My first Chop

[Sheeji]

So I decided to start my first chop. Even though I was working for one parrot, shopping, washing, chopping, cooking, draining, bagging, freezing, washing it took me from 11:00 am to 5 pm. With interruptions from kids and phone calls and lunch.
I didn't have as much variety as some of the recipes say but for the first time I think I did OK.
I had:
Vegetable pasta
Brown rice
Black eyed beans
Kidney beans
Sweet potato (cooked of course)
Corn
Red, yellow, green peppers
Carrots
Turnip
Beetroot
Pineapple

I think I might add other stuff before serving depending on what's available, nuts, cilantro, fenugreek, chili peppers
Let's see how Leo likes it tomorrow

 

[Lullx]

Congrats on your first chop! It looks great!

I did my first big batch a few weeks ago and it took me about 5 hours as well. I hear it gets easier the more you do it. I have smaller birds, but three who regularly eat non-seed food (my budgies have been really slow to transition over to eating veggies and the like).
All of that hard work was totally worth it though. Instead of taking 20 minutes every morning to make fresh chop, I can just pull a portion out and have their food ready in a few minutes. It's amazing!

Before I did that huge batch, I did a fresh-chop of a few days' worth. It was pretty much bird salad. Since it wasn't being frozen, I was able to put fresh fruit in it as well. It honestly looked and smelled really good and I was tempted to steal a few spoonfuls of that one.

For your next batch, may I suggest a few things? Since they need greens, I found that broccoli and steamed brussel sprouts hold up really well to being frozen and thawed.
I'm still experimenting with new things, but I personally love sharing recipes and the like, so I hope I didn't come off too awkwardly here.

 

[Sheeji]

Let's hope it gets easier than this.
And not at all I appreciate your advice and that's what this forum is all about. I'm pretty new here but love the interaction between members and genuine concern for each other's FIDs.
I thought of broccoli since Leo loves it but they had really sad looking broccoli at the supermarket here. I didn't think of Brussels sprouts. In fact Leo has never tried them. Will get some for him at the next visit.

 

[Lullx]

I'm new here as well, so I'm still learning about the type of atmosphere this forum has. I really like it so far

My monsters had never tried brussel sprouts prior to me making the chop, but they seem to really like it. They can also eat the little leaves that are often left on broccoli crowns. I used to throw those away!
I used to buy a lot of frozen vegetables and heat them up each morning (and let them cool of course!). My guys really like sweet peas from the bag, so I put those in my chop as well.

I'd also suggest experimenting with different pasta shapes. My guys go crazy over spiral pasta, but aren't so excited by elbows or cut up ziti.
I bet Leo would love whole spiral pasta if he hasn't tried it yet!

 

[Minimaker]

I'm having way more luck getting my birds to eat greens now that I'm sprouting beans for them. They started out chewing them up and dropping them but I've noticed it's transitioning into them actually eating some of them. They eat the beans off the ends and nibble the fresh greens. I picked up a mix of bagged beans at the store and soaked them for 24 hours. After that you just rinse them twice a day and grow your own greens. Go to ebay and type in a search on "sprouting jar" and you'll see a variety of ways to grow sprouts inexpensively. It ends up being less expensive and more healthy for the birds in the long run. You can even sprout regular bird seed mixes as long as they have no pellet food in them.

 

[Lullx]

It's safe for them to eat the raw, soaked beans that the sprouts are growing out of?

I can't eat beans so I never bought them prior to having my birds, but I read a lot of warnings about making sure they were cooked properly. Or does soaking them for the full 24 hours make them safe?

(Sorry for the silly question. I'm new to this and like learning)

 

[JerseyWendy]

Care must be taken with some beans: BBB - Phytohaemagglutinin

I use beans in my recipe, and now cook them much longer due to this:
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/22594-cook-portion-freeze-my-recipe.html

 

[Minimaker]

I don't use kidney beans. I use chick peas, garbanzos, green beans, quinoa, sunflower, safflower, alfalfa and flax. Those are alright aren't they?

 

[JerseyWendy]

Yup, they're perfectly fine.

 

[Lullx]

So it's just kidney beans that I need to avoid?

I have garbanzos I put in their chop last time and am hoping to try sprouting.
What other beans are safe to sprout?

It cooked my garbanzos for about two hours because I was terrified of undercooking them and getting my monsters sick x_x

 

[JerseyWendy]

Britt, I still use the kidney beans (they are in the mixed bean bag I get), and I just make sure and cook them thoroughly. As long as you cook them well - and yes, 2 hours is most definitely well cooked - you'll be fine.

 

[Sheeji]

I used cooked kidney beans in my chop is that fine??? They were well cooked to the point of being mushy.

 

[Sheeji]

:26::26:My sprouts went sour on me. I couldn't figure out what the horrible smell was when I woke up yesterday

 

[JerseyWendy]

I used cooked kidney beans in my chop is that fine??? They were well cooked to the point of being mushy.

Yes, if they're mushy, they're well cooked, and perfectly fine.

:26::26:My sprouts went sour on me. I couldn't figure out what the horrible smell was when I woke up yesterday

:11: Smells pretty bad, doesn't it?

Did you rinse them with fresh water several times a day? In the warm months I have to be careful with my sprouts because they can go from looking nice and plump to smelling rancid fairly quickly. I refrigerate mine as soon as they 'pop' and get their little tails.

 

[weco]

Squeezing a little lemon juice into the mixture will retard any mold, mildew & rancidity that wants to grow on your sprouts & won't harm them.....

You may read that GSE or grapefruit seed extract is a wonder cure & miracle antibiotic, but you might want to read an archived thread about GSE... http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/47378-gse-grapefruit-seed-extract.html

Oh, Kalidasa, though it's belated, it is just citric acid and many of us keep lemons or lemon juice more often than grapefruits & GSE.....lemon juice will act as a preservative too ! ! !

 

[Sheeji]

:11: Smells pretty bad, doesn't it?

Did you rinse them with fresh water several times a day? In the warm months I have to be careful with my sprouts because they can go from looking nice and plump to smelling rancid fairly quickly. I refrigerate mine as soon as they 'pop' and get their little tails.[/QUOTE]

I had to keep washing them??
As a primary teacher I have laid them on damp cotton wool in yougurt tubs and sent them home with children so many times I thought I knew what I was doing. Gotta read that sprouts thread properly then:31::31:

 

[JerseyWendy]

I had to keep washing them??
As a primary teacher I have laid them on damp cotton wool in yougurt tubs and sent them home with children so many times I thought I knew what I was doing. Gotta read that sprouts thread properly then:31::31:

When I sprout, I first soak whatever I'm sprouting overnight. And you can add a little bit of pure lemon juice. The next morning you dump whatever you are sprouting over a strainer and rinse thoroughly. Now I use a stainless steel strainer, and leave the seeds/beans/whatever you are sprouting inside the strainer. I then rinse the strainer multiple times throughout the day. A few days later you should see little 'tails' emerging. Voila' - all done.