Gloop II

[Pajarita]

I experimented with a gloop recipe made with ingredients found in a single, inexpensive supermarket (Shoprite, to be more precise) and came up with this (mind you, it makes for a VERY large amount of gloop so you might want to make half of it):

- One 24 oz bag of kamut (the Shoprite site did not have a picture of it so I am using another link to show you but it costs $3.79 in Shoprite: http://www.iherb.com/Bob-s-Red-Mill-Org ... productads)

- One 32 oz of wheat (https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 9978003362)

- One 26 oz of hull-less barley (again, no picture but it was $2.89 in Shoprite: http://www.iherb.com/Bob-s-Red-Mill-Bar ... 37-g/35551)

- I couldn't find any oat groats so I got steel-cut oats which I just added after the grains and rice were cooked (https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 1518010423)

- One 21 oz of Rice Select Royal Blend (you need to rinse very thoroughly under running warm water first: https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 4401760412)

Put everything in a stock pot and cook (bring to a boil and then reduce heat but keep the water bubbling softly) in lots of water for 35 to 40 minutes- Once it's cooked and drained, split into two halves, freezing one half for later use and preparing the other half with the following:

- Four cans of small white beans (you need to rinse under running warm water first: https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 1331123358)

- Three cans of white hominy (rinse well under running water and drain thoroughly before adding: https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F3954#/search/goya white hominy?queries=sort%3DRelevance)

- Four 20 oz bags of frozen chopped broccoli (https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 1190402724)

- One 24 oz bag of frozen peas and carrots (https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 1190400263)

- One 20 oz bag of frozen butternut squash cubes (I couldn't get a picture but the brand is Seabrook Farms and it costs $2.49 https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 1206644803)

- One 40 oz bag of frozen corn (https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 1190402632)

- 4 lbs of yams or sweet potatoes (nuked in a Potato Express bag -4 minutes twice and four at a time)

- Half a 24 oz bag of flax seeds (https://shop.shoprite.com/store/D98F395 ... 9978024206)

Once everything is mixed, split into individual daily portion into baggies and freeze them.

This will give you a SUPER LARGE amount of gloop and you would still have the other half of the grains for the next batch and, as you can see, it's much, much cheaper than any pellet out there and, in my opinion, much, much healthier!

[Navre]

When I make gloop I end up with enough to freeze into 8 dozen muffin tins. I have to mix it up in a five gallon bucket.

(My dad was a chef in the army. I guess he taught me portion control.)

[shiraartain]

How long does it last? Also, with my birds, i've noticed that the longer something is frozen, the more reluctant they are to touch it. One night in the freezer is okay, but more than that and they're just barely nibbling.

[Wolf]

Shiraatain, that is really strange. None of my birds seem to have any idea as to how long anything has been frozen much less to react to it in the manner that you are describing. Makes me wonder If you are doing something differently than most of us in the process of freezing your birds food.

[seagoatdeb]

Both my birds do not like frozen near as much as they like fresh. Their very favorite is fresh with me eating when they are, and that has led to me eating more healthy too.

[Chantilly]

Thankyou Pajarita

[Leanna]

It nice to see that a diet that does not include pellets is being promoted on this forum. I see it is covering all the basics, but there is a lot of cooked food there. Cooked food is not natural to parrots, although a little would be good if needed to be cooked to be digestible. I was looking for some good natural uncooked chops or mashes using raw vegetables and fruits, and sprouted or soaked seeds nuts and legumes, and have not found them yet on this forum. Can anyone direct me to where a post on uncooked natural chop making might be. I do make my own natural chops, but I am always researching, looking for better recipes that supply all the needed nutrients more efficiently.

