Pureed cheeseburger?????

[fudgie21]

I know this thread is serious and I do agree with all you have said but when I first read the title....I read PUREBREED cheeseburgers and thought it was about horse meat!!!


memo to self.... must go to specsavers pronto!

[JoM]

Ally, that reminds me of when I used to walk Joe to school and I'd regularly see a number of Moms who were pushing buggies whilst listening to iPods. Whatever happened to talking to your child whilst walking along with them, pointing things out, educating them about the world around them?

I'm not a huge fan of cooking but I do it so that I know my family have been well fed and have had a balanced meal.

You can whip up a pasta meal, or even a shepherd's pie from scratch, in the time it can take to heat frozen ready meals for a family.

[meriad]

Weka, I have a friend who, same as you, couldn't cook when she got married. She then bought a few cook books and (again same as you) would follow the recipe to the letter... she now is one of the most amazing cooks I know and will knock up the most scrumptious meal from whatever she may have in the cupboard.

We (my sister, three brothers and I) all learned to cook and whilst none of us are 2* Michelin chefs we all are very capable of putting together something, easy as well as more elaborate . I love cooking and often regret that I live on my own and don't really get much chance to do a full-on meal (I just don't appreciate the effort for just myself)

[debih]

Weka, get them doing really easy stuff that you see as a nothingness but they will see as helping (iyswim).

Making sandwiches - get them to butter the bread and put the fillings in, get them to do the toppings for pizza and cake making is the easiest thing in the world for them to do.

And don't be too frightened about letting them use a knife - its quite amazing what they can achieve if you let them have a go.

[Diflower]

I agree completely Debih, no age is too young. You just have to put up with a bit of slowness and mess, but what's new?!
I've always had small children in the kitchen with me, you know pretty fast what they're capable of and how far they can be trusted.
For their ages I'd suggest using some plastic picnic-type knives, they're good enough for things like mushrooms, cucumber, spreading etc, and will get them used to how to use them.

Obviously you have to be really careful with hot pans etc, always make sure the handles are away from them. A cousin of mine couldn't wait for his hot milk and pulled the saucepan handle, boiling milk went all down his front (yes it was very nasty, but barely any scars thank goodness).
They soon learn 'hot' and 'dangerous', so be aware but don't get too worried by it

[JoM]

To me, this is the most telling comment in Osc's post ...

.... there are mothers who can't even give their children a simple sandwich for lunch, and make sure they at least have a bowl of cereal before going to school.

I mean, that's not cooking - that's basic survival ! So it's not just down to "skill level", it's something much more fundamental than that ....

There's a primary school - age 3-11 - on our estate and I noticed on the board outside the other day that they're now giving free breakfasts to all children from 8.30am every morning. It's cereal and toast from Mon-Thurs and pancakes and something else on Fridays
For a start that's obviously coming out of the school budget, money which should be spent on educating, but why do they school have to do this? Why can't they be given breakfast before leaving home? What's so difficult or time consuming about pouring out a bowl of cereal or making a slice of toast?
When we lived in town though I'd leave Joe at school and walk in to get some shopping and would always see a number of toddlers sitting in buggies before 9am with a Greggs bag in their hands, breakfasting on a greasy, fatty sausage roll

[debih]

Some people do amaze me in their inability to understand how to feed their children.

We have a boy at school who has lots of "issues". His parents are separated and his behaviour since them splitting up has been awful - although neither parent can see that that is where his problems lie. Anyway, I digress. Both parents work - his mum holds down quite a decent (part time) job - but every morning he comes to school without having had any breakfast. So he is now sent through to the kitchen and spends the first 10 minutes of the day, whilst all the others are in assembly, having some toast or some cereal whilst sitting at the counter in the kitchen with the cook.

Why on earth she can't feed him (and probably his two older brothers) before he leaves the house is beyond me!

[Ally]

Some people do amaze me in their inability to understand how to feed their children.

We have a boy at school who has lots of "issues". His parents are separated and his behaviour since them splitting up has been awful - although neither parent can see that that is where his problems lie. Anyway, I digress. Both parents work - his mum holds down quite a decent (part time) job - but every morning he comes to school without having had any breakfast. So he is now sent through to the kitchen and spends the first 10 minutes of the day, whilst all the others are in assembly, having some toast or some cereal whilst sitting at the counter in the kitchen with the cook.

Why on earth she can't feed him (and probably his two older brothers) before he leaves the house is beyond me!

I know of someone whose 2 boys (aged 3 and 5) could tell you every single filling that they serve in Subway!!

The same 2 boys who have takeaways at least 3 times a week!!

Because their mother is a lazy midden who cba to cook for them!!

I daren't think about how much salt and cr*p those little lads consume each week.

[JoM]

I can't get my head around it, no matter how busy mornings are you find time to make sure they've eaten...get up a bit earlier if needs be!

Something I forgot to mention earlier. Joe was eating lunch with a boy a couple of months ago and Joe came home that night telling me how he'd shared his cucumber with this boy and how much he'd really enjoyed it as he'd never tried it before. How does a child get to the age of 12 or 13 without trying cucumber?

[meriad]

That's actually quite sad Debih and Ally