Au pair meal making

[namechanger4097]

We’ve had live in childcare for 10 years now and have never cracked a nanny who was a decent cook. I have tried those Gusto/Hello Fresh packs but they’re so expensive. Other than that it’s one night pizza, one night spag bol and one night some freezer thing I’ve previously done and me cooking after work two nights. Has anyone made recipe cards and a plan for their nanny/au pair or is there a good book with step by steps with simple meals so I can give them more responsibility here? Any ideas appreciated…

I don't mean to be chippy but if you can afford live in childcare you can afford hello fresh.

How many nannies / au pairs have you had that can't cook? Can you not put it in the job description if they're expected to cook nightly?

I'd just hand write a load of recipes you want them to cook
That way there won't be random ingredients you don't have - so like carrot on the spag bol, I've never done it so wouldn't buy carrots for it, but the recipe I use does.

Op may be stretched to the limit to pay her au pair.

She might just resent paying excessive money for a service that still leaves with loads of work

I think you’re asking too much of your au pair/nanny (which one is it?)

You could get a Thermomix, bit of an expensive solution but it is truly paint (cook) by numbers.

Sorry by way of asking too much: you need to decide if you want someone to take great care of your child or to cook you an interesting meal. It’s a fairly big request for a u/25yo being paid “pocket money”

(and before anyone gets chippy with me, we have a live in au-pair)

The au pair scheme is meant to be a cultural and language exchange arrangement with light duties as part of the swap - not your children's chef.

Nanny: make it part of the job description.
Au Pair: you do most of the cooking. Batch cooking at the weekend, and some faster meals for other nights in the week.

stir fy=its so easy to thin strip cut n cook chicken ,mushrooms,onion,carrot,brocoli or cabbage peppers... surely she can micro pkt rice or boil water n do thin noodles..or fling in the sorta ready to stir fry packet of rice noodles. show her once.

I've always thought that Nannies cooked the children's lunch and dinner/supper

Obviously not for the adults who eat later?

I'm sure a Nanny can cook a stir fry, spaghetti bolognaise, salmon (cooked in foil), baked potatoes, fajitas....for the children

An au pair - no....I wouldn't expect her/him to cook

Your au pair shouldn’t be cooking for you!

Perfect - stir fry is a good idea for one of the three children’s meals that she could make. Thank you

She’s cooking for the kids and her 1 meal on 2-3 days a week as part of very light duties that also only really include hanging out with kids for a couple of hours and reminding them to do their homework/music. Genuinely would like to know if that seems excessive.

No that isn’t part of her duties as that would be exploitative and disgusting.

A few meals a week, keeping her room not too messy and hanging out with the kids after school are her only duties and I include her as much as she wants.

Sorry I meant the kids meal not mine. I wasn’t clear.

It’s too expensive and the packaging is wasteful and i do pay her genuinely fairly in case that’s what has triggered you here.

Would she be interested in attending a local cookery course - you could fund it - it might be useful for her CV if she wants to make a career of childcare.

That’s a nice idea and she is looking at some courses locally. She wants to be a personal trainer so that could be interesting on nutrition etc. I guess I am here feeling tired about all I have to do next week, being a bit moany and was hoping for a “ta da” easy answer buy this really simple kids meals emergency cook book 😊 thanks

You might do better with a thread asking for beginner-proof kids' cookbooks. I've noticed threads about au-pairs and nannies often end up in disputes over what their duties/hours should be.

Nannies cook for their charges- au pairs don't. Which is she?

I have a book that I write all my recipes in
Take a couple of hours and do the same , also any recipe books I cross things out and tweet them to our taste
Rookie error to admit you have hired help on here

Thank you!! That’s a great idea and kind of obvious but can just do it myself. Yes it was rookie and I expressed my question without enough caveats and thanks again.

I'm not home for a week or so @namechanger4097 but if you tell me what everyone likes I'll check to see if anything fits for you