cooking with teenagers

I remember when my mom used to tell my brother & I that we needed to learn how to cook.  She gave each of us one night a week to cook dinner.  I think it lasted two weeks.  Maybe three weeks at the most.  We were picking hot dogs on a weekly basis.  I'm pretty sure mom got fed up with hot dogs.... dealing a blow to her dream of getting out of cooking one night a week.  Sorry Mom.

Fast forward 20 years.  I'm now encouraging my 13 year old to cook more in the kitchen.  Actually -- what really happens is that I run out of time, and I tell Katie "fix dinner!  Recipe is on that blog!"

Last Wednesday night I kind of lost it.  I was running out of time to cook dinner, had to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for an activity at church that night, and I was losing time fast.  Katie came to the rescue! She made baked chicken parmesan tenders by scratch (on my recipe blog) while I was on cookie duty.  The chicken turned out fabulous. 

I had her make one of those easy Lipton rice packets to go with the chicken.  A monkey could make this .... literally.  I tell my children ALL the time "read ALL the directions!  Follow ALL the directions!" -- the directions was to bring the water & rice ingredients to a boil, then to turn down to simmer for 7 minutes.  She left it on medium high for 7 minutes.  Catastrophe!!  Black, smelly burnt rice was all over the bottom of the pan.  I lost my cool.  "What happened to reading the directions???"  She was cooking and managing Facebook at the same time.  Qualities that show she can one day be a mother and hold down two to three things at one time. 

So .... the mean mom in me reared her ugly head -- and made her clean up the burnt rice on the bottom of the pan.  I figured "this way, she'll learn never to let rice burn like that."  Cleaning up burnt rice on the bottom of a pan is HARD!!  I think she learned her little life lesson.  Actions bring consequences -- whether good or bad. 

But my lesson?  Ouch -- it was a hard one.  Don't lose the cool over burnt rice.  The damage is greater on my child's feelings than what my pan is worth. 

So ... big FAIL on my mothering experience with cooking this week.  Next week will most definitely be better. :)  Hopefully she'll cook again.  That really was the best chicken we had with that recipe!