Chop mix and some questions

[camo]

Hi all,

Well yesterday I had to make some more chop, so I thought I would take some photo's as I went. Without the assistance of a breeder (Gizmo and Pebbles being adopted), I have relied heavily on what I can read and from advice from this forum.

I would love to give my fids all fresh just prepared foods, but being honest with myself this just isn't something I could maintain, so when I first read about "Chop", I knew this was the most sustainable and cost effective way for me to provide my fids with a good diet.

They are given 1/2 cup of chop each twice a day, and a combination of Kiwi fruit, passion fruit, mixed berries, small peppers, snow peas, granny smith apples, carrot, corn, grapes, basically what I might pick up during the week when I go shopping. I also buy frozen Peas (which they actually love and will either get as rewards during training, or as another addition to their meal, although for this mix I have added peas and corn).

I do always worry about diet, and what I should be adding or minimising, and I would be open to any suggestions that people may have (I am by no means suggesting I have worked out a perfect diet for my fids).

Here is a picture of most of what I put into the chop this time (it does vary a bit each time, depending on what is available, and also I try to change the herbs around, in the hope that this changes things up month to month). Generally my chop would cover about 35 days (this is not for any reason other than what easily fits in the freezer), but this mix will last 2 months (I don't generally like to do that much, as I worry about freshness, but I am scheduled for some surgery and want to make sure I am on top of it before then).



My process if fairly simple, I use a Kitchen aid processor to cut all the vegies down to size, previously I have gone finer to force them to eat a bit of everything (as Pebbles would try to pick through her food for her favourites), but the last two times I have gone a bit courser. This seems to lock more of the moisture in, as I was spending a lot of time straining when I cut really fine. Sometimes there will be larger chunks mixed in, I don't see this as a big problem, if I see it, I simply throw it back into the processor, if I miss it, then it just goes in the mix (a special larger piece for them on the day)

So what I put in this batch of chop:

Fresh Veggies

* Broccoli (about 3 small bunches)
* Brussels Sprouts (about 1kg)
* Cauliflower (one full)
* Carrots (didn't get a picture) (2kg)
* Green Beans (about 500g)
* Celery (about 8, half sticks)
* Red Capsicum (Peppers), I forgot to get a photo of this after being chopped (2kg)
* Sweet Potato (3 large)
* Pumpkin (one full butternut pumpkin)
* Green Kale (1 bushel)
* Parsley (again forgot to get a photo of this chopped) (1 bushel)
* Mint (1 bushel)
* Red Kale (1 bushel)

 

[camo]

The photo's above give an idea of how fine I have cut everything (sorry for the ones I missed), but not the quantity, I have listed them above as best I could recall, I used to try and fit all I could in the processor, but have since found it is quicker to process in smaller amounts.

Other items

* brown pasta (about 250g), I break this up into 1" lengths
* Wild Rice mixed with brown rice (1 1/2 cups)
* Cuscus (100g)
* Quinoa (mixed) (1/2 cup)
* Rolled Oats (750g)
* Shredded Coconut (500g)
* Frozen Peas (2kg)
* Frozen Corn (1kg)







As you can imagine this quantity of food can take up a lot of space, and it starts to get a bit overwhelming when you are trying to mix it all together. As I don't have a massive bowl to mix everything in, I use my kitchen sink (after a thorough clean of cause). Instead of using a plug (which I figure is the most likely to carry bacteria, I lay down some baking paper.


Here is a picture of all the food (except frozen peas and corn), all processed down and ready to be mixed. There is some already in the sink (as I ran out of containers), this I think gives a good indication of the veggie to other mix, the pasta, rice, rolled oats, etc is in the bowl, top right.



This mix was so large I had to divide everything into half and mix it in two separate batches. The photo above was taken just before I halved up the mix. It takes a fair amount of time to process all the food, so as I fill a bowl, I put it in the fridge.

One sink full of chop mixed and ready for bagging

 

[camo]

Then half the mix bagged (I use a 1 cup measure and put them into sealable sandwich bags). I try to squeeze out all the air before sealing.



Then the second batch bagged



Once this is done, I have some large zip lock bags which I put 20 meals into, remove the air and then put them in the freezer. I had to steal some space in the in-laws freezer this time as the batch was so large.

I keep 4 bags in the fridge, and pull a fresh bag out as I use a bag. This seems to be just the right time for them to properly defrost. Then it's simply a case of putting half the bag in each bowl. The extras (I mentioned above) are usually added to the foraging toys, or kabobs (usually 2 from the above list per day, so say half a passion fruit each in their bowl, and 6 snow peas placed throughout the cage toys).

