It’s chop day!!🥬🥦🥕🔪

[chris-md]

Today is chop day in our household. And it’s an epic one! It’s a bit of a “clean out the pantry” chop, since I had a bunch of dried things (grains, legumes, etc) sitting around for over a year. Problem is i didn’t realize that just how much I had, so I’ve had to double everything else to keep up!

We’ve got two tubs here. You can see All the cooked grains/legumes in one tub. the other are the chopped up veggies.

Here’s what we have:

chickpea elbow pasta
Chickpeas
Adzuki beans
Mung beans
Green lentils
Red lentils
Quinoa
Amaranth
Spelt
Farro
Red kale
Red cabbage
Acorn squash
Pumpkin
Raw hulled sunflower seeds
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Bell peppers
Sweet potato
Jicama
Corn
Peas
Green beans
Pomegranate seeds
Ginger

ready for blanching

blanching in progress

finished product

i did some new stuff for this batch (cooked lentils/chickpeas/farro, etc…and used pumpkin and acord squash), and learned a few things. Overall I’d give this finished chop product a solid B-. Bit of a sticky/slimy texture, it not as bad as my last batch which used too much spaghetti squash.

I knew I was in trouble when:

1) the cooked grains looked shiny once in the tub, a sign of sliminess. Cooked legumes (lentils especially) don’t have a nice consistency for chop.

2) cooked legumes mash easily. Good lord, during the water removal process they WILL break apart and contribute a lot of mash to the mix, not really good for consistency.

3) any squash will be slimy. I knew spaghetti squash added significantly to a sad, slimy texture. But the pumpkin and score squash both clearly had slightly slimy textures even before I chopped them.

so basically, squash and cooked legumes can be problematic. Especially if they are half the mix like they are here. But I wanted to clear my pantry so it couldn’t really be helped. I used what I had.

so how much did this yield? 93 snack bags. 9 dang months of chop!! I usually do 3-4. All because I wanted to get rid of some extra grains! I really hope this will stay good for that long!

 

[wrench13]

LOL, CHris this looks like my freezer. We used to make individual servings and we had many a batch that big or bigger. Now I make each baggie for like 4 -5 days worth and just smack off a days worth from the frozen 'brick'. Hope Parker likes it.

 

[Scott]

Fantastic recipe Chris, finished product looks attractive and nutritious. Parker will be happy and hopefully thankful for your efforts!!

 

[Terry57]

Wow Chris, what a beautiful chop! There are so many colours and textures, I bet Parker is going to love it.
I haven't done a large chop to freeze in awhile, but seeing your pictures I'm feeling inspired.

 

[chris-md]

LOL, CHris this looks like my freezer. We used to make individual servings and we had many a batch that big or bigger. Now I make each baggie for like 4 -5 days worth and just smack off a days worth from the frozen 'brick'. Hope Parker likes it.

love it! Admittedly that’s too much work for me. I’m not a cooking fan so the idea that I would have to be whipping something up twice a week gives me anxiety!

 

[chris-md]

Fantastic recipe Chris, finished product looks attractive and nutritious. Parker will be happy and hopefully thankful for your efforts!!

thanks Scott! He approved so far. He only got a small sample, we still have two weeks worth of his old chop to get though. But he dug right into this!

 

[chris-md]

Wow Chris, what a beautiful chop! There are so many colours and textures, I bet Parker is going to love it.
I haven't done a large chop to freeze in awhile, but seeing your pictures I'm feeling inspired.

thanks friend! That was my aim., feed the rainbow and have different textures. Hope he likes the jicama. I might try to feed JUST that to him once and see if he likes it. I know I did!

 

[Terry57]

thanks friend! That was my aim., feed the rainbow and have different textures. Hope he likes the jicama. I might try to feed JUST that to him once and see if he likes it. I know I did!

Please update on whether he likes it...I have never used that or even tried it myself. What does it taste like?
I'd love to find a new ingredient to use.

 

[chris-md]

Wow Chris, what a beautiful chop! There are so many colours and textures, I bet Parker is going to love it.
I haven't done a large chop to freeze in awhile, but seeing your pictures I'm feeling inspired.

go for it

min actually kind of grateful for how this turned out, despite the slight sticky texture. This is inadvertently l grounded 50% in pulses/legumes, speaking directly to our conversation!

