Cooking With Teenagers During Quarantine
Are you and your teens having a hard time interacting during the lockdown? Wish you could share some experience for all of you to enjoy? Cooking with teenagers is a great way to bond and have fun during quarantine.
Benefits of cooking with teenagers during quarantine
Changing habits and improving health
Most intervention programs that exist in different countries have produced very positive results. First of all, they help improve eating habits. In general, adolescents often eat fast food, soda and junk food.
Moreover, they hardly eat any fruit, vegetables, leafy vegetables and fish. Your main goal should therefore be to teach them to include and enjoy these foods in their daily menu. At the same time, their health will improve.
By actively participating, your kids will discover new recipes to maximize the flavors of fruits and vegetables. When they discover how delicious these foods can be, your kids will enjoy them more often.
It’s also the perfect opportunity to introduce them to new foods and invite your kids to give it a try. You can even explain their properties and benefits so that your children understand the impact of food on their feelings.
Acquiring culinary skills
Learning is a process in which we acquire new knowledge. There are all different ways to learn, but 70% of these come from practice.
Simply experimenting yourself helps to consolidate information. This is because it helps us retain information for a longer period of time and makes it easier to absorb that information.
Cooking is therefore an important activity as it allows them to know which utensils to use and how to use them. Plus, show them the wide variety of culinary techniques out there.
Parents should teach their children the various factors that influence taste when preparing dishes. For example, the way you cut food, the way you cook the ingredients and how you use different spices.
Cooking with teenagers during quarantine promotes good values
The most important values you encourage while cooking with your teenager are teamwork and building relationships. This is because you can divide the tasks and dialogue as you work. Ask your kids how they are doing and how they feel now that they are cooking.
You can also use this time to discuss their favorite series, movies or books. That way, you’ll be able to break through some of the barriers that usually separate you.
During adolescence, children tend to spend less time with their parents and get tired of incessant questions about their daily activities. However, this is a time when your kids are more willing to open up, as long as you respect their privacy.
Plus, you can set up a sibling competition and rate their skills when they’re done. It’s not about winning or losing, of course, but about learning and carrying on while having a good time.
Kids will also improve their concentration skills while focusing on each step to make the food taste great.
Mood and well-being
A number of studies have shown that adolescents with culinary knowledge are less likely to suffer from symptoms of depression. On the one hand, cooking is a fun, satisfying and relaxing activity. At the same time, they can prepare recipes using their favorite ingredients or that they have enjoyed with friends or seen on social media.
On the other hand , food brings pleasure as it provides basic nutrients and energy. It also stimulates the secretion of serotonin, a hormone directly linked to emotional well-being.
So, now we would like to propose a pizza recipe that you can cook together with your kids during the quarantine. They will love it for sure!
Pizza, the perfect recipe for cooking with teenagers during quarantine
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 teaspoons fresh yeast
- Salty
- mushrooms.
- canned tuna
- Grated mozzarella cheese
- tomato sauce
- Oregano
Instructions
- Before you start, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Now mix the flour, water, oil, yeast and a pinch of salt in a large mixing bowl until well blended.
- Then knead the dough with clean hands until it no longer sticks to your skin. Then set it aside for a few minutes.
- Then sprinkle your worktop with flour and stretch the dough with a rolling pin.
- Finally, place it on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Once your pizza base is ready, cover it with tomato sauce using a spoon. Then add sliced mushrooms, tuna, a layer of grated cheese and oregano.
- Finally bake your pizza for 15 minutes.
As you have seen, cooking is a very stimulating activity for teenagers. As they have fun and learn, they will also gain confidence in themselves and build bonds with you and their siblings.