Seven simple foods your child can prepare alone

Training your kids on how to be independent is an important part of their development. There might be times when you’re held up at work and can’t make it home on time or maybe you’re just interested in equipping them with these basic life skills.

The best way to start is to show them how to make simple meals that don’t involve too many steps or hazardous risks. Before you get down to the lessons, educate them on kitchen safety that involves proper hygiene, safety when using knives and sharp objects and fire safety.

Once that’s clear, show them these simple meals they can make on their own.

Sandwiches

Sandwiches are easy to make as they require little to no effort. Also, the recipes are flexible since there is a variety to choose from. They can prepare avocado, ham, peanut butter, banana sandwiches and many other types depending on what they like. If you’ve already trained them on how to use the toaster and you’re sure they’re ready, they can go ahead and toast the sandwich then enjoy it with a glass of milk.

Pre-cooked microwavable meals

Not everyone is open to the idea of microwaves. But they can still come in handy especially when your child isn’t able to cook yet. There are some many pre-cooked meals you can find in the supermarkets including pizza, chicken wings, lasagna and stir-fry. They don’t need to fry or bake anything with these microwavable meals. All they have to do is pop them in the microwave and heat. 

Noodles

Noodles are one of those life-saving meals to have in your pantry. They’re literally a one-step meal if you’ve already trained your child to use the stove well. In case they’re not yet ready for the stove, they can use the microwave to cook the noodles as an alternative.

Veggie salad

Vegetable salads don’t have to be boring. They are yummy, filling and healthy for them to eat. Have the basic ingredients which are tomatoes, onions, lettuce and salad dressing then customize different recipes for them. One of the best recipes to teach them is the chicken and veggie recipe if you have some leftover chicken in the fridge for them to use. I’m sure they’ll be able to chop up the vegetables, mix some salad dressing then add chicken pieces.

Eggs 

Eggs are not complicated at all. And they’ll barely spend five minutes preparing them. Once they get a hang of it then they can explore their creativity with different omelet recipes. A basic one needs onions, tomatoes, ham, peppers and coriander. They’ll mix these ingredients with an egg or two in a bowl then fry for a few minutes on a pan. Both eggs and omelets are simple to prepare.

Oats

This healthy and filling meal will be easy for your kids to make. Take them through the procedure a couple of times and after a number of trials, they’ll be able to prepare it on their own. The three ingredients for this are oatmeal, milk, sugar and water. It takes about five minutes to cook this and they can even add some bananas and raisins to spice up the meal.

Fruit salad

No cooking needed here. Just stock up your home with delicious avocados, mangos, pineapples, apples, watermelons and any other fruit they’ll like. What you can do is slice fruits that are a little tricky like pineapples and watermelons because they can be hard for them to peel and cut on their own. Other than that, there’s nothing complicated about a fruit salad.

To make things easier, you should write down some simple recipes for them in a book for them to refer to while learning to prepare them.