Teach my tween to cook

[OneHippoOnThePhone]

When I was single I lived on a very limited diet of bread and cheeses, salad, eggs, pasta. I love a carb and am vegy.
DH now does most of the cooking. I shouldn’t, but I do, get irritated at how every meal decimates the kitchen. I’d like to teach DD age 11 to cook AND tidy as she goes.
What are important meals we could make?

Basics like spag bol and curry and stir fry to start with. No good giving her a super detailed recipe if she doesn't know how to boil rice and fry chicken.

If its brown it's done, if its black its fucked.

Someone sent me a thing that said Jamie Oliver was doing cookery classes for lock down. Could be worth a google.

What does she like eating? I started with their favourite meals so they were more motivated.

In my opinion fajitas and stir fries are very quick and easy place to start?

Chilli/spag bol, tomato sauce, macaroni cheese, soup, omelette/fritatta, one pot recipes ... there are any number of cookbooks online aimed at young people.

The greatest gift is to teach them to be organised and clean as they go (like wot my mum did )

I'd start with really basic meals –omelette, a tomato pasta sauce etc, depending on what she likes to eat. Making things she enjoys will help to motivate her, so perhaps let her suggest what she wants to make?

Re mess, I keep a bowl for scraps to go straight into the food waste. It helps keep the counter clear.

Other useful things based on encounters with people at uni who had never been taught to cook:

• how to tell when chicken is cooked without making it bone dry
• how to cut up a pepper
• how long and what temp to heat things so they don't stick (beans are a good example)
• how to cook rice

Thanks all.

I might follow the Jamie Oliver thing if you don’t have to do it live.

So, rice, pasta, omelette, boiling an egg, cook chicken a tom sauce.

I’ll have a look at a basic book too.

Yes teach things that can be used in lots of different things. Eg spaghetti bolognaise, then follow up with macaroni cheese. That way you use the skill of cooking pasta again. Then once you’ve done bolognaise and Mac cheese you can easily use those skills to make lasagne.
Then move on to mash potatoes, a similar mix to bolognaise and you have cottage pie, then use mash for fish cakes or fish pie.
Then do basic curries, stir fries, pastry.
Then grilling or pan frying meat and fish and so on!

I think I’ll start with macaroni cheese as she loves that.
I love the idea of following on from something, so do pasta, or do rice.

I’m not a great cook myself and I’m worried I’ll teach her incorrectly.