How can I get DD cooking?

[WundaWumman]

I should start by saying that I get really frustrated by cooking at the moment as we do not agree on most meal options and I often end up serving 2 or 3 options, and there are only 3 of us!

Anyway, I really want DD13 to help out with chores and cooking etc more. It would help me out when I'm working, but I also want her to develop some skills in this area and enable her to leave home knowing more than how to make toast. I'm thinking she could cook one meal during the week and have tried a few things but getting nowhere: simple recipe books (Jamie Oliver etc) on hand, asking for ANY ingredients that I can buy in advance, even starting with ready meals that she basically heats up and puts on the plate with some salad! I've tried giving her free reign of what to choose, but then she can't decide, and so have tried telling her what to make but that doesn't go down well either as she's then not very interested in it as it wasn't her choice. But otherwise, it's really difficult to find anything that we all like (DH is most fussy ).

I think a need a set of new tactics - any suggestions welcome!

[JassyRadlett]

Does your husband do his fair share? If not it will be a hard sell to convince her she should do it.

[Mintjulia]

I started my ds with an omelette. Basic recipe and the ds could chose one or two things to sprinkle in it- grated cheese, chopped ham, chives, tomatoes etc.

That worked well. Too quick to get boredom's wander off, almost instant gratification of hot food in mouth, and endless varieties.

Although prawn and cheddar is not nice

[Mintjulia]

• to get bored & wander off

[WundaWumman]

@JassyRadlett

Does your husband do his fair share? If not it will be a hard sell to convince her she should do it.

Yeah, DH is OK but his repertoire is limited to things he likes which is mainly pasta, or pasta, sometimes pasta.

[WundaWumman]

Aww thanks @mintjulia I could try that but she's not a great fan of eggs either. Have tried similar with pizza toppings when she was little, but her favourite is cheese and tomato so there's not very far you can go after that?

[Rumtopf]

What does she like to eat? I started off getting dd to cook her favourite meals with a lot of help until she'd got the hang of it and could do it independently. So, spaghetti bolognese from scratch, chilli and rice, sweet chilli chicken and salad, chickpea curry and rice, stir fry with noodles.

If she really likes it she might be more motivated to learn how to make it?

[PinkPlantCase]

Could you start by getting her to help you and go from there? My mum would always get me to chop the veg or look after what was on the hob or put the oven on, check on the food etc. Then that evolved to getting all the ingredients out and getting it all started if she was busy or running late.

This worked really well because I learnt how to cook lots of different meals but there was never a big deal made about it like cooking for everyone x days per week

[NewtoHolland]

Is she into social media? There are lots of random video recipes she might like to try, with video instructions, maybe start with something novelty to draw her interest? Or perhaps a cooking influencer like Joe Wicks simple lean in 15 recipes? Xx

[EssentialHummus]

Something like Gousto? Otherwise if she's into simple things then even toasties and pizzas are a good start.