My daugther knows how to cook some things. She is always wanting to know more. Not only is this a great life lesson everyone should know, it can also be incorporated into lesson plans.

• Fractions (think measuring cups)
• Multplication/Division(think doubling of halving a recipe)
• Reading comprehension and following directions (reading recipes)
• organization (getting everything together before you start)
• creativity (making your own combinations or recipes)

What things do your kids cook themselves. My daughter does:

• grilled cheese
• eggs
• pancakes/waffles/french toast
• egg/tuna salad

I'm sure there is more, that's all that comes to mind right now.

I think I am going to get some things for her that are just hers, measuring cups, apron etc.

My aren't independantly cooking yet but my 7 year old begs to help with every meal. She opens cans, mixes, measures, cuts up things, etc. She's pretty handy in the kitchen but still needs help.

The 8 year old makes some mean mashed potatoes, I peel them though, it takes the kidlets too long. lol

I think it was Rachael Ray that said to start kids off with a regular (gorwn-up) knife and teach them the proper way to use it rather than investing in the kiddy knives. Something about them being less careful with the kiddy knife b/c they know it won't cut them so later on they are more careless with a real knife. Makes sense.

My 10 year old son LOVES to cook and is on his way to being a much more creative cook than I am.  I like to think I'm pretty good, but I cook from recipes.....I can tweek recipes, but rarely make anything from my own brain.

About a month ago he started telling me about this recipe he was developing and the next thing I know we're having to buy the ingredients and he made the BEST summer salad with marinated grilled peppers & chicken and a warm citrus dressing.  There were times that he'd tell me an ingredient and I'd think, "Ewwwwww!" but I'll be darned if he wasn't right. 

I'm so thrilled that he's so confident in the kitchen, but I'll be even more excited when he cleans up as he goes.  LOL!

I have 2 nephews that are chefs....one is in culinary school right now and the other is working full-time as a chef.  Woot!  Family gatherings are going to have some fabulous food!!  :)

My son is 10 and has been cooking for about a year now.  He took a cooking class at our HS co-op, also.  In fact, just today we stocked up on a bunch of kids' cookbooks at the library.  I also have a set of 8 coming from a HS used curriculum site.  He doesn't know they're coming.  I'll post the titles here when I get them.

We love the DK Children's Cookbook (on my WL) and the Emeril kids' books.  He also found a collection of 3 cookbooks in one at Border's book deals area.  It's 3, 4, and 5 ingredient cook books.  We always add more, though, to "spice things up" (I'm teaching him that one).

We both also LOVE AllRecipes.com!!!  He loves to do an ingredient search and see what comes up - like "chicken and cheese".  Tonight he gets to pick what we have (he'll help make it) because he got a 100% on his spelling test.  So he chose burritoes.

I'm "JulieCC" on AllRecipes.  I can't do a direct link to my profile and recipe reviews.  I *love* the rating system at reviews at AR.  I always sort them by "most helpful" and get ideas how to make a recipe even better.  When I started using AR about 2 years ago, it really brightened up our meals.  I cook from there at least 5 times a week.  I need to get DS his own account so he can save his own favorites.  You can add links from other sites, or your own personal recipes for your recipe box.  I've been keeping the virtual recipe box, but we're starting to print them in 4X6 and putting them in a card file box.

JC

My grandson knows how to cook several things in the crock pot.

He puts in the porkchops, then adds two cans of mushroom soup, turns it on and we just wait !

Same thing with cube stake and mushroom soup!

Things like that he has learned to do. He also helps clean up after our meals. He is a good little helper.

My oldest two (15 & 12) cook a meal once a week. My oldest likes to make easy things like chili, hamburger helper, meatloaf, and pancakes and eggs. The younger of the two is a girl who really enjoys cooking. She can cook anything that I can. A few months ago she started asking questions about cooking as a career.  I was very thrilled in her interest, she is very creative and enjoys cooking, sounds like the makings of a great chef! I start teaching my kids to cook around the age of 10. My oldest is a boy, and I started to think about my husband and the things that I wish his mom would have taught him. At that moment I made a decision to not let my three sons grow up and not be able to cook, clean, and do laundry! It has become such a blessing. My son has been doing his own laundry now for two years! Yeah for me! I highly reccomend this training for boys.

