I feel like I have done my children a disservice by not including them more in the kitchen. I guess it’s always been easier to do it myself. That is true with cleaning and with cooking. I read an e-book recently called Back to Basics: Raising Self-Sufficient Children which made me really reconsider the importance of teaching my children to cook. I’ve started and stopped several attempts to include them, usually I get frustrated and just want to do it myself, so I’ve decided that I need to look at cooking as an on-going course, just like any of the homeschool course I have to teach.

Here is what I’ve decided to do:

1. Each week my kids will take turn in helping me with cooking. I am writing a sticky note on each of my recipes and writing what my kids could do to help me. I think that will be a good first start.

2. We are going to make simple recipes from start to finish together once a week as part of our school day. I’m sure they would willingly give up an academic subjects to spend time in the kitchen.

3. Once a month I am going to challenge my tween to pick a recipe, shop for the ingredients, and cook the meal for us. In fact I found a cool website that we are going to use called It’s My Turn to Cook Tonight.The author, a young gal, is having a cooking program the 22 and 23rd of this Month.

These are my first step. My Cooking with Kids 101. I think it sounds good for a book title.

Ligia

I’ve been unhappy with my recipe binder for a while. What bothers me the most is I have hundreds of recipes in it, but most of them I haven’t tried and some my family don’t even like anymore. Each week, when menu planning rolls around, I am annoyed. With this in mind, I decided to re-do my recipe binder.

1. I took it apart. Literally. I pulled out all the recipes and went through them one by one. I sorted them into these piles- freezer cooking, crockpot cooking, recipes we use, and recipes we haven’t tried. As I went through my recipe binder I chucked the recipes that we’ve tried and didn’t love or even some that I know I’ll never make. 
2. I ordered Avery Big Tab Two-Pocket Insertable Plastic Dividers on Amazon.com. I picked these because they are plastic (easy to wipe) and each divider has a pocket.. My thought is that I can put new recipes I want to try into the pockets and as I try them move them into a permenant spot in my binder.

When I get my dividers in, I will reassemble my recipe binder but only with current family recipes we have tried and like. For now I will plan my menus around those recipes. Then I will slowly add the recipes that I want to try one at a time. I will post a picture of my recipe binder when I’m done.

I do want to share some of the wonderful blogs I visited to get inspiration:

My Recipe Binder Got a Makeover

Refrigerator Magnet Menu Planner 

Menu Mom: Menu Planning Central

Ligia