ABC Chop For Beginners

Making chop was a daunting task for me to contemplate starting, I'd been doing a lot of reading on here and other places but still, the actual idea of me making chop in a large quantity and freezing it for my birds was a bit scary to say the least! I'd always given "some" fresh to my birds but after recently getting my Ekkie pair I knew that "some" wasn't good enough. They had to have more variety on a daily basis than what I had been doing (guilty as charged!) With the help of Stephen (Anansi) Dani (SilverSage) and Laura (labell) they gave me the courage to tackle chop. Thanks you guys!

Here's what I put in my chop


Brown Rice (Cook)
15 Bean Mix (Cook)
Corn
Snap peas
Red grapes
Bananas
Apples
Pomegranates
Kale
Asparagus
Broccoli
Turnips
Sweet Potatoes (Cook)
Cucumber
Bell Peppers (red, green, orange, yellow)
Squash
Raddishes
Carrots
Pumpkin

I put the bean mix and the rice in a large crock pot overnight on keep warm and turned it up on high this morning bright and early at 5am. Worked like a charm! I forgot that the Sweet Potato had to be cooked though so ended up doing that later:54: I made a larger batch than I had anticipated, I guess I was having so much fun just walking down the produce aisle and tossing things into the cart. It didn't look like a lot until I started putting it all together and chopping everything I spent 5 hours chopping! I had to mix it in a 10 gallon tote because I ran out of large bowls and wanted everything to be evenly mixed. Anyway, enough rambling and on to the pics!

You can see Flower and Sydney enjoying it! That made every bit of it worthwhile! Sydney wouldn't even come up for air long enough for me to take a pic

Sounds good! I know what you mean about how much you end up making! I only have 1 little bird and end up filling a HUGE 16" stainless steel bowl every time I make chop!

No pics???

Just fixed the pics Amanda! Lost my signal or something and they didn't attach. 2 of them are sideways....

Looks good, Zilla would toss out the broccoli! Picky brat bird that she is.

Love the red food beard and the green no head...LOL I guess they approve!

I know! I just checked their bowls and they are pretty much empty, only a couple of pieces and Sydney is STILL eating!

My question:
Can the mix be frozen? If so, all of it together?

I freeze mine in portion size small bags, so I can defrost one meal at a time.

I freeze mine in ice cube trays then transfer the cubes to a airtight container. Ice cubes seem to be a good size for a green cheeck.

I froze the whole kit and kaboodle in 1 quart freezer bags

Why not use a food processer for most of it? Wouldn't that be way faster and easier.

Five hours is a LONG time to chop...

Ann333 said:

I freeze mine in ice cube trays then transfer the cubes to a airtight container. Ice cubes seem to be a good size for a green cheeck.

Click to expand...

I've done that one too... Individual portions for each treat cup. Then you just pop one out into each treat cup, nuke it for 30 seconds or so, and there you go!

TIME FOR BREAKFAST!

Birdman666 said:

Ann333 said:

I freeze mine in ice cube trays then transfer the cubes to a airtight container. Ice cubes seem to be a good size for a green cheeck.

Click to expand...

I've done that one too... Individual portions for each treat cup. Then you just pop one out into each treat cup, nuke it for 30 seconds or so, and there you go!

TIME FOR BREAKFAST!

Click to expand...

It is soooo fast and easy! I also use the blender... I'm not chopping for 5 hours....nope, not gonna happen haha

Wow! Looks yummy, Sidney and Flower seem delighted with the recipe.

That sounds and looks brilliant!
I ask everyone but how long will you leave the chop in the cage/to be eaten for or do your guys just demolish a serving in one go?

Zilla's is usually gone in a couple of hours, but I wouldn't leave it more than about 3 hours or so. Kind of depends on how warm your house is for how long it takes to start to spoil.

Birdman666 said:

Why not use a food processer for most of it? Wouldn't that be way faster and easier.

Five hours is a LONG time to chop...

Click to expand...

I know! I used my kitchen aid mixer for grating the carrots but everything else was chopped. Wouldn't running it through a food processor make everything juicier?

I like to chop by hand so I can control the size of each thing better, and yes a food processor would make everything juicier.

I was afraid that a lot of the nutrients would be lost with the juice so that's why I did it by hand.

Sunset_Chaser said:

Birdman666 said:

Why not use a food processer for most of it? Wouldn't that be way faster and easier.

Five hours is a LONG time to chop...

Click to expand...

I know! I used my kitchen aid mixer for grating the carrots but everything else was chopped. Wouldn't running it through a food processor make everything juicier?

Click to expand...

Yes that is the reason I stopped using the processor it just turns some of that stuff to mush even pulsing on low. I would much rather control the size because I have learned that some things they prefer a larger chop on and others like the greens I like to do a very fine chop so that it mixes in and coats everything well. Plus it is way easier to just clean a knife, my husband still cringes watching me chop. I am fast and knock wood have never cut myself while chopping only once when I was washing the knife and it was pretty bad!

I haven't owned a microwave in over 15 yrs so we thaw out frozen stuff the night before.

The chop looks sweet, Melissa! And your ekkies both look VERY pleased with the fruits of your labor. Thanks for sharing those pics!