kale

[YUMgrinder]

I bought some kale along with other veggies trying to make sure my flock gets a good variety of healthy foods. So, I didn't know this but all three of my babies LOVE kale. They eat the crap out of it. Any reason I should limit their kale intake or can I let them gorge?

 

[chris-md]

Not really that I can think of. The concern with dark leafy greens is the oxalate content. However kale is not one of those with high oxalate content, unlike spinach or Swiss chard.

 

[wrench13]

Kale is a part of most of my chop receipes. Salty is getting picky as he matures.

 

[texsize]

All my Tiels like kale....My big birds don't

 

[Kiwibird]

Kale is one of those veggies that is still considered radioactive in this home (by both the bird and the husband) It has to be very very tiny chop and even then he picks as much out as he can (husband plain refuses to eat at all:25. If your birds eat it voluntarily, I'd offer it several times a week then! Leafy greens are very good for them!

 

[LordTriggs]

hey Kiwi your husband can't be as bad as me! I'm wary of any and all leafy veggies and others I refuse to eat.

I don't think I've ever had kale to be honest!

 

[Kiwibird]

hey Kiwi your husband can't be as bad as me! I'm wary of any and all leafy veggies and others I refuse to eat.

I don't think I've ever had kale to be honest!

Kale is neutral to me, I do cook it up once in a while for variety but I don't get the hype over it. I prefer collard greens personally. Though kale is really good if you chop it up coarsely, season it and dehydrate it (not really bird friendly though, as I add salt to my "kale chips"). Comes out very crunchy like thin chips (I *think* what you'd call "crisps") and doesn't really retain much of a green vegetable flavor!

 

[dhraiden]

hey Kiwi your husband can't be as bad as me! I'm wary of any and all leafy veggies and others I refuse to eat.

I don't think I've ever had kale to be honest!

LOL...for real, kale is delicious. I'm not a fan of it in the way you see it in salads or places like Le Pain Quotidien...but people from my culture make a kind of rich, dark-green stew called calloloo which while authentically is made with amaranth or the South American plant xanthosoma, can also be made with spinach or kale. It has coconut milk and spices and is delicious.

In South-East Asian cuisine, Indonesia and Malaysia in particular, they make a kind of braised collards, Gulai Sayur, that is pretty much something I want anytime I'm eating that kind of food. Really, really tasty!

Cooked in those ways, kale (or most any dark-green cruciferous type thing) is pliant, warming, not bitter - just savory and yummy.

 

[LordTriggs]

I'm just a bit picky when it comes to new food most of the time and never been a big veg person due to textures and what-not

 

[dhraiden]

Of all the people I know, those that like vegetables, ate them early (and prepared, honestly, well) and those that do not, did not; your sentiment is the same as my SO's close friend - she pretty much does not eat any vegetables (except for iceberg lettuce), because she says she does not "like their texture, and they taste really bitter". It has been a literal process of decades for her to find eating something like, say, lightly blanched broccoli with the barest of seasoning palatable. But if you cover it with sweet brown sauce (aka standard Chinese take-out style), she'll eat it.

I harbor a suspicion she's actually bordering on something of a "supertaster" (that's the actual term, not what I'd call it) - she's highly selective about what she eats, and it all tends towards extremely bland, or sweet. Or both. Even so-called savory foods. The actual make-up of her tastebuds aside, she was also raised in a household where everything was made extremely sweet.


EDIT: PS (Not saying that's you Triggs, or judging one way or another - just commenting!)

 

[LordTriggs]

nah for me it's because I have Aspergers so I can be a bit finicky about some things. For example, I do eat veg, peppers, carrots, peas, beans, potatoes, swede, sweet potato, corn, broccoli ETC ETC but say cauliflower courgettes and some leafy stuff I just don't care for. Though I do like lettuce and spinach. Mushrooms are my biggest no food though, it is a texture I cannot deal with in any way.

I also do have an addiction to sugar I'm trying to kick, but, well, it isn't going too well. Oddly though quitting smoking after 7 years was the easiest thing I ever did

 

[dhraiden]

Yeah, compared to kicking our societal/general addiction to sugar, it seems like it might be! Sugar is, in one form or another, absolutely EVERYTHING it sometimes seems like...

 

[Scott]

I'm just a bit picky when it comes to new food most of the time and never been a big veg person due to textures and what-not

Both my sister and niece have issues with textures. Neither will eat a green pea because of the "pop in the mouth" sensation. Same with mashed potatoes; must be totally pureed to remove *any* lumps!

They have learned to eat some new foods by combining them with other items that are tolerated. A cheese sauce can cover almost anything, including cauliflower and broccoli!

 

[Scott]

nah for me it's because I have Aspergers so I can be a bit finicky about some things. For example, I do eat veg, peppers, carrots, peas, beans, potatoes, swede, sweet potato, corn, broccoli ETC ETC but say cauliflower courgettes and some leafy stuff I just don't care for. Though I do like lettuce and spinach. Mushrooms are my biggest no food though, it is a texture I cannot deal with in any way.

I also do have an addiction to sugar I'm trying to kick, but, well, it isn't going too well. Oddly though quitting smoking after 7 years was the easiest thing I ever did

Yeah, compared to kicking our societal/general addiction to sugar, it seems like it might be! Sugar is, in one form or another, absolutely EVERYTHING it sometimes seems like...

I hear ya with mushrooms! That is the only food I despise based on texture, though the flavor in soups is OK.

