I have four children, ages 13 and under.
They have all been cooking for several years now.
It started out that they wanted to help me prepare meals by mixing up the batter or adding some of the ingredients.
Then it gradually progressed to me letting them prepare the meal while I just supervised.
This really sparked their interest in cooking.
They would search my cookbooks for new recipes and also tried baking some desserts.
When my daughter was 10 she started cooking the meals all by herself.
First from recipes that she found in the cookbook or family recipes and then she began experimenting and creating her own recipes.
One of the first meals that she cooked for us was Lemon Ginger Chicken with Angle Hair Pasta.
It was wonderful and this success helped her to continue to grow and learn with cooking.
About two years ago she created a recipe that is now one of our favorites.
Ingredients: 2 lbs of chicken, cubed 2 lbs of steak, cubed 3 Greeen Peppers 3 Onions 1 bag of Nacho Chips 1 Jar of White Cheese Sauce Directions: 1.
Place all ingredients in a large skillet and cook until meat is no longer pink and vegtables are just slightly crunchy.
2.
Serve over nachos and top with white cheese sauce My 7 year old son loves to get up in the morning and make his own pancakes.
He mixes the batter and cooks it without any guidance from me.
Don't worry, I have taught all of them about safety in the kitchen and they are very good about being careful and not fooling around when they are near the stove.
He also lkes to take everyone's order for breakfast and cook for us.
By preparing their own meals, It gives them a sense of accomplishment.
I also know that they will not be dependent on someone else to feed them, especially the boys.
So grab your kids and head to the kitchen, they are never to young to start cooking!!!