If we want our kids to eat vegetables and fruits, we need to show them how. We must teach kids to dismember, wash, and dry a head of leafy greens. Better yet, show them to make a simple dressing that will be miles better than store bought. This basic vinaigrette is a good starting point.

Start with rice or oatmeal and they can build from there. Show kids how to roast a pan of potatoes and they can parlay that knowledge into cooking almost any vegetable at the produce stand.

These Thick Cut Roasted Sweet Potatoes are a winning first step. Pasta is cheap, hard to screw up, and universally appealing. Teach your child one good dish as a foundation from which they can grow. Whether scrambled, fried, or soft boiled, eggs are the foundation for terrific, affordable, healthful meals.

Consider, for example, that scrambled eggs embellished with greens and cheese and perhaps leftover grains makes for an excellent meal.

This fried egg with beans on a tortilla will set you back less than a dollar, is good basic nourishment, and super tasty. Baking is also an excellent place for kids to learn the basics of how to properly measure and follow a recipe.

Oh how I love this! Thanks Deanna. Good one Alison. I do think the fact that they are eating homemade oatmeal, not pre-sweetened packets, means your kids are ahead of the game to begin with. I let my kids, ages 7 and 4, do all the adding for themselves.

I provide a small bowl of sugar to each or a tiny pitcher of maple syrup and they can add as they like without over doing it. Then if they put the whole about in, it was a limited amount, but they get to do it themselves and choose their sweetness.

Thank you for posting this reminder and how-to! I spent time last summer teaching J how to do laundry, change sheets, and do a bit of cooking. The last one may be the most challenging! What a great article, Aviva.

Thanks for sharing the link so others can find it too. One that I would add is how to make a decent pot of soup. Soup and toast feels like a proper hot meal, reheats well for lunch or dinner, and can be made with a lot of random ingredients or leftovers.

And right behind that is a simple chili recipe because on game day everyone will want to come sit on your futon! I had never cooked a single thing when I got to my new home after our honeymoon. Steep learning curve!

Gender inequality hangs on. Interesting point you make about gender. Guys, your kids have to learn to cook for themselves. Whether you started your kids young or just began teaching your teen to get their gourmand on, make sure your bambino knows these fundamental cooking and baking skills before they graduate.

Goodness knows teens are more than capable of shopping and spending , but when it comes to grocery shopping, they need to know how to budget and save , plan a healthy!

menu and get home without too much or too little food. The USDA actually has training materials for all age groups. It essentially involves reading the recipe carefully twice!

and getting any questions you have answered before beginning. But they should also know how to make trail mix, granola — even Chex mix — for healthier-than-chips snacking options. I know salads sound like a no-brainer, but knowing how to make a really great salad means they might actually do it.

Some teens might also enjoy making homemade croutons. Soups are generally pretty simple and can make a healthy and filling meal. Try starting with a broth-based soup, a cream-based soup and a cheesy soup. They really only need to learn three or four basic recipes to master any other recipe they could find.

Try a classic casserole revamped to avoid high-sodium canned soups, a lasagna and a dump casserole or chili. They should know how to cook up a pound of ground beef and how to make hamburgers, meatloaf and other budget eats.

All vegetables are pretty much roasted the same basic way, making for a quick, easy and flavorful side with very little labor. But they should also know how to blanch, sauté and boil.

They should also know how to make an omelet. If your teen is interested in making pasta from scratch, go for it! But we mean teaching them how to cook dry pasta, rice and other grains they like, such as quinoa.

Dressings and sauces can be purchased, but not only will they be tastier and healthier less packed with sodium, sugar and preservatives homemade, they teach fundamental cooking skills like making an emulsion, making a roux and deglazing a pan.

For dressings, they should know how to make a vinaigrette, a creamy dressing and a Caesar dressing. The five best pasta sauces to start with are the classics: a simple tomato sauce, a meat sauce, a pesto sauce, a garlic and olive oil sauce and a cream sauce — with those basics, they can confidently make any other sauce they find a recipe for.

For those of us in certain regions, a basic authentic enchilada sauce may also be a must, as it requires different skills than the other sauces namely, roasting dried chilies.

If your teen has a sweet tooth, they should know how to make a handful of simple treats. What specific recipes they learn may be based on their preferences, but good places to start are cookies, brownies and simple frosted cakes.

We mean the basics, like tea, fresh-squeezed juices, coffee and punch. More: Healthy Soups That Make the Most of Your Summer Veggies.