Other than this, they get the occasional pumpkin seed, as a training reward (if I'm not using peas).

If you have managed to get this far, without falling asleep, then here are some questions I have been asking myself lately and would appreciate any input:

Some Questions

* Is there too much rice, pasta, and other stuff in the mix?
* Should I be adding anything else? As an example I am worried I don't have any sprouts, or beans and they get very little to no seeds in their diet.

* I have been taking the skin off the pumpkin, should I be leaving it on?

As I have said, I am certainly no expert, and diet is always something that I worry about with my fids, so if anyone has any feedback, I would certainly appreciate your input.

Thanks,

Cameron

 

[DexMom]

That looks amazing. Gizmo and Pebbles are a couple of lucky ekkies! I'm not an expert, so I can't comment on the proportions, but it looks terrific and yummy.

The first batch of chop I made came out kind of wet and soggy. So, in my second batch I decided to leave out the peppers and make them one of the fresh foods I add daily, to try and cut down on the moisture. Outside of that, the mix I use is very similar to yours. I've never used coconut or pumpkin, I'll have to add those to my next batch. I also use one bag of 12 bean soup mix (soaked and cooked).

 

[Terry57]

I think your chop sounds amazing! My friend who owns the rescue and I also do large chops, and it is so hard to mix. She has a HUGE tub we use for mixing.

I don't think you have too many of the grains, we use a lot of those in our chop.
We always cut the pumpkin in half and place it cut side down on a grate in a pan with some water in the bottom. Usually we add a stick of cinnamon to the water. Then after baking we do remove all the skin for use in the chop.

You can always add a 15 bean soup mix, but I truly think your chop sounds wonderfully nutritious! If you do add beans, please make sure to soak them overnight first and cook well

 

[camo]

Thanks for the input, very much appreciated.

I had issues with wet chop initially, the lesson I learned was some things need to go into the strainer and have the moisture pushed out of them (not fun), but this mix had the most peppers I have put in, often I just get the small ones and put them on the kabob's. Pebbles has just been seeing how quick she can pull the pepper off the kabob lately (instead of eating it), so I've put them back in (her record is 5seconds). The oats also helps remove excess moisture, and bigger chunks reduces the moisture.

I think I will add the bean mix, will need to look for this 15 bean mix, thanks for the suggestion. I'm assuming it would be used normally in soup mixes?

Cheers,

Cameron

 

[drlisaort]

Looks totally amazing to me!

 

[Nakiska]

Wow!! You have inspired me to start chopping!

My birds get fresh stuff daily, usually what ever I'm cooking or eating in the moment from our orchard or garden.

Making up a batch of chop just might make my life a whole ton easier, especially during my work week.

The bean soup mix someone mentioned, I always find bags of it in the dried beans section of our grocery store.

Thanks so much for taking the time to make this thread!

Toni

 

[katie_fleming]

Want to come over and make Jasper's next big batch for me?!?!

Looks AWESOME. I think squash might be nice to try as well. In fact I just bought some (frozen) organic squash for Jasper to try this week in his breakfast. When I get home I'll see if he's eaten any of it lol.

 

[camo]

Making up a batch of chop just might make my life a whole ton easier, especially during my work week.

The bean soup mix someone mentioned, I always find bags of it in the dried beans section of our grocery store.

Thanks so much for taking the time to make this thread!

Toni

It is certainly a time saver overall, but be aware that you need to have a few hours (especially the first few times, I am probably two times faster at making chop than when I first started). Oh and don't make the mistake I made a few months back, I processed it all and then put it in the fridge to finish the next day. Stirring freezing cold chop, is not fun

I will have to check my grocery store, see if Australia has this bean mix

Want to come over and make Jasper's next big batch for me?!?!

Looks AWESOME. I think squash might be nice to try as well. In fact I just bought some (frozen) organic squash for Jasper to try this week in his breakfast. When I get home I'll see if he's eaten any of it lol.

If you pay for the flight, I will be there. Squash sounds like a good one to add too. Do you know if it needs to be cooked, or can they eat it raw? Might be a good one for me to add to my list of extras to be given separately perhaps.

Cheers,

Cameron

 

[katie_fleming]

If you pay for the flight, I will be there. Squash sounds like a good one to add too. Do you know if it needs to be cooked, or can they eat it raw? Might be a good one for me to add to my list of extras to be given separately perhaps.

Let me ask for a raise first

I gave it to him raw since it was in his breakfast (all day) food, but when I make up his next batch of dinners I'll cook it.

For him, breakfast = raw vegetables, dinner = cooked vegetables, etc

 

[Taw5106]

WWWOOOOWWWW!!!! Can I order some, lol?

