Birdie cornbread recipe

[Andromeda]

This is my birdie cornbread recipe---it's based on a few I found online but I spent some time in the kitchen tonight tweaking the recipes I found and I'm really happy with the result. It's moist (instead of dry and crumbly) and has just a hint of sweetness (I tasted the end result myself) but doesn't contain any refined sugar.

It also contains no milk products, no oil, no salt, and no eggs.

It's a great way to sneak in vegetables (and fruits) to picky eaters and you can optionally add some pellets if you like! You can also optionally make it organic.

It's also bird approved, my GCC and brown-headed parrot wolfed it down.

1 C cornmeal
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 C apple sauce (no sugar added)
1/2 ripened banana, mashed and combined with 1/4 tsp baking powder
8.5 oz. various baby food veggies (sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, squash, etc.)
2 oz. fruit juice (100% juice, no sugar added)
1 1/2 C frozen mixed veggies

Spray an 8x8 glass (NOT non-stick/Teflon/PTFE which is POISONOUS to birds) pan with PAM and pour mixture into pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool and cut into bird-sized portions. Store in freezer and defrost as needed.

For the baby food I used a Green Beans, Pears & Peas blend and a Sweet Potato, Apple, Carrot & Cinnamon blend but you can use whatever you like!

For the fruit juice I used cran-grape.

[GreenWing]

I'm definitely going to try this, perhaps for Tiki's birthday. Thanks for this, Andromeda!

[Kristin]

sounds awesome! I'm going to try it for my guys too

[Utoomom]

This is my birdie cornbread recipe---it's based on a few I found online but I spent some time in the kitchen tonight tweaking the recipes I found and I'm really happy with the result. It's moist (instead of dry and crumbly) and has just a hint of sweetness (I tasted the end result myself) but doesn't contain any refined sugar.

It also contains no milk products, no oil, no salt, and no eggs.

It's a great way to sneak in vegetables (and fruits) to picky eaters and you can optionally add some pellets if you like! You can also optionally make it organic.

It's also bird approved, my GCC and brown-headed parrot wolfed it down.

1 C cornmeal
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 C apple sauce (no sugar added)
1/2 ripened banana, mashed and combined with 1/4 tsp baking powder
8.5 oz. various baby food veggies (sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, squash, etc.)
2 oz. fruit juice (100% juice, no sugar added)
1 1/2 C frozen mixed veggies

Spray an 8x8 glass (NOT non-stick/Teflon/PTFE which is POISONOUS to birds) pan with PAM and pour mixture into pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool and cut into bird-sized portions. Store in freezer and defrost as needed.

For the baby food I used a Green Beans, Pears & Peas blend and a Sweet Potato, Apple, Carrot & Cinnamon blend but you can use whatever you like!

For the fruit juice I used cran-grape.

Awesome...its a keeper..thanks, will have to try it. Also its easy..thanks~~

[Andromeda]

Glad some of you are going to give it a try! Let me know how you and your birds like it!

I really wanted to make a healthy bird veggie-cornbread without butter, oil, milk, eggs, or refined sugar so that's why I experimented and when it came out looking and tasting good I thought I'd share. It's really easy to make; takes about 10 min. (or less) to just whip it together.

I cut it up into 30 little squares and stored it in the freezer. I've been defrosting a piece each day and it's still moist so it keeps well.

[zaftig]

Awesome recipe! We're a gluten-free household so I'll be subbing various non-wheat flours for the whole wheat. I also intend to use aluminum-free baking powder. Awesome that it freezes well, I've had to throw out quite a bit of birdie bread throughout the years because I make too-big batches.

[Pralina]

cool recipe!!! I'll write it down in my birdie cookbook and I'll try it once my frozen stash is empty!

by the way, could you integrate crushed pellets in the recipe.... what would you replace? some of the flour or the cornmeal ?

[Eurycerus]

I wish there was a like or save button on here because I need to remember this! Maybe I'll email it to myself. Thanks!

[healthyaddict]

Oooo! I'll have to try this out soon! Might start with normal corn bread to make sure he likes it first.

Do you think mixing in veggie pieces would be ok? Or is it better to stick with baby food? What about pellets?

Also, did you use the banana & applesauce as an egg substitute? I ask because my tiel doesn't seem to like fruit. I usually use ground flax seed anytime I need egg for binding.

I tend to eat vegan a lot and modify recipes to make them so. Here's a site with some good substitutions, most of which a bird friendly. (http://nutranews.nutrasource.com/vegan-alternatives-to-get-you-smokin/#sthash.D8DhW1TJ.dpbs)

[Andromeda]

Do you think mixing in veggie pieces would be ok?

The recipe calls for 1 1/2 C of frozen mixed veggies so there are veggie pieces in there but you could use fresh if you wanted.

Or is it better to stick with baby food?

The baby food is really a substitute for milk so if you leave out the baby food you will have to use some other kind of liquid but the baby food is really nice because then there's "hidden" veggies so even if the bird picks around the mixed veggies there are still veggies in the bread itself.

What about pellets?

I'm sure you could add pellets but I haven't done so personally so I don't know what a good amount would be.

Also, did you use the banana & applesauce as an egg substitute? I ask because my tiel doesn't seem to like fruit. I usually use ground flax seed anytime I need egg for binding.

The apple sauce is a substitute for butter. Without it the bread would be really dry. It also contains some natural sugar so it helps make the bread tastier ("normal" cornbread recipes call for sugar whereas this one does not). Trust me, Doctor won't notice that there's some apple sauce mixed into the cornbread. I tasted it myself and it just tastes like less-sweet cornbread; it doesn't taste like fruits or vegetables at all.

The banana is an egg substitute so if you really think the bird will be totally put off by the banana (even though the bread doesn't taste like banana) you could use your flax seed as a substitute for that.

You didn't ask about the fruit juice but in case you were wondering I noticed the mixture was a bit dense and dry so I added fruit juice until it was a better consistency (it ended up being 2 oz.). You could use water but again, it helps to add a little sweetness to the bread since it doesn't have any added sugar.

I tend to eat vegan a lot and modify recipes to make them so. Here's a site with some good substitutions, most of which a bird friendly. (http://nutranews.nutrasource.com/vegan-alternatives-to-get-you-smokin/#sthash.D8DhW1TJ.dpbs)

Thanks for the link. I was vegan for a number of years and although I am now just a vegetarian I still don't eat or use eggs so I do a lot of substitution in recipes.