Yes, yes, boys can do laundry.  I taught each of my two sons how to do his own laundry when he turned 8.  (This saves time sorting out all the socks.)Both can cook up a storm and clean a bathroom and wash up the kitchen now that they are 15 and 18.  But it wasn't my husband's lack of skill that inspired me to teach them, it was my own lack when I married right out of college.  I did not know how to cook or clean anything! 

So makes sure, Moms, to teach both the sons and daughters.

What to have the kids cook?  What are they interested in?  They would flip through my old Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cooking with photos that really look like the 70s or my old Bon Appetit magazines then pick out a recipe based on a photo.  If they liked a dish at someone's home, they would ask for the recipe from the cook.  This is how my younger one learned to make matzoh balls and the older on gefilte fish!

The top three most definitely cook!  Ages 14, 11, 9 (G, B, B)

I bought a subscription to that Martha mag--Everyday Food.  I make a list of 14 recipes every two weeks, then do the shopping.  Each night I hand the mag. to a kid, show them the recipe and remind them to read the entire thing before they begin.  Last night's supper?  Sauteed pork chops w/rhubarb cherry sauce, minted snap peas, salad, (always w/homemade dressing) bread.  Chef--11 y.o. son.  The ones that don't cook do the dishes, but the chef has to clean as he cooks.  AWESOME!!!!  I highly recommend the mag., as it is very systematic and detailed.  The kids have learned a LOT from the step-by-step layout.

I can keep them OUT of my laundry indefinitely if they do all the cooking!

I have a 15 year old daughter and 13 year old son.  They both love to cook!  My daughter is great at seasoning things and isn't afraid to try different spices and foods.  My son likes to make homemade biscuits.  We have picked up lots of cooks books and magazines at Library sales!  They have come in handy.  Now, we are working on reusing leftovers and making them into new dishes as well as shopping and cooking on a budget.  Clean up is still my job, but they will help.  So, as long as they cook I'll run the dishwasher.

There's a neat new series of cultural geography/cookbooks at our library.  I saw them on sale at Library and Educational Services this week (one of my favorite places for books & DVD's).  They sell whole sale to homeschoolers.

Search PBS for "easy menu ethnic books".  There are 49 in the system, but none available.  :-(

The titles are "Cooking the ____ Way" (insert country name).  They are wonderful for unit studies!

At LibraryandEd.com, there is a set of 16 library binding titles for $24.95 until May 29th.

www.libraryanded.com/store/EASYM101.html

The titles in the sale are:

• Austrian
• Central American
• Cuban
• English
• German
• Hungarian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Lebanese
• Mediterranean
• North African
• Turkish
• Thai
• South African
• Russian
• & Desserts Around the World

We have some checked out from the library and DS and I love them!

I found the publisher's link finally!  The retail cost is $25.26 and for schools and libraries is $18.95.

www.lernerbooks.com/cgi-bin/books.sh/lernerpublishing.p  (search for "easy menu")

You can get 16 from LES for less than the price of one - Yahoo!

I did find one posted here - Cooking the Italian Way and a Microwave recipes around the world.

JC

My girls are 8 and 10 and they are responsible for planning and cooking one meal each week.  They have to get me the list of ingredients before I go grocery shopping (that always seems to be their struggle!).  They use cookbooks that I have and  cookinglight.com.   They sometimes have questions but I allow them to do everything from start to finish.  They've been helping me in the kitchen for some time now and we just started this last fall.  We've had some interesting meals, but all have been good.  

Mine are only 6 and 4, so they are a little young to do things completely on their own, but they love to help.  They put things in the bowl that I've measured out, they break the eggs, stir, flip pancakes, etc.  Hopefully, I'm instilling some love of cooking in them.