Please update on whether he likes it...I have never used that or even tried it myself. What does it taste like?
I'd love to find a new ingredient to use.

Think water chestnut: Not much flavor, all that fun sort of watery, crispy texture Slight green apple flavor, the texture is reminiscent of biting into some combination of water chestnut and apple pulp.

I get my inspiration from the international/tropical section of the grocery store, and enjoy exploring Asian grocery stores hence the jicama!

 

[Terry57]

go for it

min actually kind of grateful for how this turned out, despite the slight sticky texture. This is inadvertently l grounded 50% in pulses/legumes, speaking directly to our conversation!


Think water chestnut: Not much flavor, all that fun sort of watery, crispy texture Slight green apple flavor, the texture is reminiscent of biting into some combination of water chestnut and apple pulp.

I get my inspiration from the international/tropical section of the grocery store, and enjoy exploring Asian grocery stores hence the jicama!

You have every reason to be happy with this chop, it really is amazing. How long did it take you to squeeze the water out?

I'm definitely going to have Reg see if he can find some jicama, is it in the produce section?

 

[chris-md]

Usually I’m doing this on my own - eddie helps when he feels like it (our arrangement when we first brought Parker home, that’s for everything including any cleaning). Usually takes me 4-6 hours to complete the process.

I had help from eddie this time, thank god, given the size of this batch. We got it all done in under 3 hours: chopping, blanching, hand wringing, and bagging.

 

[Terry57]

Holy cow, that was fast for all that chop even with two people. I wish we were neighbours, I'd love to do a big chop with y'all.

 

[chris-md]

Holy cow, that was fast for all that chop even with two people. I wish we were neighbours, I'd love to do a big chop with y'all.

totally!!

oh, also for inspiration, ugly fruit subscriptions are great! Yes, you’ll get a lot of the same - lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc - but they also send in season fruits, some exotic stuff, etc. great opportunity to get new things coming to you as well.

 

[Terry57]

totally!!

oh, also for inspiration, ugly fruit subscriptions are great! Yes, you’ll get a lot of the same - lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc - but they also send in season fruits, some exotic stuff, etc. great opportunity to get new things coming to you as well.

Thank you for the recommendation! I'll have to see if that is available here, I hope so.

 

[Karlea]

Hi guys,
I'm new to this forum and ran across this thread. I have a few questions that maybe you guys could help me with.

I have a 12 year old Blue Crowned Conure that was given to me a few years ago and was on a pretty bad diet, I have been trying to get her to eat chop but with no luck. I have been told to have patients and just continue to give it to her and I have but that is a lot of waste and I'm worried she is not getting enough food. I have been getting her freeze dried food and she eats this more then she did the chop but really only after I crush most of it up. I also give her pellets with a bit of seeds in it, also give her alternating 1 different nut each day.

I also have a Cockatiel that I got very young and when I first brought her home and gave her chop she would eat some of it but now she won't eat it. I even get them veggies fresh from the garden. I wonder if I should really chop it fine, and reading chris-md's post they mention blanching, how in the world do you blanch chop?? Well actually I know how to blanch but how do you get all the water out of it? I so want to give my babies fresh foods but I'm just at a loss on what to do to get them to eat it. She also gets pellets and more seeds then my Conure does, neither one of them really eat to much of the pellets either,
oye vey!

Any help you guys have to offer would be so appreciated.

 

[kme3388]

Wow!! You go all out on the chop you make. It looks very colorful, and attractive. Did Parker take to it right away? Does he also pick out pasta, and his favorite things then leave the rest untouched?

 

[zeenie]

Today is chop day in our household. And it’s an epic one! It’s a bit of a “clean out the pantry” chop, since I had a bunch of dried things (grains, legumes, etc) sitting around for over a year. Problem is i didn’t realize that just how much I had, so I’ve had to double everything else to keep up!

View attachment 32292
View attachment 32293

We’ve got two tubs here. You can see All the cooked grains/legumes in one tub. the other are the chopped up veggies.

