Anonymous wrote:Nannies do not cook.

Ah! There you are!

It must be sad to be such a limited skill nanny.

Op we have done this with two nannies (the reason we had to get the second one was because we moved, just to ward off all those people who will come on here screaming that nannies don't cook).

Pre-COVID what we did was give the nanny a credit card so she can do the shopping for us. She kept the card with her all the time in case she was ever out with the kids and needed to buy something. The card is in my name, not hers (there are concerns with adding another person to your account), but since no one asks for IDs anymore, it has never mattered.

Now what we do is have her place the order through the grocery app, although sometimes she may still go to the store for some things if she's going herself or doesn't mind.

Generally we meal plan and I write the grocery list, which she then purchases, but I've also asked for meal ideas and allowed her to buy things for certain meals.

She doesn't always cook, sometimes it's just getting the groceries, sometimes it's prepping, sometimes it's just one part (i.e. making the marinade and marinating the chicken, making the marinara sauce but we boil the noodles, etc.). I have a list of which meals we eat on which days (she only helps with dinner, she's not here in the morning and the kids are doing in-person school so they eat lunch there.

She's not here on weekends, so this is just M-F, but it works really well. She also cleans and organizes the fridge as needed, tracks staples that have run out and need replenishing, etc. I would suggest making sure you find someone who likes this kind of stuff. Our nanny is great at it (our previous one was, too), but my friends have a nanny who thinks it's painful to make a PB&J sandwich for the kids, so she would be super unhappy with us.

Oh, and one last thing - I will often let our nanny make a double batch of something (or I will make a double batch of something if I cook on the weekends) and she can take some home. So if I'm making bolognese sauce, for example, I'll just double it. Sometimes I'll send her home with a garlic bread, lettuce, and the noodles as well because I'll buy extra so she has it. If we grill chicken or steak we'll give her some to take if she wants. And we let her buy whatever she wants in the house for herself, although now that we don't have kids at home during the day there isn't much she keeps here except some salad dressing.

Hope this helps!

I agreed to do some cooking for a family I worked for and really enjoyed it. The kids were older but what worked well is that MB would leave a recipe and ingredients, and I made it while the kids did homework in the kitchen so I could help. Sometimes the kids would also help me with age appropriate tasks (mixing, measuring). I tried to clean as I went so the parents could come home and eat, then just be left with the pot or serving dish. I didn't mind this because there was never any other creep, I didn't do shopping for them, she paid me extra when they added this responsibility, they had cleaners who came regularly and MB kept the house very tidy before I arrived.

You could will have to see what she is comfortable with, like can she do the whole recipe or would she prefer to prep items (wash and cut vegetables, marinate fish/meat, put rice in the cooker timed for when you get there). Do NOT make her buy your groceries on her own card. If she is coming up with the recipes she can give you a list and you can get it with your other household items, or you can get her a credit card to use.

I have 2 school-age kids and full time help. I have always gotten our nannies their own card (attached to mine). that way they can pick up dry cleaning, order something from amazon, whatever needs to be done without worrying about money (and for those that say nannies dont cook, in my house they do if they want enough hours to not have to take a second job, since my kids are usually in school most of the day!). Pre COVID they did most of our grocery shopping.

Our previous nanny was a good cook. Over time we got to know her recipes and would ask for them; or would give her ours; or sometimes just have her do prep work (like chop veggies so I could get a stir fry going right away when I got home). Our current nanny is less of a natural so we leave specific instructions.

Anonymous wrote:Nannies do not cook.

I’ve cooked for all but one of my families. I’m making food for the kids anyway, so as long as they’re not asking me to make something totally different for adults, I don’t mind. Besides, I have kids in the kitchen with me as much as I can.

Anonymous wrote:Nannies do not cook.

Wrong. They cook for the kids.