Cooking with Teens, Cymplified!

I have talked about seasons before, and how I am learning to embrace the season I am currently in. Before, I needed to learn cooking for my babies as they turn six months and into toddlers. Now, I am in this season of cooking with teens, since I have three of them.

why cooking?

One of the important life skills is cooking. Being able to prepare food for one’s self is necessary for survival and for thriving. I know we can always buy meal plans, but cooking helps save us money and helps us make sure the food is healthy. It’s one of the first steps of adulting.

Thus, as a mom of teens, I feel like they need to learn how to prepare their own food. Because, what if their parents are gone? They need to know how to cook rice. They have helped me cut hotdogs for spaghetti. My husband and I are helping them build a repertoire of dishes (even if it’s just scrambled eggs, pasta noodles, sautéing of marinated meat… but still.) Before, the only cooking they do are when with their cooking toys and with fun, online games like this Stack the Burger game where they need to follow the customer’s orders or the correct amount of ingredients. Now, the cooking that they do is IRL, with knives and with heat, which will satiate their hungry bellies. Hopefully.

cooking help

Children these days live in a different time. When I was younger, my mom collects recipes and writes down the ones she sees on TV. There was no way for her to pause or rewind what the cooking host said. Unless mentioned again near the end. We also subscribed to Del Monte Kitchenomics, a snail mail subscription where we received various recipes in the mailbox.

Now, the Internet provides loads and loads of recipes: on websites, in Facebook reels or in Tiktok, or just a simple Google search will yield videos of people cooking. When cooking with teens these days, they are the more resourceful ones in theory… We just have to provide practical guidance and a bit of help with a Recipe Ingredient Conversion Calculator. And probably show them where the cooking utensils are kept.

some tips on cooking with teens

Oh, teens! There comes a certain age when the children contradict us parents and begrudgingly do as they’re told. At times, they’ll roll their eyes at things we say. I have to remind myself that these are normal and hormonal (I was like that once upon a time). Thus, when I ask them to cook, I explain the necessity of it, even if they feel like I’m asking them to be a culinary major. 🙄

Some things I do to get them more involved:

• Cook their favorite dishes together
• Start with small tasks, like chopping the hotdogs or whisking the eggs
• Let them taste and ask for their inputs: Is the sauce okay? Needs more salt?
• Thank them for helping… and if they completed a dish, ask them, about the process they did.
• If it looked good or turned out yummy, say so!

But before anything else, safety first! Kitchen is one of the places in the house where accidents happen. Children need to be taught safety like washing hands before touching food, turning off the stove when not in use, handling hot pots or pans with pot holders, etc.

Cooking with teens can be challenging, but I think it can be a core memory for both parents and the children. A meaningful moment to look back on. It’s also fun trying out new recipes or experimenting with food.

Have you ever experienced cooking with teens? What was it like for you?