 

[KentNick]

I always do fresh food but would love to get into doing a big chop and freezing, I've got a couple of questions though.

With the rice, quinoa etc do you let these cool first before freezing them? Do you then just serve cold from the fridge? Can they be reheated in the microwave?

 

[camo]

I always do fresh food but would love to get into doing a big chop and freezing, I've got a couple of questions though.

With the rice, quinoa etc do you let these cool first before freezing them? Do you then just serve cold from the fridge? Can they be reheated in the microwave?

I really did struggle with the guilt of fresh vs frozen. My concern with chop was that you need to strain some things really well, for instance the peppers (capsicum), needs to be squeezed against the strainer (not everything needs to be strained, and courser cuts reduces this, but if you squeeze it between your hands and get juice, then it needs to be strained). When I do this I always think about what nutrients are going down the drain. So for that part I do think fresh has to be best, but I also know that when I prepped there food fresh, I couldn't maintain the variety without an excessive amount of waste, so I found myself compromising on variety.

I think the best thing about chop is you can make a big batch or a small batch, so I think anyone who was doing a great job at providing a variety of fresh, but had some days where it was too much to maintain, could continue to provide fresh meals, and then have the chop ready for the days fresh is not possible.

The rice etc, I allow to cool before I add it to the mix, I do this as I don't want to raise the temperature of the veggies, this is also why I refrigerate what I am processing as I go. My thoughts are with freezing, you want your food to hit the freezer as fresh as you can, so for me keeping the veggies refrigerated once cut is a priority. The only suggestion I do make though is not to process and then refrigerate overnight, running your hands through processed veggies that has been refrigerated overnight to mix it, soon turns from really cold to downright painful, I did it once and it wasn't fun.

I do just serve the chop straight from the fridge (basically I always have 3 bags in the fridge, so when I pull one out, I take another one from the freezer to the fridge). I don't see any reason you couldn't serve it warm. I have also mixed it with a warm mash before.

Cheers,

Cameron

 

[jibbs1977]

The photo's above give an idea of how fine I have cut everything (sorry for the ones I missed), but not the quantity, I have listed them above as best I could recall, I used to try and fit all I could in the processor, but have since found it is quicker to process in smaller amounts.

Other items

* brown pasta (about 250g), I break this up into 1" lengths
* Wild Rice mixed with brown rice (1 1/2 cups)
* Cuscus (100g)
* Quinoa (mixed) (1/2 cup)
* Rolled Oats (750g)
* Shredded Coconut (500g)
* Frozen Peas (2kg)
* Frozen Corn (1kg)







As you can imagine this quantity of food can take up a lot of space, and it starts to get a bit overwhelming when you are trying to mix it all together. As I don't have a massive bowl to mix everything in, I use my kitchen sink (after a thorough clean of cause). Instead of using a plug (which I figure is the most likely to carry bacteria, I lay down some baking paper.


Here is a picture of all the food (except frozen peas and corn), all processed down and ready to be mixed. There is some already in the sink (as I ran out of containers), this I think gives a good indication of the veggie to other mix, the pasta, rice, rolled oats, etc is in the bowl, top right.



This mix was so large I had to divide everything into half and mix it in two separate batches. The photo above was taken just before I halved up the mix. It takes a fair amount of time to process all the food, so as I fill a bowl, I put it in the fridge.

One sink full of chop mixed and ready for bagging

Do you cook everything or just defrost and process it? BTW this is 1st thread I've found with actual measurement. So big thankyou as the amount time I've seen people say look at my chop but with no measurements : ).

 

[Christinenc2000]

Great thread. I am going to attempt this Saturday. Going with the Beans / pasta . You did a great job !!

 

[Uglow]

Some Questions

* Is there too much rice, pasta, and other stuff in the mix?
* Should I be adding anything else? As an example I am worried I don't have any sprouts, or beans and they get very little to no seeds in their diet.

* I have been taking the skin off the pumpkin, should I be leaving it on?

I can't comment on the ratio regarding rice and pasta in the mix. but it doesn't look to be over the top. I always caution on the side of less rice and pasta and more fresh stuff. once you get the hang of sprouts, they're easy and they come highly recommended, so I do give them to my baby almost daily. I read that beans mixed with rice gives you a complete protein...don't take my word for it. But maybe some cooked beans wouldn't hurt. As for the skin, Uglow doesn't eat the skin but I'm pretty sure he likes to peel it so I've left the skin on all my organic squashes. Just make sure they've been thoroughly washed and all the potential ground bacteria and fungus is cooked away.

This looks amazing btw. Fantastic work and i'm sure your babies appreciate it.

Good luck with the surgery. wishing you a quick recovery.

