I am out running one child or the other to a practice or job. My 11yob, on the other hand, is just now making toasted cheese! He is not quite as steady or independent as his sisters. But he is great for slicing mushrooms and snipping the ends off green beans.:D A side note--I perused your blog the other night. I loved the pictures of your girls and the horses. They really look like the kind of girls my girls would enjoy. Love those country girls! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 DDs 8 and 10 fix breakfast every day for all four children. Lunch is one of our "chores" and is either chosen by dd10, dd8 or winds up falling to me. My dd10 fixes dinner once or twice a week. DD8 does not like to use the stove put can put together salads in a pinch. She generally does not help with the dinners. I really dislike cooking. If it were up to me I would cook a big pot of something and reheat it all week! My husband cooks at least twice a week as well so I only do dinner about half the time. Of course, I always wind up with dishes! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in Orlando Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 My kids, ages below, all cook. I don't remember the last time I made breakfast. I make lunch if we're crunched for time, otherwise, they handle it. 2-3 times a week the older boys are in charge of dinner. They all learned to cook (mostly) from dh and they're really self-sufficient (the 8-yr-old still has some lessons to learn, but he makes a mean frozen pancake for now). I'm proud that all the boys already have better kitchen/home management skills than I did when I went off to college. (Not saying much for my skills, but still ...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I know I'm in the minority here, but intentionally teaching my children to cook is not high on my priority list. They pick up some basics just being in the vicinity when I cook or bake, and now and then one of them is specifically involved in cooking a meal. But experience has taught me that cooking is not rocket science. My husband can make a meal and he didn't do so growing up. Same goes for my dad. And my brothers. And me, for that matter (I liked to bake when I was growing up, but I certainly never "learned" to cook.) If you can read, you can cook, as far as I'm concerned. To that end, my guys are good to go.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Call Me Cordelia Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 All my kids, (15, 12, 12, 10 and 7) get their own breakfast and lunch from choices I provide. One of my 12 yo dd's does much of my dinner cooking as well; she will come to me and ask what she should make for dinner. I was working two jobs for a while, so it just kind of happened. She also does a lot of baking from scratch - cookies, layer cakes, pudding, pies, etc... :) Her twin is not so handy :). The 10 yo dd is coming along and is interested, as is the 7 yo. Ds, 15, can do quite a bit, but doesn't have a lot of time right now. I never intentionally taught them - they were motivated by either interest or a desire to eat. Call Me Cordelia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristineIN Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Very little here too. I just like to do it, am particular about my kitchen and I do let them help. They can make sandwiches on their own. They help stir the pot, cut up things what not, but meals, not really. Kristine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PariSarah Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I've had ds9 helping me in the kitchen since he was 3 or so. By the time he got to be 7, he had a couple recipes (that involved little or no heat or knives or anything like that) that he could prepare unassisted. When he was about 8, I started him on soups--I would supervise, but he would pick a recipe and do it. (I steered him towards the easy soups at first.) This past Christmas, he wanted a Rachael Ray cookbook (he and his Mimi watched RR together when she was bbsitting him). So, since Christmas, he's done roughly a dinner per week (sometimes a little more) out of his RR cookbook. There are only a few things that I would really want him to do without me hovering right there--cornbread, rice pudding, salads. But he only needs a little supervision to make a whole (if simple) dinner. And he LOVES it. Letting him make the whole dinner just makes him feel very grown-up and important. He wants to do it more often, but I just can't afford RR every night, and I'm not ready for him to do a lot of the things that I make to keep our food budget down (stir-fry, large pots of boiling things, etc.). Our most recent food adventure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 They want to learn, but by the time it's dinnertime I'm just spent, someone is usually crying (it's not always me ;)), and I just want to feed them. They help now and then, but not as often as they would like. Ds8 & ds7 can make scrambled eggs and grilled cheese. Ds8 will make grilled cheese for everyone if I'm gone around dinnertime for some reason (dh hates to prepare meals). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamom3 Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 18,11 and 9. They have been cooking for a few years(oldest a bit longer) ..mostly breakfast and fixing their own lunch. I have them cook at least one dinner meal a week. Oldest plans on going to culinary school next year. He cooks and comes up with all sorts of things..the neighbors love him--he is always taking food over for them to try:D:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 We let them help in the kitchen. Dd1 likes to help bake and can follow a recipe with a little bit of supervision. She's 10, so things like kneading bread are a bit difficult. Other than that she does fine. Ds1 would rather watch the 2yo than cook, but he will do things like chop an onion or grate cheese. Ds2 is still at the age where he wants to help because there's a chance he will get to snitch extra food in the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I don't have set rules as to who cooks when but we all take turns( except DH). I would guess I cook about 50% of the time now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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