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Teenagers cooking meals



 
 
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  #1  
Old August 21st 05, 03:17 AM
Dave Bazell
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Default Teenagers cooking meals

I have two teenage boys, twins actually, age 14. Over the summer they have
been responsible for cooking dinner for their siblings one a week (each).
Unfortunately this experience has turned into a "how little can I do"
exercise. I am looking for suggestions about how to get them to be more
involved and responsble for some aspects of family life. In terms of
cooking, I have considered asking them to run the "menu" by me over the
weekend, before they cook. But then it becomes more my responsiblity.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Dave


  #2  
Old August 21st 05, 03:41 AM
dragonlady
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In article ,
"Dave Bazell" wrote:

I have two teenage boys, twins actually, age 14. Over the summer they have
been responsible for cooking dinner for their siblings one a week (each).
Unfortunately this experience has turned into a "how little can I do"
exercise. I am looking for suggestions about how to get them to be more
involved and responsble for some aspects of family life. In terms of
cooking, I have considered asking them to run the "menu" by me over the
weekend, before they cook. But then it becomes more my responsiblity.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Dave



You might try two things:

1 - requirements regarding the health of the meal -- that is, it has to
include the proper food groups, and whatever you feel is appropriate
regarding balance of fat/proteins/carbs.

2 - a budget; that will keep them from just doing the more expensive
(and therefore easiest) stuff.


Does this meal include the rest of the family, or just the two of them?
I ask, because if it's just the two of them, I might let it go -- the
only people affected are the two of them, anyway. However, if the meal
is for the entire family, it might be reasonable to set up the schedule
(who is cooking each night), plan the menus (all of them) and go over
them all together once a week, just before the shopping. More work up
front, but it will help them get an idea of what others are thinking
when they're planning meals.

You might also see if you can get them turned on to the food network.
My own kids love watching Alton Brown, and have enjoyed being in the
kitchen more since they started watching that stuff.
--
Children won't care how much you know until they know how much you care

  #3  
Old August 22nd 05, 02:59 AM
Chris
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Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. I think if you have 14 year old
boys doing any cooking that's a great start. Over time, perhaps they
will branch out to more complicated meals. Given that, as a parent of
a 14 year old boy, I think you probably will need to be more involved,
at least at first, if you want them to do more. Maybe a list of
entrees, vegetables, and salads--they have to pick one from each list.
Or a few set menus that they can pick from (pasta, salad and garlic
bread; chicken, potatoes, and green beans; etc.). You can work
together to come up with the lists or menus, but then they choose what
they want.

Chris

  #4  
Old August 22nd 05, 12:11 PM
Clay
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Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. I think if you have 14 year old boys doing any cooking that's a great start.

I don't know if this is sexism, or just an assumption that you can't
get 14-year-olds to do ANYTHING.

When I was 13, my mother was in grad school and I was doing most of the
cooking for the household. If they are doing the cooking, but not the
shopping, then it's pretty easy specifying what you want them to cook
as that's what there will be in the fridge.

If they are doing the shopping and cooking, I would follow the advice
above in terms of requiring several food groups.

  #5  
Old August 22nd 05, 09:19 PM
Louise
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On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 07:11:38 EDT, "Clay" wrote:

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. I think if you have 14 year old boys doing any cooking that's a great start.


I don't know if this is sexism, or just an assumption that you can't
get 14-year-olds to do ANYTHING.

When I was 13, my mother was in grad school and I was doing most of the
cooking for the household.


If they haven't been doing any cooking and meal planning before this,
I think it's appropriate to start with fairly low expectations. As a
friend just said to me a few minutes ago, "You can't have it both
ways. You can either have teenagers who take charge of producing a
meal, or you can have some control over what you eat."

Do your sons also get the opportunity of feeding grateful parents
sometimes, or are they just feeding younger siblings who are probably
not tolerant of different foods? If I had to feed younger siblings
and also had to babysit them at the same time, I would never attempt
to serve them anything I didn't think they'd like, such as most
vegetables.

If you don't already have household customs of being courteous to the
cook and fellow diners when one doesn't care for the food, this would
be a good time to model and enforce such customs. A parent eating a
meal planned and prepared by kids should completely avoid criticising
the food or the cooking methods at the meal especially in front of
younger siblings. Acceptable courtesy for a child who doesn't like
the food might be to taste everything, to leave it on the plate
without comment, and if asked could say something like "I don't care
for that" rather than "This is awful" or "Yuck".

