Ok, this really isn't a tip just a reminder that kids can cook.
My daughter is 10 years old. She has always done little projects in the kitchen with me like banana bread, pumpkin muffins, cookies,jello (picture), etc. But I told her when she turned 10 it was time to start really learning cook. I think cooking is a basic life skill that all kids should be taught. I'm not talking about fancy, gourmet cooking. Just simple, in-expensive, health meals. So when a child grows up and moves out on their own, they don't have live on fast-food and delivery pizza.
My mom taught me to cook. Not as aggressively as I'm doing with Jordan, but enough that I could get along. I've always enjoyed making breakfast and I remember many mornings making french toast for my parents and little brother. Then when I moved into my first apartment, my roommates were ecstatic to learn that I could make some good dinners without spending a lot of money. We'd have tuna casserole, baked chicken and rice, stir fry. We had our share of delivery pizza too - it was college after all.
What I've always been amazed at is how many of my friends don't know how to cook. Or they know how to cook a little but don't have a good skill set to make it efficient. For example, I was recently on a trip to Lake Tahoe with my girl friends (no kids and no men allowed). We were making pad thai (one of my go-to easy dinners) and I asked my friend, Jen, to chop the green onions and separate the white and green parts, which go into the dish at different times. Well, after about 5 minutes I look over and Jen was very slowly cutting the green onions one at a time. I intervened and showed her how to hold them all together and chop them quickly. The results of her method and mine were the same - nicely chopped green onions. But my way took about 1 minute and her's was going to take at least 15.
Anyway, I digress. I told Jordan, on her 10th birthday, that every Wednesday she and I would be making dinner together. I bought her a cook book - "Eat Well, Save Big" by All You. It has really simple recipes, each with a nice picture and good tips. Jordan picks out the Wednesday meal and helps make the shopping list on the weekend and then cooks with me.
The biggest rule I set down was that she was to do exactly what I told her without any arguing. I like to walk through all the steps and do demonstrations without her saying things like "I know Mom!" or "Fine!" Instead, she is to listen and do. Jeremy backed me up telling Jordan that she had to learn how to do it Mom's way first before she can do it a different way. (Or as I put it, learn to do it the right way first.)
Day one went great. She chose to make cheese ravioli in a red sauce and a garden salad. The only hard part was when she refused to chop the lettuce instead of cut the lettuce, but we'll work on that. Overall the meal turned out great. We had leftovers on Thursday too. This week she is making a broccoli spaghetti with goat cheese dish.