 

[camo]

Thanks everyone.

How time flies. Coincidentally I just did another chop mix yesterday (I think I have done 2 since this thread, I usually make about 2 months worth at a time), the recipe is similar, although I do change a few things each time, which I think is a good thing. I've added a few different mixed beans (boiled) to the equation as per the suggestions and it is working well.

For anyone thinking of trying chop, I would certainly recommend it (of cause it doesn't mean you don't add fresh stuff to the meals, it just helps add variety without waste and also cuts down on the prep work, although a 2 month batch is a big project, that's 2 months for 2 birds). The main thing I have discovered since starting with chop is:

* Moisture is your enemy. Cutting less fine, or straining certain foods is a must (I basically process and then squeeze some through my hand, if a lot of juice comes out, that item gets squeezed in the strainer. A wet chop is not good (my mix has some dry products which soak up some of the moisture).

* Have lots of bowls. My mix fills the large bowl of the sink twice. I mix my chop in two batches so it is not out of the fridge for too long while I am bagging (I am in Australia though so we get warm days).

* Freeze as soon as possible, and try to remove as much air as possible. I use ziplock bags and then a larger ziplock bag (fits 20 bags in).

* Thaw in the fridge (I find 2 days in the fridge is the right time for my mix), so when I take a bag out of the fridge I replace it with one from the freezer, and always have 2 days worth in the fridge.

Not sure if any of this will be of help to someone, but these are just some hints from what has worked for me.


Cheers,

Camo

 

[camo]

Do you cook everything or just defrost and process it? BTW this is 1st thread I've found with actual measurement. So big thankyou as the amount time I've seen people say look at my chop but with no measurements : ).

None of the veggies are cooked, the only thing that goes in that is frozen is the frozen peas and frozen corn (they just go in frozen). I do try to clean everything that isn't going to be cooked well. I tried cooking pumpkin and sweet potato and this just made the chop too wet, so since then, all of these have been uncooked.

I have now added a couple of different mixed beans to the list (about 3 cups measured uncooked), which I then cook according to the instructions (I imagine I could cook them less, but I have read it is bad for beans to be given to birds under cooked, happy to be corrected on this, if someone knows otherwise).

The following:

* brown pasta (about 250g), I break this up into 1" lengths
* Wild Rice mixed with brown rice (1 1/2 cups)

I half cook (so they still have a bit of firmness too them, and these:

* Cuscus (100g)
* Quinoa (mixed) (1/2 cup)

I cook to instructions (although I don't add oil to the Cuscus).

I find the rolled oats and to a certain extent the coconut takes the moisture out of the chop, but I do focus on getting juices out of the mix and I strain the cooked items well. I started off making my chop really fine, and this required a lot of straining (you can't just sit it in the strainer either, you have squeeze it to get the moisture out), now that I am sure my 2 are eating a fair portion of everything, I cut it a bit less fine and this reduces the need to strain.

Obviously the measurements don't need to be followed (basically I walk the isles looking for what is fresh and add a bit of some and substitute when needed), but I put them in, because like you, I didn't find many threads with measurements and the first time I made the chop I felt overwhelmed at the idea of what and how much to use.

Cheers,

Camo

 

[dazg]

Then half the mix bagged (I use a 1 cup measure and put them into sealable sandwich bags). I try to squeeze out all the air before sealing.



Then the second batch bagged



Once this is done, I have some large zip lock bags which I put 20 meals into, remove the air and then put them in the freezer. I had to steal some space in the in-laws freezer this time as the batch was so large.

I keep 4 bags in the fridge, and pull a fresh bag out as I use a bag. This seems to be just the right time for them to properly defrost. Then it's simply a case of putting half the bag in each bowl. The extras (I mentioned above) are usually added to the foraging toys, or kabobs (usually 2 from the above list per day, so say half a passion fruit each in their bowl, and 6 snow peas placed throughout the cage toys).

Other than this, they get the occasional pumpkin seed, as a training reward (if I'm not using peas).

If you have managed to get this far, without falling asleep, then here are some questions I have been asking myself lately and would appreciate any input:

Some Questions

* Is there too much rice, pasta, and other stuff in the mix?
* Should I be adding anything else? As an example I am worried I don't have any sprouts, or beans and they get very little to no seeds in their diet.

* I have been taking the skin off the pumpkin, should I be leaving it on?

As I have said, I am certainly no expert, and diet is always something that I worry about with my fids, so if anyone has any feedback, I would certainly appreciate your input.

Thanks,

Cameron

Do you cook all of the above or do it raw before freezing? I am new to all this and getting my 1st Ekkie in 6 weeks.