Delicious Recipes for Teenagers

Teenagers need to learn to cook so that when they leave the home, they can begin making their own meals. One way to capture a teenager's interest is to come up with some fun recipes that he can make. If the recipes are appealing, then the teenager is going to get excited about them. Pick one afternoon of each week to devote to teaching your teen a new recipe.

Chicken Quesadillas

Teens love quesadillas and they make great party foods for when your teen has friends over. Place two boneless chicken breasts into a marinating pan. Pour your favorite salad dressing over the chicken. Italian is the most common, but ranch or Caesar would also taste great. Set the chicken in the refrigerator for one hour. You will then need to cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. Place these chicken cubes in a frying pan on medium heat. Once they are no longer pink in the middle you will want to add half a chopped onion and half a chopped green pepper. As soon as they get soft, you can take them off the heat.

Spray a clean frying pan with vegetable oil spray. Heat the pan up to medium heat. Lay a soft taco shell on the frying pan and fill it with your chicken, onion, and green pepper mixture. Just be careful to keep the mixture away from the edges. Sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese over the chicken and then top with another soft taco shell. Flip the quesadilla after two minutes and then cook another two minutes. Plate the quesadilla and then use a pizza cutter to cut the quesadilla in four pieces. Serve hot.

Fruit Smoothies

Fruit smoothies are not only fun for teenagers to make, but they are also healthy. To make a fruit smoothie, you need one handful of frozen blueberries, four ice cubes, one 6-oz. container of vanilla yogurt, one banana, and a tsp. of honey. Place all of these ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour in to a drinking glass and top with a drink umbrella. You may also want to add a dollop of whipped cream on top of the smoothie. Another optional ingredient is one cherry to go on top of the whipped cream.

Chocolate-covered Pretzels

Your teens are going to want to know how to make some snacks and desserts. Chocolate-covered pretzels fit both of these categories. Lay out a sheet of waxed paper so that it will be ready. Now pick your favorite chocolate. This could be milk chocolate, white chocolate or dark chocolate. Buy two bars of it and break it up in to tiny pieces. Place the pieces in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave the chocolate on high for one minute at a time. Stir the chocolate once each minute until it is completely smooth. Carefully dip one pretzel in the melted chocolate at a time. The chocolate will be hot. Once the pretzel is coated you can lay it on the waxed paper. Continue until you have made the desired amount of pretzels. Place the chocolate-covered pretzels in the refrigerator on the waxed paper until the chocolate hardens.

Optional: Melt a second kind of chocolate the same way you did the first. Then drizzle it over the hardened chocolate-covered pretzel. Once that hardens, you will have a neat-looking chocolate covered pretzel.