But they should also know how to make trail mix, granola — even Chex mix — for healthier-than-chips snacking options. I know salads sound like a no-brainer, but knowing how to make a really great salad means they might actually do it.

Some teens might also enjoy making homemade croutons. Soups are generally pretty simple and can make a healthy and filling meal. Try starting with a broth-based soup, a cream-based soup and a cheesy soup.

They really only need to learn three or four basic recipes to master any other recipe they could find. Try a classic casserole revamped to avoid high-sodium canned soups, a lasagna and a dump casserole or chili. They should know how to cook up a pound of ground beef and how to make hamburgers, meatloaf and other budget eats.

All vegetables are pretty much roasted the same basic way, making for a quick, easy and flavorful side with very little labor. But they should also know how to blanch, sauté and boil.

They should also know how to make an omelet. If your teen is interested in making pasta from scratch, go for it! But we mean teaching them how to cook dry pasta, rice and other grains they like, such as quinoa.

Dressings and sauces can be purchased, but not only will they be tastier and healthier less packed with sodium, sugar and preservatives homemade, they teach fundamental cooking skills like making an emulsion, making a roux and deglazing a pan.

For dressings, they should know how to make a vinaigrette, a creamy dressing and a Caesar dressing. The five best pasta sauces to start with are the classics: a simple tomato sauce, a meat sauce, a pesto sauce, a garlic and olive oil sauce and a cream sauce — with those basics, they can confidently make any other sauce they find a recipe for.

For those of us in certain regions, a basic authentic enchilada sauce may also be a must, as it requires different skills than the other sauces namely, roasting dried chilies. If your teen has a sweet tooth, they should know how to make a handful of simple treats.

What specific recipes they learn may be based on their preferences, but good places to start are cookies, brownies and simple frosted cakes. We mean the basics, like tea, fresh-squeezed juices, coffee and punch. More: Healthy Soups That Make the Most of Your Summer Veggies.

By far the most important thing you can teach your teen — about cooking or life in general, really — is that failure is a learning experience. A lot of people get discouraged about cooking because they fail once and think they suck at it.

They should know that instead of fearing failure to the point of letting it stop them, they should research what they did wrong and try again.

SheKnows is a part of Penske Media Corporation. All Rights Reserved. by Heather Barnett Plus Icon. Heather Barnett pmc-editorial-manager. There is so much more I want to pass on before she heads clear across the country for college.

Perhaps your children are approaching this turning point too, or perhaps they are far off. If we want our kids to eat vegetables and fruits, we need to show them how. We must teach kids to dismember, wash, and dry a head of leafy greens.

Better yet, show them to make a simple dressing that will be miles better than store bought. This basic vinaigrette is a good starting point. Start with rice or oatmeal and they can build from there. Show kids how to roast a pan of potatoes and they can parlay that knowledge into cooking almost any vegetable at the produce stand.

These Thick Cut Roasted Sweet Potatoes are a winning first step. Pasta is cheap, hard to screw up, and universally appealing. Teach your child one good dish as a foundation from which they can grow.

Whether scrambled, fried, or soft boiled, eggs are the foundation for terrific, affordable, healthful meals. Consider, for example, that scrambled eggs embellished with greens and cheese and perhaps leftover grains makes for an excellent meal.

This fried egg with beans on a tortilla will set you back less than a dollar, is good basic nourishment, and super tasty. Baking is also an excellent place for kids to learn the basics of how to properly measure and follow a recipe. Oh how I love this! Thanks Deanna. Good one Alison.

I do think the fact that they are eating homemade oatmeal, not pre-sweetened packets, means your kids are ahead of the game to begin with. I let my kids, ages 7 and 4, do all the adding for themselves. I provide a small bowl of sugar to each or a tiny pitcher of maple syrup and they can add as they like without over doing it.

Then if they put the whole about in, it was a limited amount, but they get to do it themselves and choose their sweetness. Thank you for posting this reminder and how-to! I spent time last summer teaching J how to do laundry, change sheets, and do a bit of cooking.

The last one may be the most challenging! What a great article, Aviva. Thanks for sharing the link so others can find it too. One that I would add is how to make a decent pot of soup.

Soup and toast feels like a proper hot meal, reheats well for lunch or dinner, and can be made with a lot of random ingredients or leftovers.

And right behind that is a simple chili recipe because on game day everyone will want to come sit on your futon!

I had never cooked a single thing when I got to my new home after our honeymoon. Steep learning curve!