Teens Cook: How to Cook What You Want to Eat [A Cookbook]

This cookbook is great! I ordered it for my boyfriend's 12 yr old son who wants to cook and help out in the kitchen, but doesn't know what to do with anything. The recipes are ones that you actually would WANT to make and eat, nothing too fancy, and there are a LOT of pictures and explanations which are what makes it stellar. If a 12 year old can't understand "unroll dough and cut it into thirds, lengthwise" the picture makes it very clear. I also ordered another teenager cookbook and was quite disappointed.. no pictures, basic recipes, the author use a goofy font and the word "whatever" repeatedly to make it appeal to teens, apparently.. whatever ;) But back to this cookbook, buy it for your kids! Or yourself, or your husband, or whoever! It is actually a very good one! There are sections for one person meals, and cooking for the entire family, so if you want your kid to eat more than just a bowl of cereal when they get home from school, or on summer vacation, its great for that.. or they can have dinner waiting when you get home or on the weekend! It really is a good cookbook, for any age, but great for preteens and teenagers.

I am a 28 year old wife and mother of one. I hate to cook but love to eat. When I was young, my mother would kick me out of her kitchen saying she could do it faster. Naturally, that means I never learned to cook. My poor family eats lots of mac-n-cheese, great northern beans, tacos, sandwishes, and fast food. Since I and my husband work during the day, we are both very tired when we get home, and are not real interested in fixing a great meal. Tired of letting my family down, I decided to look for cookbooks that teach quick and easy cooking. There aren't very many out there that seem to have "normal" foods in them with practical ingredients. Most of them ask for ingredients I haven't heard of. Then I got this book. It is great. The recipes are easy, the ingredients are easy to find in small town grocery stores, and the food is things that most people would like to eat. I highly recommend this book to those young adults who never learned how to cook, but want or need to. This is the best one I've found so far. It is truly for a beginner and the food is good. Love it. I'm going to go cook something out of it now.

Bought for my son who enjoys cooking with me. It's not for beginners, if that's what you are looking for. Thankfully my family appreciates different recipes, but I dont believe your advantage teenage or family would eat half of the recipes. Also, it's all about making from scratch. The first recipe we made for dinner I started making the store list and it called for soaking dry beans over night and then cooking 3 hours. 5 kids, sports, work etc. We don't have that kind of time on school nights! So I showed him how to improvise with canned beans and 5 min rice instead of what it called for. The receipe also had a scratch cornmeal muffin which we improvise with a jiffy mix cornbread.

A great introduction to cooking for an above average older child or a teen whose parent isn’t interested in teaching them or lacks those skills. It’s simply written and starts with the basics and builds off of it each chapter. I bought this for a teenager with Aspergers and she had no trouble reading and following through the book. It taught her how to be able to cook for herself as her mom wasn’t gifted in cooking.

I'm glad I bought this but my 15year old grandson said they don't have the kinds of food to use to make it tho he said he likes it. It would be better for people who enjoy cooking or for older teens, etc.

I got this for my hard to buy for step daughter who will be turning 17 soon. After looking through the recipes, I think she will like it. She's kind of a picky eater and while some of the items might not appeal to her, I'm hoping this will give her an opportunity to try something new. As a person who likes to cook, I disagree with the authors comments that mayonnaise and Miracle Whip are interchangeable (this is SO not a good idea!) and that you can always use salted butter. But, I guess if someone is going to make food, they can use whatever appeals to them. The ingredient lists seem appropriate for a teenager (not too many items that you would have a hard time finding). The directions seemed simple and straight forward. I'll be interested to see what she thinks.

Gave this book to an 11 year old relative. She's cooked multiple recipes out of it already and enjoys it. They have turned out well! I had the benefit of paging through this a few years ago so I knew the recipes and methods were solid, with accessible ingredients. Definitely recommend this as an introductory cookbook for young people who might be interested in dabbling in cooking as it will pique their interest and give them ways to experiment with ingredients you probably already have on hand. When they're ready to graduate to the next level, get them a more well-rounded introductory cookbook such as Betty Crocker's Basics to flesh out their knowledge.Writing this review as a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, so hopefully this review carries some weight :).

This book suits it's name well. You can find things that YOU would like and then learn how to fix them. There is a good variety of choices. AS in any cookbook, things you'd like and things you probably wouldn't (fits the title). The layout of the pages is really nicely done - great, colorful photos that inspire you to try, and clear, step-by-step instructions (some step-by-step photos). There are a number of really simple things to try that typical teens would like and would feel like they could actually do them - and other recipes that are more challenging for those who want to give a shot at something more detailed. I got this for my two teens who have only occasional interest in food preparation, and they are at least somewhat inspired just by looking through it. We just got it at Christmas so they haven't actually delved into it yet, so I've yet to see if my expectations are in line.

I bought this online for my 15 yr old son as a birthday present to encourage him to start cooking - but all the pictures are of girls cooking and girls in social situations, with cats etc. A boy appears in 3 of the photos, but he is either on the phone, on a gaming console or eating what the girls have prepared. This is very targeted at girls - it also reinforces the stereotype that women do the cooking. Boys need to be able to cook too. Pictures of boys cooking would have made this book accessible to all teens. I'll be sending it back and looking for something more relevant to a teen boy.

Lovely book. Nice recipes. Great introductions to each recipe. However not really suitable for UK as measurements are in cups rather than grams, and oven temperatures in deg F rather than deg C. So would be confusing to a teen learning to cook in the UK, hence will be returning.

Bought for my tween son who loves to cook, didn’t realize it’s written by two young girls and the writing, photos and recipes are all geared towards girls.

Considering everything on offer on the internet, I wasn't sure how my granddaughter would take being given a book. She loved it!!

Bought as a Christmas present for my 16 year old Niece who I am sure will enjoy experimenting in the kitchen.