Kids in the Kitchen
sponsored by Doorstep Chef “Kitchen Confidence for Teens”
her to start dinner. I knew she was capable of doing what I asked her to do, but she was more than a little nervous about it. With a little coaching over the phone, she did fine, but it got me thinking….
N
Meghan had helped in the kitchen many times, but rarely had she ever actually initiated the cooking. With only a few years to go until college, I decided I needed to equip her with the experience she needs to be fully confident in the kitchen. We started by talking about what she already felt confident doing. The list included boiling water, making toast, microwaving things and turning on the oven. Then we talked about the kinds of foods she liked. Lots of pasta dishes were mentioned (imagine that!). We decided that would be a good place to start, so we combined a family spaghetti sauce recipe with a basic Ziti casserole and came up with the recipe below.
Our next step is to start a recipe box with all the dishes she has mastered so she can begin to see that she IS competent in the kitchen!
Since our family business involves ready-to-cook meals, they are a great way for any teen to get some practice as well. Doorstep Chef takes on the shopping and chopping and leaves the rest to you with detailed cooking instructions right in your delivery bag. I think I’ll start leaving the rest to her more often. It’s a great way to
“ease” your teen into confidence in the kitchen. Baked Ziti
Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes Serves: 6-7
INGREDIENTS For Sauce:
1 clove chopped garlic 1 tsp. parsley
20 North Texas Kids • July 2011 •
www.NorthTexasKids.com
ot very long ago, I was running late getting home and had to call my 13-year-old daughter to ask
1 tsp. oregano 1 ½ tsp. salt
1 – 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes 2 – 6 oz. cans tomato sauce
For Pasta Mixture: 1 (16 oz.) package ziti pasta
15 -20 oz. ricotta cheese (this varies according to taste) 1 lb. shredded mozzarella cheese 1 egg, beaten
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS 1. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a large saucepan and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Stir often.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add ziti and cook 8-10 minutes to al dente state (do not overcook!). Drain, rinse and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix the cooked ziti, the ricotta cheese, mozzarella, egg and 1 ½ cups of the spaghetti sauce. Stir until well combined.
4. Lightly coat the bottom and sides of a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray and spoon the pasta mixture into the dish. Top with the remaining spaghetti sauce and sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese.
5. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. For best results, let stand for 15 minutes before serving.
OPTIONAL ADD-ONS
This dish is very versatile! Feel free to add 1 lb. of cooked ground beef or turkey to the sauce mixture as it simmers. Other suggested add-ins include 1 lb. of cooked Italian sausage, shredded cooked chicken, veggies such as mush- rooms, spinach, peppers, etc. For the best flavor, add these ingredients to the sauce as you prepare it and let it simmer the entire 30 minutes.
So what is going to ensure that your teen is confident in the kitchen? Practice and repetition! Charge them with finding interesting recipes, either in your own cookbooks or on the internet. There are lots of great recipe sites,
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