a not so dangerous dinner
The kitchen is quite a dangerous place. Sharp blades, steam, hot plates, gas – really, it’s not the best place for an accident-prone, impatient, careless, and dangerously silly person like myself. Over the years I have sustained many injuries from my experiments. The top of the blender popping off as I was blending up boiling hot soup (let it cool down first, Lou – I’m so impatient) was a particularly good one. Burns are not fun. Porridge (oatmeal) burns are the worst, it’s so gluey that it sticks to your skin and just keeps on burning. Great.
My finger tips will never be the same. Bits chopped off, multiple singes from using them to turn stuff on the hot plate (tongs, Lou, tongs) it’s all part and parcel. One bonus nowadays is that my hands are kind of de-sensitised, so I can just shove them into the oven with reckless abandon. Makes me look so tough.
I think it was Anthony Bourdain (man I love that dude) that said the sign of a cook was ugly hands – it was his mission as an aspiring chef to get that knarled and disfigured look which equates to kitchen kudos.
I didn’t even notice that I sliced the top off my finger this morning as I was hacking up a bit of beef for Boosty’s weekly meals. All the red stuff over my shopping list was a little clue. Gross.
I’m not the most careful cook – my technique, although fast is not exactly “safe.” My Mum would always cringe watching me use a knife.
What’s been your worst cooking related injury?
Seeing HEAB‘s post on homemade apple and sweet potato purees, I remembered I had some of each in the fridge that needed using up. Misty doesn’t really dig the whole ‘puree’ thing – he’s an independent man, and likes to feed himself. Balls seem to be the way to go (and get good distance as a tasty chaser for Boosty).
Having purees on hand is kind of useful – they add a certain something (yeah, the M word) to baking, extra flavour to sauces and soups, and are great mixed in with cereal or yoghurt. If you have too much, just freeze and use at your leisure, what could be easier? I also think eating pureed food is quite comforting in a ‘reverting back to childhood’ kinda way. Maybe that’s just me.
I’m still on my sweet potato kick, so made these to involve Misty in the madness.
Misty’s Millet Munchies
(Gluten free, nut free, egg free, dairy free, soy free, vegan)
- 1/4C sweet potato puree
- 1/4C apple puree (or just use all sweet potato)
- 1/4C millet
- Pinch of ground cinnamon and ginger (approx 1/8t of each)
- 1/2C water
- 1/2C rice milk
- 2T ground flax
- Sesame seeds for coating (substitute with wheat germ, coconut, quinoa flakes, whatever you have).
- Combine everything except ground flax in a small saucepan.
- Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and wait until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed (around 20 minutes, it may be longer).
- Turn off heat and stir in flax seed. Let it sit for 10 minutes or so, and let the flax work it’s magic.
- Roll into balls, and coat in sesame seeds.
No injuries were sustained in the making of these balls.
21 Responses to “a not so dangerous dinner”
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- - October 28, 2011
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Vegan. Stay at home Mum of Misty. Yoga teacher in training. Passionate about REAL food - creating it, eating it, sharing it. I can never stick to a recipe.
Ah yes, the dreaded oatmeal burn! The only thing worse is toffee burns. That just rips your skin off :S
Love the look of these ball treats, but then again we know how I feel about ball treats
oh yeah, I think toffee wins the “worst burner” award… nasty. Hope you’re holding up ok sweetheart, thinking of you and your family xx
Thank you Lou
xo
Lol! That made me giggle, Lou – and grimace at the same time!
Sounds like you have definitely been initiated into the chef club! 
I’ve cut myself many a time of overly sharpened knives – the Kiwi likes ‘em razor sharp, which frightens the living daylights out of me!
But since you managed to avoid any injuries whilst making those balls, I think I could give them a go! I might make them to take into my new job next week – get on everyones good side lol!
They do look very yum, and incredibly moorish!
xyx
They are yummy – but if you’re making them for grown up, add some SALT. mmm salt. Also pump up the spices and flavourings just to make them hum a little more. Viper is always sharpening my knives too, I forget that they are dangerously sharp, hence the slicing and dicing of myself
Making these tomorrow. You’re quickly becoming my go-to baby food recipe site. Seriously, the world needs you – some of those “wholesome” baby food sites are awful! Thanks for sharing all your kitchen creations, and yeah, oatmeal burns are the worst! My friend microwaved her oats at work a few months ago – she wasn’t used to the microwave, and the bowl exploded on her – she had to wear a bandage on her arm for a couple of weeks. The scars are fading, but they were bad!