Sugar, oh yeah, sugar. I could give up any food group if needed but not sugar! Just bought a bunch of Halloween candy and already opened one bag to taste-test! Some researchers now claim the anti-fat crusade started years ago was bankrolled by the sugar industry. New evidence claims sugar is far worse than fats, trans-fats excepted. But wait ten more years for "newer" findings!

Tobacco... a strange beast. Some are addicted from the get-go and can never quit. Others quit cold-turkey. Seems you smoked habitually but were never physically addicted. A good thing!

 

[LordTriggs]

nah for me it's because I have Aspergers so I can be a bit finicky about some things. For example, I do eat veg, peppers, carrots, peas, beans, potatoes, swede, sweet potato, corn, broccoli ETC ETC but say cauliflower courgettes and some leafy stuff I just don't care for. Though I do like lettuce and spinach. Mushrooms are my biggest no food though, it is a texture I cannot deal with in any way.

I also do have an addiction to sugar I'm trying to kick, but, well, it isn't going too well. Oddly though quitting smoking after 7 years was the easiest thing I ever did

Yeah, compared to kicking our societal/general addiction to sugar, it seems like it might be! Sugar is, in one form or another, absolutely EVERYTHING it sometimes seems like...

I hear ya with mushrooms! That is the only food I despise based on texture, though the flavor in soups is OK.

Sugar, oh yeah, sugar. I could give up any food group if needed but not sugar! Just bought a bunch of Halloween candy and already opened one bag to taste-test! Some researchers now claim the anti-fat crusade started years ago was bankrolled by the sugar industry. New evidence claims sugar is far worse than fats, trans-fats excepted. But wait ten more years for "newer" findings!

Tobacco... a strange beast. Some are addicted from the get-go and can never quit. Others quit cold-turkey. Seems you smoked habitually but were never physically addicted. A good thing!

Yeah I remember that tirade of "all fat is bad" and we quite literally ate it up

I'm the same, mushroom in soup is delicious, if finely chopped I can handle it in a pasta but it's a bit hit and miss

Funny I have no addiction issues outside of sugar. Like smoking I dropped purely because I didn't want to anymore and I was smoking thick cigars at the time. Even when I was in college doing drugs like all idiot college students do I gave up easily. Guess I just don't have much dependency on things as other people

 

[YUMgrinder]

I've been giving my birds a plate of veggies just about daily. The last week or 2 they have been getting kale, broccoli, and cauliflower. I throw in a few seeds or a couple pieces of fruit, apple, strawberry, grapes, mangos but very little so they don't fill up on sweets and they just go to town on it all. They definitely go for the kale first. I introduced them to jalapenos yesterday but only one of my conures went for it. I've learned that if they don't go for it at first, keep trying and they eventually indulge! I'll have all of them eating peppers here soon! I got a sweet potato I need to learn how to cook that. can I give them raw sweet potato?

 

[YUMgrinder]

oh... my god do I love mushrooms! LOVE THEM!

 

[Kiwibird]

nah for me it's because I have Aspergers so I can be a bit finicky about some things. For example, I do eat veg, peppers, carrots, peas, beans, potatoes, swede, sweet potato, corn, broccoli ETC ETC but say cauliflower courgettes and some leafy stuff I just don't care for. Though I do like lettuce and spinach. Mushrooms are my biggest no food though, it is a texture I cannot deal with in any way.

I also do have an addiction to sugar I'm trying to kick, but, well, it isn't going too well. Oddly though quitting smoking after 7 years was the easiest thing I ever did

Yeah, compared to kicking our societal/general addiction to sugar, it seems like it might be! Sugar is, in one form or another, absolutely EVERYTHING it sometimes seems like...

I hear ya with mushrooms! That is the only food I despise based on texture, though the flavor in soups is OK.

Sugar, oh yeah, sugar. I could give up any food group if needed but not sugar! Just bought a bunch of Halloween candy and already opened one bag to taste-test! Some researchers now claim the anti-fat crusade started years ago was bankrolled by the sugar industry. New evidence claims sugar is far worse than fats, trans-fats excepted. But wait ten more years for "newer" findings!

Tobacco... a strange beast. Some are addicted from the get-go and can never quit. Others quit cold-turkey. Seems you smoked habitually but were never physically addicted. A good thing!

Yeah I remember that tirade of "all fat is bad" and we quite literally ate it up

I'm the same, mushroom in soup is delicious, if finely chopped I can handle it in a pasta but it's a bit hit and miss

Funny I have no addiction issues outside of sugar. Like smoking I dropped purely because I didn't want to anymore and I was smoking thick cigars at the time. Even when I was in college doing drugs like all idiot college students do I gave up easily. Guess I just don't have much dependency on things as other people

I think just like the low fat scam these popular ATM low carb/high protein diets that demonize ALL sugars and carbs as the Satan's bounty are going to come out as damaging to the kidneys, liver and heart over the long term. Just because you shouldn't eat a tub of crisco every day doesn't mean you don't need healthy fats in the diet. Just because you shouldn't drink soda, eat baked goods AND candies by the bucket full every day doesn't mean choosing a favorite sweet treat to have a few times a week will make you fat and unhealthy either. Human body needs sugar, fat, carbs, protein, fiber, starches... ALL of it really in sensible quantities to run efficiently. What diet *really* needs to be pushed is a "use common sense" one that rejects studies funded to sway one way or the other by some big agro/farming industry council! Much like our feathered friends, a wide dietary variety and plenty of fresh produce is our key to health!