Here’s what we have:

chickpea elbow pasta
Chickpeas
Adzuki beans
Mung beans
Green lentils
Red lentils
Quinoa
Amaranth
Spelt
Farro
Red kale
Red cabbage
Acorn squash
Pumpkin
Raw hulled sunflower seeds
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Bell peppers
Sweet potato
Jicama
Corn
Peas
Green beans
Pomegranate seeds
Ginger

ready for blanching
View attachment 32302

blanching in progress

View attachment 32303

finished product

View attachment 32304


i did some new stuff for this batch (cooked lentils/chickpeas/farro, etc…and used pumpkin and acord squash), and learned a few things. Overall I’d give this finished chop product a solid B-. Bit of a sticky/slimy texture, it not as bad as my last batch which used too much spaghetti squash.

I knew I was in trouble when:

1) the cooked grains looked shiny once in the tub, a sign of sliminess. Cooked legumes (lentils especially) don’t have a nice consistency for chop.

2) cooked legumes mash easily. Good lord, during the water removal process they WILL break apart and contribute a lot of mash to the mix, not really good for consistency.

3) any squash will be slimy. I knew spaghetti squash added significantly to a sad, slimy texture. But the pumpkin and score squash both clearly had slightly slimy textures even before I chopped them.

so basically, squash and cooked legumes can be problematic. Especially if they are half the mix like they are here. But I wanted to clear my pantry so it couldn’t really be helped. I used what I had.

so how much did this yield? 93 snack bags. 9 dang months of chop!! I usually do 3-4. All because I wanted to get rid of some extra grains! I really hope this will stay good for that long!

View attachment 32305

Can you also use celery?

 

[chris-md]

Wow!! You go all out on the chop you make. It looks very colorful, and attractive. Did Parker take to it right away? Does he also pick out pasta, and his favorite things then leave the rest untouched?

he did!

He eats the pasta, sure. But everything else is largely too small for him to pick out individual pieces. The whole point of chop

 

[chris-md]

Can you also use celery?

I mean, yes. But celery is VERY watery and doesn’t defrost well. There are better things to use, like Swiss chard stems. Strip the leaves off stems, run the leaves through a food processor and chop up the stem.

 

[MissMac]

Today is chop day in our household. And it’s an epic one! It’s a bit of a “clean out the pantry” chop, since I had a bunch of dried things (grains, legumes, etc) sitting around for over a year. Problem is i didn’t realize that just how much I had, so I’ve had to double everything else to keep up!

View attachment 32292
View attachment 32293

We’ve got two tubs here. You can see All the cooked grains/legumes in one tub. the other are the chopped up veggies.

Here’s what we have:

chickpea elbow pasta
Chickpeas
Adzuki beans
Mung beans
Green lentils
Red lentils
Quinoa
Amaranth
Spelt
Farro
Red kale
Red cabbage
Acorn squash
Pumpkin
Raw hulled sunflower seeds
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Bell peppers
Sweet potato
Jicama
Corn
Peas
Green beans
Pomegranate seeds
Ginger

ready for blanching
View attachment 32302

blanching in progress

View attachment 32303

finished product

View attachment 32304


i did some new stuff for this batch (cooked lentils/chickpeas/farro, etc…and used pumpkin and acord squash), and learned a few things. Overall I’d give this finished chop product a solid B-. Bit of a sticky/slimy texture, it not as bad as my last batch which used too much spaghetti squash.

I knew I was in trouble when:

1) the cooked grains looked shiny once in the tub, a sign of sliminess. Cooked legumes (lentils especially) don’t have a nice consistency for chop.

2) cooked legumes mash easily. Good lord, during the water removal process they WILL break apart and contribute a lot of mash to the mix, not really good for consistency.

3) any squash will be slimy. I knew spaghetti squash added significantly to a sad, slimy texture. But the pumpkin and score squash both clearly had slightly slimy textures even before I chopped them.

so basically, squash and cooked legumes can be problematic. Especially if they are half the mix like they are here. But I wanted to clear my pantry so it couldn’t really be helped. I used what I had.

so how much did this yield? 93 snack bags. 9 dang months of chop!! I usually do 3-4. All because I wanted to get rid of some extra grains! I really hope this will stay good for that long!

View attachment 32305

How well does it keep in the freezer? Doers it go all mushy? New to all this thing.