frozen "chop"

[witchbaby]

For those of you who make & freeze "chop" for your birds, are there any particular ingredients that don't do well frozen and are better to add in fresh later on?

 

[labell]

Celery doesn't freeze well nor does mango. Fruits I like to add in fresh whatever is in season and organic. Most veggies seem to do fine except the really watery stuff like celery in my experience.

 

[thekarens]

That's interesting. I've never tried to freeze mango, but I buy it frozen all the time. Good to know.

 

[labell]

That's interesting. I've never tried to freeze mango, but I buy it frozen all the time. Good to know.

The birds and I eat mango daily, it is one of the fruits that I always have on hand. I have bought it frozen when the store didn't have any which is rare and it just seems more mushy and really doesn't taste as good imo. Mango is not highly sprayed and it doesn't absorb through the skin so since the skin is removed anyway it's one of the fruits including pineapple that I will buy even if it isn't organic and most times not to spare my wallet.
It does however ripen SUPER fast so I have finally learned to only buy no more than 5 or 6 at a time and I look for at least 4 out of that many that are on the harder side.

Just a fun fact about pineapples that will ensure you always get a ripe one. Pull on one of the very center leaves, if it comes out easily it's ripe if not chose one that does. Once you have pulled on a few it's easy to tell the difference.

 

[SilverSage]

I freeze only the veggies and add fruit fresh as well as sprouts. I avoid extra watery veggies such as tomatoes and cucumbers, as they don't freeze and thaw well. I also don't add things that we frequently eat, because I prefer to chop up our left overs (that never went on our plates) fresh. I feel like the texture is better fresh. We eat a lot of veggies in this house, so my frozen chop is more of a backup plan each day than the "Plan A"