Kids Belong in the Kitchen

Over the past two years, our family has created a little routine we have all grown to love. Most Sunday mornings include our now 12-year-old daughter sitting at the kitchen table with a stack of cookbooks. She's flipping through pages of recipes, putting together her Monday dinner menu. My husband and I are also sitting at the table, chatting over coffee. Annika rattles off recipe titles and ingredient lists, looking for our thoughts. We try not to get too involved, asking if her Monday schedule allows enough time to make a more involved recipe of interest or if some of the steps can be prepped ahead on that given Sunday.

The rule is she can make whatever she wants as long as she can handle most of it on her own. Annika creates the shopping list after collecting whatever components are already in our cupboards. That afternoon we head out to purchase the remaining ingredients.

Her dinners typically include a main dish, a side, and if we're lucky, dessert. On Monday afternoon, Annika creates the recipes after carefully reading them multiple times, placing all the needed ingredients on the counter while considering her order of operations and timing. Over the two years, we have been served both impressively delicious dinners and others that could have seen better follow-through. Either way, we always express our gratitude to Annika for making us such a thoughtful dinner. Annika then trots off to take a much-deserved break while we take care of the final dishes.

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A few notes. Some of her main dishes, like her Beef and Broccoli are quite complex while others are as simple as Bean and Cheese Quesadillas. Just like her parents, she doesn't always have it in her to create something fancy.

The skills and lessons developed from this weekly routine have been immense. Learning how to manage time, prepare for an event, shop, budget, clean-as-she-goes, follow instructions, use common sense, and safely work in a potentially dangerous environment have proven beneficial in other areas of her life. Over time she has become more confident and creative in the kitchen. As parents, we are comfortable with her trying recipes she's seen on YouTube, knowing we won't be walking into a hurricane-like kitchen disaster. When we dine out, Annika will often light up when she sees an item on the menu that she has created at home.

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Rob and I feel comforted that in a few years, Annika will head to college knowing how to feed her new friends and herself real meals that don't come from a box or a can. Of course, she will eat her fair share of ramen and mac & cheese, but she will have the tools and ability to mix in some impressive sauté and wok skills. She will also be able to look at the cafeteria hot bar and know how to put together a balanced meal.

Together let's build your Kid's confidence in the kitchen! Please register for our newsletters and follow us on Instagram to keep current on upcoming youth cooking classes.