Now before some of you get too offended, let me explain. We do not pay allowance in the Jones household because in our house, your help with chores is just part of being in our family. However, there is always a “Jobs for Hire” list on the fridge for those who need money. That list includes an ever increasing list of jobs that have to get done outside of our normal chores, but we never seem to have the time to do 🙂 A while back, I started adding cooking dinner to that list and it is one of the most popular jobs that the kids sign up for quickly.
So at least for me, paying my kids to cook and bake is the perfect solution to the following conundrums:
- My kids need money, and quite a bit of it, because we make them financially responsible for their clothes, their entertainment and helping to save for college. Amazing how hard kids will work when they really want a new pair of basketball shoes 🙂
- It is very important to me that my kids leave home with a solid, well rounded set of skills so that they can provide for themselves and their future families. Nothing eats up a budget faster than eating out or buying prepared foods from the grocery store so I want them to have quite a kitchen repertoire.
- Most days, my time to make dinner consists of about 5 minutes so having my kids rotate through the dinner prep makes my days quite a bit more sane.

Spaghetti with Meat Marinara
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 3 – 6 ounce cans tomato paste
water - 1/3 C grated parmesan cheese
- 2 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 2 Tb italian seasoning
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 pound box spaghetti
Instructions
1. Cook the spaghetti according to the directions on the box and drain.
2. In a large pan heated over high heat, cook the ground beef until no pink remains, adding a bit of salt and pepper to the meat while cooking.
3. Add the 3 cans of tomato paste and use one of the empty cans to add 5 full cans of water to the pan. Stir to mix together the paste and the water until a smooth sauce forms. Add the cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally. Serve the finished sauce over the cooked pasta.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/5th
- Calories: 519
- Sugar: 16g
- Sodium: 1352mg
- Fat: 11g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 63g
- Fiber: 13g
- Protein: 32g
- Cholesterol: 72mg
Minnesota Prairie Roots says
What a great idea. Why didn’t I think of this when my kids were still at home?
I just printed off your recipe. Sounds tasty and easy. My kind or food to prepare.
Carole says
Thanks Audrey 🙂 I hope you enjoy the recipe!