Oh shucks, you’re making me blush
I love to create tasty treats, being in the kitchen makes me happy (Viper reckons I make ‘weird’ food. Oh well) Burns are just horrible, they are so painful – my scars have only just faded away from my soup blender explosion, and that was 3 years ago, yeesh. Have you tried the HEABlet with chia seeds? I reckon they have really helped my skin, all the omega 3s and such 
Lou, these are in my oven right now. Rolled half in black sesame seeds and the other half in coconut. Smell so good baking! I have given Summer chia seeds once or twice. They’re just so gloopy – used to love them myself, but I had a really blobby bowl of chia oat bran once and it turned me off. Been giving Summer lots of salmon which she loves, and I think it’s really helped her skin. It’s looking so much better these days and not nearly as dry. Thanks again for all your wonderful recipes.
Chia seeds are a bit freaky – Viper HATES them, reckons they are like a slimy tomato seed that got stuck in your teeth! I find I have to blend up the chia seeds when I give them to Misty (otherwise they just go straight through him, ya know what I mean?!) Salmon is amazing, I eat a lot of it too which helps (oh so delicious) Great to hear her skin is getting better, such a frustrating thing, eczema – hope she likes the balls
I read on some other site recently about how putting hot stuff in a blender can cause it all to burst out and burn you. So glad I read that because it is totally something I would have done.
Along with, ya know, putting wax paper in the oven.
NOT the same as parchment paper.
Don’t cause small fires in your oven. Don’t be like me.
Dude! I’ve done that with the wax paper… not pretty, not pretty at all. Hot stuff+ blender= ouch. Trust me, again, it’s not pretty. Thanks for reading
Hey Lou! I just discovered your blog through HEAB and I’m so glad I did…I love your sense of humor and these little treats sound fantastic! I’ve never made my own puree’s before since I live alone and didn’t know what I’d do with a huge mess of “baby food.” Why have I never thought about the freezer? I’ll just have to put a sticky on the door…my freezer is also know as “the place where leftovers go to die”
Accident prone, careless, and inpatient…the three words that best describe me in general and are only intensified when I’m in the kitchen. Over the years, my left hand (since I’m right hand dominant) has been tortured with my best chef’s knife. I once cut the side of my thumb about a quarter way through my nail…yeah that bled for like forever! My worst accident was probably the hot out of the oven skillet handle incident of 2010. I JUST took the skillet out of the oven with my very first German style pancake, turned to get something, and then turned right around to move the pan with my BARE hand. No amount of ice, aloe, tea tree oil, or butter (yeah, who’s the wise acre who came up with that one) took the burn away. And then I had a nice blister on the palm of my right hand in the shape of the skillet handle…it was uber sexy!
Haha, freezer = the cemetery for leftovers
So happy you found me (I am actually a quiet lurker of your blog – does that sound creepy?!?)
Ouchies, that skillet injury sounds NASTY (butter on a burn is such a dumb old wives tale) Burns are horrible, they just keep hurting and hurting and hurting, then go all blistery and gross. Oh it’s the gift that keeps on giving
Go on, give a puree a whirl – they are actually really useful to have on hand (Man that sounds geeky)
Yay, I’ll change my quiet lurking status, and start conversing on your blog too (this whole blog game is still fresh and new to me)
i’m constantly slicing my fingers or burning my arm in the kitchen for the dumbest reasons too haha. like dropping a ladle in a hot pot of soup & using my hand to to get it out or slicing tomatoes AFTER drinking a few glasses or wine. silly girls haha
hehehe! My co ordination actually gets BETTER after a few wines…. not sure why?! Should I be concerned? Nah, just have another glass, it’s good for my cooking skills
wowww these look really good! Kind of remind me of a Korean dessert/treat. I found your blog through Heather, and I must say that I really want to use your recipes in the future.
I agree that the kitchen is dangerous! The other day, I managed to get a long line of a scar on my hand from the tip of a really hot skillet. It’s okay though, b/c it’s leathery now. Haha 
And I aspire to someday be a GREAT cook.
Yay, glad you found me
When I was in Korea, I had some sort of sweet bean+ rice dessert ball thing, which was strangely good… didn’t expect to like it, but I did. Burns are SO nasty – my finger tips and forearms show how careless and clumsy I am! Thanks for reading 
At 10 months, my baby is finally able to feed herself rather well. Yay for me as I can finally try some of your baby-friendly recipes. Tonight were these Millet Munchies and they were a big hit! I’ve printed out several other recipes and am anxious to have her try them out. Thanks!
Oh that’s excellent! Finger food is fun time
Messy, but fun. Thanks for reading 