Hellobee Boards

Yes. My parents never taught me how to cook, and never expected it from me... I picked it up when I went off to college and lived in my own apartment. But it wasn't until I got married (also mid-20s) that I really started to cook a lot more. I wish I learned it growing up... so it's definitely a skill I want to teach my kids.

At the very least, the basics would be good - boil water, make rice, make eggs, roast veggies, and do a stirfry!

Eta: One of the most amazing home cooks I know claims she didn't even know how to make rice when she first got married (her husband says he had to teach her). She's 40 now and can whip up anything... gives me hope!

My parents didn't teach me any home type stuff and I was sooo bad at cooking!! My mum did all the cooking, cleaning and gardening and called my granddad to come over if anything needed fixing, so I was shockingly unprepared for university and lived off sandwiches and bad pasta sauces for months. It was a combination of travelling and experiencing foods I wanted to recreate myself, and moving in with DH that made me start teaching myself things. We are doing things sooo differently with our kids. DH already has DD sit and help him with DIY and the garden and I will teach them both cooking. I really learned from my parents and what they didn't teach me, that you have to skill your kids up for the real world.

Yes!!!! I had no idea what I was doing and my learning has all been trial and error. I will def teach my kids how to cook. It's so important!

My mom let me start helping cracking eggs for breakfast when I was two and by the time I was in high school I made family dinner a few nights a week. I hope to do as well as she did.

I had never thought about activitely teaching my kids to cook - I always had an interest and just kind of picked it up (my mom helped if I had questions and I did take home ec in middle school, though). I guess I'd try to teach kids how to follow a recipe, at least.
I like the idea of each kid having a night of the week to cook dinner - including meal planning, making a list, and actual cooking, so we'll probably incorporate that eventually.

I definitely expect that lo will learn, though I don't think it'll be actively us teaching-- she just already likes to "help" cook. Dh loves to cook and we cook all the time. I learned to cook in high school-- I actually got high school credit from a vegan cooking club with friends-- and dh learned from his mom but didn't really cook until after college.

Yes, especially because he's a boy, and every time I hear about men who don't cook, I die a little inside. He's not even 3 but he has his little step in the kitchen & cooks with us most nights.

Yes, this is a life skill that everyone should have.

I was cooking dinner for the family by the time I was probably 13 or 14. We were a immigrant family and my dad wasn't home till midnight most nights and my mom home around 730pm. My brothers cooked until I was old enough then they got part time jobs.

We cook a lot at home and both girls are very interested in helping out. We also grow our own vegetables, teach them about where our food comes from etc. it's important to us.
My older just turned 4 and loves helping us do food prep. She can cut (she has a child safe knife) most vegetables, crack eggs, mix, etc. We do not let her near the stove yet.

I'll expect my boys to be able to follow a recipe. I think if you can do that, you can make anything. DS already loves cooking with me.

I cooked a lot with my mom growing up. I could follow recipes and knew what all the terms were. It wasn't until getting married and having to cook everyday that I started to learn how to adjust recipes and make up stuff. I think that just comes with lots of time and practice.

I think knowing how to meal plan, grocery shop, manage a budget etc are also things they should learn. I'm not really sure how we will teach that but I definitely want to try.

Yes, my parents never taught me and I lived on salad and frozen pizza in college. I remember my mom coming to my apartment and only seeing frozen food and she finally goes "alright lets do the basics." but in reality I taught myself (and got good!)

I already know that I'm going to put together a recipe book as part of our child's high school graduation present. All of my recipes in one place for them to take with them as they start their adult life! I'm super excited about it, it will be a personal book that just they and me have a copy of with stories and pictures

I lived in a restaurant, and my parents didn't teach me how to cook! I had to call my friend the first time I boiled water. It was bad.

Yes, I will definitely teach them the basics. Hopefully they will outgrow their food allergies by then. If not, it'll be essential for them to be able to cook for themselves. Grabbing fast food or eating a cup of noodle every night won't be an option. I was thinking of making recipe cards of their favorite dishes and giving it to them as a gift when they leave home. Sure, they'll hate it at first, but maybe it'll be something they treasure later.

Absolutely! My mother didn't let me help her in the kitchen. But I have so many memories of cooking with my grandmother. It's a shame she passed away when I was in high school, all the things I would've asked her..
I want J to have fun cooking and would love to teach him.

Yes, it's a life skill.

I went to college without knowing how and it's one of the things I'm still bummed about. I've talked to my Mom about it and she said making dinner was her quiet time after work to be alone and decompress.

I love cooking now and consider myself fairly advanced. IMO kids at least need the basics. Same goes for laundry.

Yes definitely. My parents taught me a little when I was young, but when I was a teenager both parents were too busy to cook so we ate frozen meals most nights. I didn't learn how to really cook until I got interested in the food network in my 20s.

DH was worse. His mom cooked a lot from scratch to save money, but he was never expected to learn how. His job was to do the dishes. I met him in his mid 30s and he didn't know how to make much besides spaghetti.

I don't remember being actively "taught" but I definitely absorbed things over the years. I was/am very good at following a recipe and making good judgment calls. I hope my LO knows how to make a variety of things by the time he is in high school - I always enjoyed helping out in the kitchen so hopefully he does too!

I think it's important everyone know how to go to a grocery store, what to buy to put together a meal and how to cook it. I learned all of these things at home, by both going to the grocery store with my dad (who did the shopping because he felt my mom spent too much) and helping my mom in the kitchen during dinner prep.

I hope my LO has some basic cooking skills, or at least the confidence to try recipes.

I feel like as long as you can read (i.e. follow a recipe) you can cook! But maybe that's because my parents instilled a cooking confidence in me. I can't recall any particular lessons and we ate out at restaurants a TON, but obviously something clicked because I like cooking and while I'm not awesome at it, I enjoy it and do okay.

I barely knew how to boil water when I left for college. I wish my parents had included me more in cooking so I have known more. I picked up a lot of knowledge after college through trial and error and now my husband and I love to cook!

Absolutely. My husband's parents didn't teach him how to cook at all. When we met, when he was 24, he was basically living off of frozen pizza, hot dogs, spaghetti, and cereal. He had no idea where to even start. Seven years later, and he has about 10 meals he can cook about 10 meals. I want my kids to be able to shop for and prepare healthy meals.

I think a few basic skills and meals are:
-how to cook an egg
-how to cook rice
-how to bake chicken
-how to bake fish
-basic white sauce
-tomato sauce
-how to steam veggies