Free Printable Packet for Anyone Learning to Cook on Their Own {Helpful for High School Graduates!}

This post contains free printable packets with tips, strategies, and easy recipes for those learning to cook on their own.

It seems not so long ago that there were many very enthusiastic (very young!) “helpers” in the kitchen.

Fast forward to now and my oldest has decided it’s okay to move on and be an adult and completely ignore how I feel about it! I found my way to Brazil to study and then headed off to my first semester of college.

He “kind of” cooks for himself every day at school, eats “some” fruits and vegetables, and “definitely” enjoys going home to eat all the home-cooked food. You assured me that you are.

UNIQUE KIDS + UNIQUE ENVIRONMENT

Each of these young adults has a different path, a different plan. Some people can’t leave home right away. Others head off to college, job opportunities, church missions, military service, or living abroad! There is a possibility that

Each situation is incredibly unique!

Given that we’re new to this season myself, I don’t have any advice on how to navigate the launch, near-launch, or not-ready-to-launch phases. to exclude When it comes to cooking (and even then, you have to adapt to the situation in almost every situation!).

Cooking 101 packets

For those of you looking to learn to cook on your own (or even while you’re still living at home), we’ve prepared a simple printable packet.

This packet is a new and improved version of a resource I created many years ago when I taught some young people in my church congregation how to be a rock star in the kitchen.

There are various situations such as budget, interest in cooking, time, etc. Please consider this packet. A basic guide and starting point for anyone who can use Kickstart to cook for themselves.

I hope it helps and inspires those who use it in some way to find the excitement of learning new skills in the kitchen.

If they graduated beyond packet recipes, I happen to know of a stockpile of really great, really delicious recipes they can start trying.

We believe anyone can feel like a rock star in the kitchen (kids, teens, young adults, or full adults!) and have a lot of fun with it!

It’s never too late to start cooking with kids

And here’s a simple plug-in for everyone with young children (and even teens). It’s never too late to learn how to use the kitchen.

It’s hard to give up the control (and deal with the mess!) that comes from letting kids and teens create in the kitchen. I get it 1,000%!!

However, letting kids learn their own way in the kitchen will give them a lot of confidence and know-how when they finally cook for themselves.

I’m trying to help my kids:

• Learn how to read and follow recipes
• Find recipes they want to make (it excites them!)
• learn from inevitable mistakes
• Understand how much it costs to make a recipe and how to spend your grocery budget accordingly

Of course, not all children are interested in cooking and baking. I have several children who are willing to ask me to make recipes or help me in the kitchen. When I asked, he acted like I pulled his toenails one by one.

Sunday dinner quota

Over the last few years, we’ve implemented an aptly named “Sunday Dinner Assignments” system. 😉 We know this works for a lot of people, but we’ve found that allocating dinner nights to our kids during the school year or during the summer doesn’t work consistently well for our family.

This is how the Sunday dinner quota works.

• Most Sundays, I write down what I want to make for dinner.
• Sometimes I write specific recipes (such as shepherd’s pie for the main dish), and sometimes I write categories (such as desserts) and ask them to choose what they want to make.
• I write one of their names for each assignment. I don’t let them choose. One of my kids who will otherwise remain unnamed signs up for Ice Water every Sunday.
• Fill in gaps as needed.

This very simple system allowed children to learn how to make homemade rolls and side dishes, and gave them the opportunity to do a little more work for things like desserts and main dishes.

With my help, they learned how to plan the timing so that everyone had to go down to the kitchen and wash their own dishes 15 minutes before we wanted to eat dinner. I’m listening.

In case anyone is wondering, no angels are singing during Sunday dinner assignments. There’s always at least a little bit of grumbling, and it’s often very annoying. , maybe more).

But it *mostly* works.

And it’s really fun to sit down to dinner and have everyone announce to Brian (who doesn’t attend church on Sundays) what part of the dinner they made. , the kid who made the rolls gets very upset when he gives credit to his older brother who was only assigned to cut the fresh fruit for the day.

This system may not work for everyone. Just an idea to get some brain juice flowing. For us, it helps the kids here learn basic cooking skills.

If it’s not the time or season to deal with the mess and stress of kids in the kitchen, that’s okay. Take another look and if you feel it’s right for you and your family, make a simple plan.

we are all in this together!