If they are doing the cooking, but not the
shopping, then it's pretty easy specifying what you want them to cook
as that's what there will be in the fridge.

If they are doing the shopping and cooking, I would follow the advice
above in terms of requiring several food groups.


If you haven't been doing cooking with them all along, it's probably a
good idea to start doing some cooking-together as well as leaving them
in charge sometimes. Find out what else they'd like to learn to cook,
and help them learn (from a parent, from a friend, from a cooking
workshop, whatever). Take them to the grocery store sometimes and
talk about different products. Within reason, buy what they put on
the shopping list.

Louise

  #6  
Old August 22nd 05, 09:19 PM
Jeff
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"Dave Bazell" wrote in message
...
I have two teenage boys, twins actually, age 14. Over the summer they have
been responsible for cooking dinner for their siblings one a week (each).
Unfortunately this experience has turned into a "how little can I do"
exercise. I am looking for suggestions about how to get them to be more
involved and responsble for some aspects of family life. In terms of
cooking, I have considered asking them to run the "menu" by me over the
weekend, before they cook. But then it becomes more my responsiblity.


I agree with making criteria for the meals (must include all four food
groups, etc.) and a budget.

I am guessing that you have more than two kids. I would let the other kids
and you vote on how good the meal was, and rewarad the cook accordingly.
Perhaps a highly-rated meal gets special privledges or results in less
chores. Or maybe, when there is a highly-rated meal, the whole family goes
to the movies, miniture golf or something. You can also encourage your
younger kids to help. To me, it seems that there is no reason why this
shouldn't be a family acitvity (certainly eating should be), even if one of
the twins is the head chef and the other kids are the assistant chefs.

You might also encourage them to cooperate, so that one prepares the salad
and vegetables and the other does the rest, and they switch.

Jeff
Thanks for any suggestions.

Dave



  #7  
Old August 23rd 05, 09:02 PM
Louise
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On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 16:19:57 EDT, "Jeff"
wrote:

I would let the other kids
and you vote on how good the meal was, and rewarad the cook accordingly.


This strikes me as something that would produce a very different
atmosphere than the one I prefer to live in. Maybe if all of you
thrive on competition and public critique it might motivate you. I
don't. I do have to say that I recently benefited from being a guest
at two dinner parties hosted by men who were trying to impress and
outdo each other, where the food and its presentation were splendid.

Perhaps a highly-rated meal gets special privledges or results in less
chores. Or maybe, when there is a highly-rated meal, the whole family goes
to the movies, miniture golf or something.


In my experience, sincere praise and requests for second servings also
get the desired response, whether the cook is a teenager, another
adult, or me.



You can also encourage your
younger kids to help. To me, it seems that there is no reason why this
shouldn't be a family acitvity (certainly eating should be), even if one of
the twins is the head chef and the other kids are the assistant chefs.

You might also encourage them to cooperate, so that one prepares the salad
and vegetables and the other does the rest, and they switch.


I like all those ideas.

Louise

  #8  
Old August 24th 05, 12:16 AM
Jeff
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"Louise" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 16:19:57 EDT, "Jeff"
wrote:

I would let the other kids
and you vote on how good the meal was, and rewarad the cook accordingly.


This strikes me as something that would produce a very different
atmosphere than the one I prefer to live in. Maybe if all of you
thrive on competition and public critique it might motivate you. I
don't. I do have to say that I recently benefited from being a guest
at two dinner parties hosted by men who were trying to impress and
outdo each other, where the food and its presentation were splendid.


I see what you mean. What I was thinking is that you reward the chef if he
cooks a good meal. I wasn't thinking any competition. So both chefs (the
twins) might get the same reward one week and no reward the next. More in
the spirit of rewarding good behavior and food, rather than competition.

Perhaps a highly-rated meal gets special privledges or results in less
chores. Or maybe, when there is a highly-rated meal, the whole family goes
to the movies, miniture golf or something.


In my experience, sincere praise and requests for second servings also
get the desired response, whether the cook is a teenager, another
adult, or me.


I don't disagree. I was just offering an idea for another motivation,
especially when the other kids in the family help out or the twins cooperate

You can also encourage your
younger kids to help. To me, it seems that there is no reason why this
shouldn't be a family acitvity (certainly eating should be), even if one
of
the twins is the head chef and the other kids are the assistant chefs.

You might also encourage them to cooperate, so that one prepares the salad
and vegetables and the other does the rest, and they switch.


I like all those ideas.


Thanks.

Of course, what works for one family might not work for others. Just like in
everything else in life.

Jeff
Louise


 




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