Eclectus Chop! =)

[LolaLowlie]

Wowee I haven't been here in quite a while! Good to be back =)

So I just made birdie chop last night, and I am so excited to share. I watched this awesome video of this woman you may or may not have heard of her "Patricia Sund". Well she did a step by step on how to make chop. I had never made chop, and I was pretty intimidated by the idea of making it. Now that I've done it, it seems so silly! But I really wanted to see how its done so I YouTube searched for a video... I couldn't find any that I could really walk away, and feel like I could do it myself. Then I found Patricia's video, its on the longer side around 20 minutes, but worth it! It's a vegetable chop so no fruit, the dryer the chop the less likely to have ice and freezer burn when you pack it away in the freezer. So! I followed pretty much what she used/did, and it came out great! Some vegetables give off liquid when chopped in the food processor so I strained them until most of it was drained off. Oh and I used my little 3.5 cup KitchenAid food processor from Target it was around $35. It worked great. You have to cut all your vegetables down evenly to process them anyway.

What's in my Chop:

Oatmeal (uncooked)
Dulce Flakes
Coconut
Wheat Grass Powder
Crushed Red Pepper
Amaranth - (cooked according to directions)
Quinoa - (cooked according to directions)
Barley - (cooked according to directions)
Whole Wheat Pasta spirals
Wild Blend Rice (wild rice, brown rice, whole grain,etc.)
Red Kale (bushel)
Green Kale (bushel)
Carrots (bushel)
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Red, Green, Yellow Bell Pepper
2 Jalapeño Peppers
1 Poblano Pepper
Water Crest (bushel)
Cilantro (bushel)
Red Cabbage
Zucchini

I think that's it... Anything I had to cook I drained really well. I got about 2-1/2 months worth of portioned chop.

I didn't put in sweet potato only because I usually use it warm, and mashed for Howie. In case he did take to the chop I wanted to have the mash to add in so he at least tasted the chop. Besides I think the warm sweet potato will be good with the cooler chop. Turns out Howie loves the chop just by itself! So next batch I will add in sweet potato.

So preparation to feed... I put the chop in his dish, then sprinkle in some sprouted Adzuki, Lentil, & Mung Bean (I kept these out of the chop so I can add in fresh), then some fresh fruit. Mixing it all together gets the chop all over everything so he can't avoid it. Not that he would, I am pleasantly surprised how well he took to it.

Here is the Link to watch Patricia Sund's Step by step video!

Chop. Shot By Shot | Parrot Nation

She used a few ingredients I couldn't find, or just left out =)

 

[MonicaMc]

I find that many birds tend to take to a chop/mash recipe faster than trying different single foods, because it's full of colors and textures! More "eye candy", thus more appealing! Looks like you did a great job!

 

[MomtoPercy]

Yummy!! Chop is, in my opinion, a parront's best weapon against malnourishment. Good job!

 

[Dinosrawr]

That's awesome! Chop is great. I actually find I enjoy cooking and preparing food for Avery more than I do myself... everyone always comments on how she eats healthier than they do, haha!

I'll have to try this recipe myself. And your food processor is adorable! I may have to go get one like that myself instead of hand chopping everything

 

[LolaLowlie]

Thank you everyone!! I did enjoy making it, and looking forward to doing it again. My husband always says the birds eat better then us too! Mash has been Howie's diet since I've had him. He just gobbles it down I'm elated he is taking to chop and it's a big time saver. Also since you really can't just go buy bagged bird food for the ekkies (I just don't feel comfortable unless it's fresh) this is the next best thing! I'm sorry I didn't this sooner.

 

[Katyo91]

I'm hoping to make my first batch of chop soon! just have to get all the ingredients and i may just have to get a cute food processor like yours too! It sure does look intimidating to do! especially since i'm not so much a veggie fan myself and don't know half of the ingredients lol

I do have a juicer at home... it shreds the veggies in one side and juice comes out the other..do you guys think it would work as a food processor kind of? like put the veggies through there and then mix the shredded pieces and juice back together once it goes through? sounds pretty mushy and messy though so im kind of iffy on the idea myself.i just wonder if it will freeze the same... haha

 

[skylala]

This is so great!
I've heard about Chop before but for some reason I had it in my head it would be too difficult/time consuming/expensive/I don't know.
I watched the video you posted and that, along with your post inspired me to buy a food processor and make my own chop!

Oats, spelt, wild and brown rice, quinoa, pasta, kale, broccoli and broccolini, paprika, oregano, chille, green/yellow capsicum, lemon grass, ginger, cinnamon, parsnip, silver beet, cauliflower and carrot. (I think that's it? lol)

It turned out great and he LOVES it! I was concerned he wouldn't eat it, he can be picky sometimes. It also turned out to be a lot cheaper then I expected (apart from buying the food processor) and didn't take too long to make. Score!

Why haven't I done this sooner?!

 

[Shimmerngspirit]

I had no idea I could give some of this to my baby. This s a great post!

 

[katie_fleming]

Looks great!! Well done! I just got a food processor like yours at Christmas, 1000000000x better than doing it by hand or with one of those hand held ones that I was using before.

 

[israel_gcc]

Huh, I'd never heard about preparing food for birds like this before. Thanks to whoever bumped this thread! Gonna have to try this.