The Recipes My Adult Kids Take With Them

I cook a lot, and I cook often. Three meals a day, seven days a week— it adds up. My family gathers around our table for most breakfasts and every dinner, with lunch often being a little less formal due to flexible schedules. I once sat down and did the math, and calculated that by the time my eldest son left for college (and even accounting for meals out and others cooking from time to time), he’d had well over 6,000 dinners made by me. What a privilege it is to handcraft that large a body of memories in the lives of another human!

I won’t claim that every meal I’ve ever made has been well received. My older kids still razz me about the stuffed acorn squash I served one perfect autumn day. To my recollection, it’s the only dish that ever made my kids actually gag. There have been lesser flops, as well. The meatball recipe that was so salty as to be almost inedible. The flourless cake that was super-sweet, softset pudding.

My general reputation, though, is that of a good cook and an even better baker. Meals are a joyful event in our family, and definitely something we enjoy coming together for. We like variety, we don’t shy away from bold flavors, and we’re always up to try something new.

We do, of course, have standby favorites. And those are the meals my kids have to know before they move on into adulthood— because how else will they be able to recreate a taste of home on their own? Below you’ll find what amounts to a “best of” countdown of recipes that my grown kids have all graduated into their own kitchens.

Delicious Ham and Potato Soup Our family has multiple versions of potato soup, but this one as known as “that potato soup we all love.” It’s been made on multiple continents by members of our family at this point, and is never a disappointment. It’s frugal, it’s fast, and it adjusts to be dairy free with just a quick tweak.

Pumpkin Spice Bars These just taste like fall. We think they’re best served chilled and topped with cream cheese frosting.

Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps If you have leftover chicken and a taste for Mexican flavors, this recipe will satisfy. We make the filling on a grand scale, because the leftovers are even better the next day.

Restaurant Style Mexican Rice If you can master this recipe, and make a decent taco, just add some refried beans and cheese, and you will never hanker for a combo plate at your favorite Mexican restaurant again.

Chocolate Cobbler You need this recipe. It’s a go-to dessert made with pantry staples that produces the gooiest, richest chocolatey goodness you’ve ever tasted. Perfect on a cold night!

There are a bunch of other staples I add to the repertoire of recipes my kids take with them when they have homes of their own, but these are the ones that I hear them making again and again. What dishes will your kids remember the most and want to recreate in their kitchens? What do you make from your own childhood?

In Christ,

Heather