The previous batch of food was far from being all eaten, but the arrival of the long Labour Day week-end made it very tempting to prepare another batch right away; for one, there was a great selection of produce at the Farmer's market, as well as a lovely crop of beans from my own garden, and I got to enjoy a day of "rest" on Saturday (if you don't count going to the market, which I rather enjoy) before starting the two day long procedure of chopping and cooking everything that goes into the mix.
Definitively a larger variety of vegetables than what I had in August!
I found the August mix to be a bit too heavy on the grains and legumes so I ensured I got LOTS of vegetables this time. While quite a few of them are always included, I did get a few additional ingredients and larger quantities of everything in general.
Ingredients:
-Black kale (pictured - from the Farmers market)
-Rainbow chard (pictured - from my garden)
-Beets & tops (pictured - from the Farmers market)
-(Very) sweet yellow corn (pictured - from the Farmers market)
-Red bell pepper (pictured - from the Farmers market)
-Broccoli (pictured - from the Farmers market)
-Orange cauliflower (pictured - from the Farmers market)
-Rainbow carrots (pictured - from the Farmers market)
-Brussels sprouts (pictured - from the Farmers market)
-French green beans (pictured - from the Farmers market)
-Scarlet runner beans (pictured - from my garden)
-Some heirloom type of green beans (pictured - from my garden)
-Chilies (pictured - from my garden)
-Quinoa
-Chick peas
-Adzuki beans
-Mung beans
-Organic purple barley
Day 1 - all veggies (except the beets) cut and steamed
As I mentioned before, I added more vegetables than last time, but I also cut down how many grains and legumes I added (by quantity and totally omitting adding lentils this time around). I was more happy with the end result; while there was still plenty of beans to entice the birds, they also had to at least forage through vegetables to get to them (and this generally means more veggies ingested).
Day 2 - everything mixed together!
In the end, I think I got 5 weeks worth of food out of this bath - not bad!
4 comments:
This looks wonderful!! I would like to try the same for my red bellied & Senegal, but having never done it before would you share more details of how you put it together?
I am interested in whether you use all parts of all of the veggies, whether everything has to be cut to roughly the same size, and how long did you steam to cook the mix?
I also wonder how long this lasts you? I understood cooked food should not be given after 24 hrs as it begins to spoil quickly. Since this clearly lasts you longer than 24hours, do you freeze the mix once cooked?
Last but not least, can you suggest what proportions you think would provide a good balance between legumes and veggies?
Thanks for sharing!!
Wendy (and Pippa & Penny!) ;-)
Depending on the source of the veggies, if the green part (such as for the beets) is safe, then I'll use those which are nice. I do tend to peel in-soil grown vegetables, as I'm not exactly sure I can get them quite as clean as I'd like, and peeling is easier than scrubbing for a long time.
Portions do get freezed, and I generally get a bag out of the freezer the night before so it has a chance to thaw out. However, as I take two days to make the whole thing, I have had cooked stuff for over 24h and it was fine (as long as it was in the fridge). Smell and touch to see how things are.
I try to cut things roughly the same size, but as I cook each batch of different vegetable on it's own, there might be a little variance. Cooking time varies, I keep an eye on things, I want them still a little crunchy.
As for balance, I really mostly eye it. It changes from batch to batch - and since they generally touch everything and that this is only what they get for dinner, not available in their cages at all time (since it might spoil faster there), I don't worry too much about it. I do weigh them frequently and they seem quite stable, vet visits also always state that they are quite healthy :)
I'll add that I do try to get a higher balance of vegetables than the other stuff. Otherwise, they might just pig out of the legumes (they particularly like chickpeas)
The first picture is just awsome!!!
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