[Wolf]

There are several reasons for using a cooked food for our birds , I will share my thoughts and I am sure that others may have their own reasons and will perhaps share them as well.
It is true that birds don't break out a pot and cook their food like we do, but it is also true that we can't duplicate their natural diet in most places in the world so very few of the foods that we feed them are a part of their natural diet. We feed our birds beans and other legumes which actually need to be cooked in order for them to be safe for our birds to eat, otherwise we would poison our birds. Some foods are also more digestible if they are cooked, and then there is the issue of how long the food can safely sit out at room temperature without producing toxic bacterial growth in the food and cooked foods are safer much longer than raw foods such as chop.
These are my main reasons for choosing cooked over chops. However, if you are available to change out the food before it can start going bad, then chops are absolutely wonderful foods to give our birds. We should give our birds more fresh raw foods in their diet and I try to do this by offering them a fresh raw fruit, vegetable and a leafy green every day.
I am sure that there are a few chop recipies on here and you could use the search box to find them, but perhaps we should make more of an effort to include more chop and mash recipies on the forum, for those who prefer them to the cooked food that many of us prefer. Since you already use these foods, would you be interested in starting such a topic here?

[liz]

Unless you pick your veggies from your own garden every morning, frozen veggies have more nutrition. Once picked, produce starts loosing it's value. Frozen veggies are frozen within an hour of picking. I don't think I would take frozen veggies, cook them and refreeze them. Most frozen veggies they will eat raw once thawed. They have to be at lease room temp.
I use zip lock bags to portion ahead of time for frozen to give them a variety. I also use zips for my grain so I don't have to think about portion or variety at that time of the morning.

[Pajarita]

It nice to see that a diet that does not include pellets is being promoted on this forum. I see it is covering all the basics, but there is a lot of cooked food there. Cooked food is not natural to parrots, although a little would be good if needed to be cooked to be digestible. I was looking for some good natural uncooked chops or mashes using raw vegetables and fruits, and sprouted or soaked seeds nuts and legumes, and have not found them yet on this forum. Can anyone direct me to where a post on uncooked natural chop making might be. I do make my own natural chops, but I am always researching, looking for better recipes that supply all the needed nutrients more efficiently.

I agree with Wolf, when it comes to grains, cooking them al dente aids in their digestion, especially good when you are feeding something that is not part of their natural diet. Pulses need to be cooked (and thoroughly, at that!) or are toxic and they are such a great source of fiber and protein that it would be a shame not to include them in their diet. But there are three more reasons why I choose gloop over chop.
1) my birds don't like chop. They hate mushy stuff and chop, because it's made out of finely chopped (almost pureed) raw produce turns watery when it thaws. My birds like their gloop with a coarse texture (so they can pick and choose what they will eat first although they do end up eating the whole thing) and not watery at all.
2) Chop is made out of fresh produce and, as Liz stated, frozen is better nutrition.
3) Chop is, usually (I am not saying this is the case with you), used to replace fresh produce. I prefer to feed gloop accompanied by fresh produce on the side for a couple of reasons:
a) the actual leaves, stalks and chunks or whole fruits make for more natural foraging (you should see my cockatoos holding a whole Romaine leaf in a foot while happily munching on it).
b) I don't think it's healthy for a bird to eat everyday the same combination of veggies/fruits. For one thing, it has to be boring, for another, the range of produce offered is more limited than if you feed a different leafy green, fruit and veggie every day. And last but not least, it requires a HUGE amount of knowledge to make it right! People tend to look things up and choose what appears to be the most nutritious of the choices and make the chop with them so you have chops that are eaten day in and day out for months and months made out of kale, for example. Now, kale is, indeed, very nutritious but it's also very high in sorbitol, an indigestible sugar that causes digestive upsets (gas, bloating, diarrhea, etc. and I know this to be true because I can't eat it) - or another nutritious green like spinach, which happens to be very high in oxalates which bind calcium and inhibit its absorption. People complain about parrots not eating enough greens and it's the truth that they usually don't so they make it their business to ensure they do by feeding them chop but, in reality, this is not a bad thing per se because, as long as they are getting a nutritious diet high in fiber and vitamins from other sources, consumption of too many greens is not really good for them.

I tell you, I've been doing research on nutrition and parrots natural diets for over 20 years and I would not trust myself to make a good chop!