I am facing the challenge of teaching a ten year old girl to cook and have no idea where to start. I don't want her to feel as though I find her incapable but I also do not want to discourage her with anything too difficult.

My own daughter is nine and I have been teaching her things like cooking, sewing, etc. for years.

Her family, unlike mine, eats a good deal of meat and few vegetables. Any suggestions?

When I was about 10 or 11, my mom taught me the basic things to make for our family of four. My Dad worked, and she was going to grad school, so it was up to me.

1. Make it fun.
2. Make it simple.
3. Make it tasty & healthy
4. Let her be creative (even if the first few things are a bit over the top, let her experiment).
5. Betty Crocker's basic cookbook is a very easy to use, a very basic cookbook and it has step by step instructions. Make sure that it's one with pictures.
6. Let her start baking a few of her favorite types of cookies, just to get the measuring issues down pat.
7. Tell her father and brothers, that even if they don't like it, they ought to encourage her, maybe they can provide some ideas.

My first few things were:
Meatloaf
Beef stew with dumplings
Chili con carne
Peanut butter cookies
Real Caesar salad
Salad Nicoise

Make sure she knows how to make a big tasty salad, baked potatoes, plain rice, and how to cook simple veggies like fresh carrots, green beans and broccoli.

PS-don't leave her alone with the big pot on the stove or with the oven until she gets some experience. And, don't forget to teach her to "clean as you go...", it makes it easier.

If her family eats lots of meat and vegetables, you could teach her the great "One Oven Bag Potroast".

Sprinkle the roast w/ Lemon Pepper.
Brown it in a skillet.
Place it in an oven bag, then put the bag in a 13x9 baking pan.
Add peeled potatoes, carrots, a couple of cans of drained green beans, and a quartered onion.
Bake at 350° for 3-4 hrs.

You could also teach her how to measure w/ the good old Tollhouse cookie recipe.

Thanks! This trying to blend two families into one is a lot harder than I first thought it would be.

I also taught my ex-husband how to cook, he was mentally 10... But he is a great cook, too!

I grew up eating a lot of meat - one of my favorites was spaghetti. But now I make it with a can of tomatoes and plenty of fresh veggies - mushrooms, onions, red peppers, garlic, basil. It's fast, cheap, easy, healthy, and enjoyable. And you can eyeball the whole thing.

I mentioned learning to cook himself to her father. He finds cooking to be a female thing and therefore would be my job after (if) we are married.

Oooooh, I forgot that.

How about some easy breakfast food...scrambled eggs or french toast.

Plan a couple meals using some of her favorites. Take hamburger helper and dress it up with some veggies, cheese, canned tomatoes, etc. Or else break down the ingredients of hamburger helper and make a similar hotdish from scratch. (noodles, meat, canned soup or spaghetti sauce, mushrooms, veggies)

An easy salad is always good. Taco salad, 7 layer lettuce salad, macaroni salad. Even sweet salads that are simple.

Try to do a whole meal that is easy and really praise her how easy and good it was. That will encourage her to do more.

Oops...I almost forgot...my daughters favorite meal has always been the creamy rice with chicken breasts on top. Bakes for about an hour. I think she learned that one at about age 10.

My 9 year old daughter loves to make breakfast. Her favorites are blueberry muffins and pancakes. We started with a simple mix, easy and fun.

Eats lots of meat? Buy her a George Foreman and tell her to have fun!

As stated before, make it fun. Start out with something like Chocolate Chip Cookies. Tell her it's for desert. Ensure that the dad knows to make a big fuss over them.

Probably the biggest thing is to start slow and ensure that she knows the stove and oven can be dangerous. There is a reason that you don't fry bacon naked.

I've been cooking since I was about 10 and my two youngest sons (16,12) are also cooking and love it. The wife really likes it, cause it gets her out of the kitchen.

Seadevil

K, there are quite a few cookbooks for the pre-teen crowd.

The recipes are for foods they are accustomed to, they have pictures, uncomplicated recipes, small words, etc. Google search had an Australian Kids cookbook with "With great recipes from Brownies to Pikelets, from Kiddy Casserole to Lime Spiders, the kids are sure to have fun!" There were hundreds of kid's cook books also on Amazon.

You can plan a field trip and "rent a kid's cookbook" at your local library until you find one you want to permanently add to your collection. With some of the recipies having unique names, get her interrested in that she can pick out the recipe to make. My daughter made her choice by the names of the recipies - the grosser the better. Make it a fun time.

i also started to learn to cook around 10... started with cookies and cakes (still can't decorate to save my soul! ), then my mom started me on the easy basics, chili, vegy soup, roast, and i also started invesigating the betty crocker cook book, no home should be without one!... also things like mexican night can be fun and fairly easy... make sure to teach how to properly use a knife with chopping!!!

Do the nine and ten year old girls get along? Can you do a 'ladies only' thing where the three of you cook together? That way the one won't feel like she's being 'taught' so much as helping. You can even conspire a little with the other one so she feels special in helping you get the non-cook cooking.

Too bad for him. He's missing out. I learned to cook at the age of 10 out of self defense. My mom went back to work and my dad (who taught everything I know about grilling) is a disaster in the kitchen. If I wanted to eat, I needed to learn how to cook. Eventually, I took over more and more of the cooking. I knew I had arrived when my mom went to bed at 11PM the day before Thanksgiving and let me finish all the preparations for dinner for 26.

In college, I dated a girl whose grandmother was an immigrant from Sicily. We spent every Sunday afternoon at her house for family dinner. I spent most of that time in the kitchen with Grandma. She was a great cook. I learned a lot from her. The most important thing I learned was how much fun it is to have everyone in the kitchen cooking.

I do about 2/3 of the cooking at our house, including virtually all of the "entertainment" cooking. It's fun. And my wife and I are teaching our 9-year-old son to cook, too. We are following some of the same advice that people gave above: keep it simple; make it fun; praise their work. When Robert helps to cook, he is relieved from his usual chore of clearing the table. He likes that!

Cooking together is one of our most fun family activities. For his sake (and yours), I hope your fiance changes his mind.