Basic cooking for teens

[Anonymous]

Are there any (not-unreasonably priced) basic cooking classes for older teens in the northern VA area? Looking for basic living-on-your-own-for-the-first-time stuff here, not camps for kids or complicated recipes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there any (not-unreasonably priced) basic cooking classes for older teens in the northern VA area? Looking for basic living-on-your-own-for-the-first-time stuff here, not camps for kids or complicated recipes.

Sur La table has classes. But really it's just spending time learning to make what you like to eat. You have to want to learn otherwise you never will.

[Anonymous]

Do you or your partner cook? If so, does your teen like anything you make? If yes, then I'd teach them myself. Once they leave, they'll want to make what they like/remember anyway.

[Anonymous]

Use Hello Fresh and have them make dinner.

[Anonymous]

My now older teen learned from reading recipes and watching YouTube videos for technique. I wouldn't pay for a class, those are just particular recipes, while cooking is a skill.

[Anonymous]

Just cook with your kid. Cheaper and more fun. Eggs, soups, grilled cheese, legumes, rice, etc., are good basics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just cook with your kid. Cheaper and more fun. Eggs, soups, grilled cheese, legumes, rice, etc., are good basics.

I know this seems like it should be a simple thing; but it isn't. This hasn't worked for us. We've even put each kid in charge of dinner one night a week. They picked the menu, we cooked with them and showed them how the first time or two or three, they haven't managed to figure it out on their own. One has certain things they'll make. The other one, ugh.

I know people think it's a parenting problem and it probably is a problem of enforcement; but sometimes they just respond better to instruction from someone other than us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just cook with your kid. Cheaper and more fun. Eggs, soups, grilled cheese, legumes, rice, etc., are good basics.

Cheaper; but it hasn't been "fun."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you or your partner cook? If so, does your teen like anything you make? If yes, then I'd teach them myself. Once they leave, they'll want to make what they like/remember anyway.

Yes.
Yes.
Tried.
Maybe I'm asking the wrong question. Maybe I should go to the parenting forum and ask how to enforce teens taking responsibility for cooking dinner once a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My now older teen learned from reading recipes and watching YouTube videos for technique. I wouldn't pay for a class, those are just particular recipes, while cooking is a skill.

There's the problem of zero interest. Maybe they'll just get motivated when they are on their own and have to figure it out. sigh.

[Anonymous]

I love how everyone assumes you haven't thought of and/or tried the extremely obvious option of teaching them yourself and just skips answering your very simple to understand question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you or your partner cook? If so, does your teen like anything you make? If yes, then I'd teach them myself. Once they leave, they'll want to make what they like/remember anyway.

Yes.
Yes.
Tried.
Maybe I'm asking the wrong question. Maybe I should go to the parenting forum and ask how to enforce teens taking responsibility for cooking dinner once a week.

Very different question. You might want to repost in teens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you or your partner cook? If so, does your teen like anything you make? If yes, then I'd teach them myself. Once they leave, they'll want to make what they like/remember anyway.

Yes.
Yes.
Tried.
Maybe I'm asking the wrong question. Maybe I should go to the parenting forum and ask how to enforce teens taking responsibility for cooking dinner once a week.

Shut down your Wifi and take their phone until they produce the dinner, if that is your goal.

But.

I cook with my teen. He likes to experiment and I try not to complain about the mess too much when he doesn’t clean it all perfectly, though I do require him to clean it decently.

Think this through. Are you going to allow them to cook whatever they find in your fridge and pantry? Do you require them to menu plan and add ingredients to a list? What level of healthy do you require? Shortcuts OK?

I grew up cooking family dinner from the age of 7. I did a lot of deer steak and hamburger with sides of Mac n cheese or potatoes, always a veggie but usually frozen or canned. That’s about what you can expect from a kid.

[Anonymous]

Hello Fresh was really great for our tween/teen. They picked what they wanted but each had to cook one night a week. I think getting the kits/instruction was helpful in taking us parents out of the equation. We did still help sometimes / keep company but they owned the process. After a summer of it they had learned a bunch of technique and are pretty competent in the kitchen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love how everyone assumes you haven't thought of and/or tried the extremely obvious option of teaching them yourself and just skips answering your very simple to understand question.

I think it confirms the dearth of opportunities...