Recipe share!

[Cannuck2007]

I thought it would be neat to share one of our favorite bird recipes.

Here is Mr. Maggie's!

Mr. Maggie's Egg Stuff

1 large carrot (grated)
1 apple (grated)
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
6 mashed hard boiled eggs (with shells)
1 jar organic babyfood fruit and vegtable mix
1/4 cup fruit pellets
1/8 cup seed mix
1/4 cup juice or water

Mix all ingredients together. If too runny add more oatmeal if too thick add more juice or water. Make in to balls and freeze. Store in freezer safe container thawing individual portions as needed.
Serve warm to your birds. Fresh veggies and or rice can be added as per your bird's preference.
Mr. Maggie loves this recipe and will often get right in to it, needing a bath afterwards. (No one ever said cockatiels were neat eaters!)

[sweetrsue]

You could just put them in an ice cube tray for freezing then bag the cubes!

[Cannuck2007]

You could just put them in an ice cube tray for freezing then bag the cubes!

That's a good idea! That's how I do my babyfood :) I do larger portions for big maggie though (ice cream scooped) and freeze them on a cookie sheet.

[sweetrsue]

Ok here's my bean mix:
I buy bags of dried beans for about $1.

1/2 cup pinto beans
1/2 cup navy beans (whits beans)
1/2 cup baby lima beans
1/2 cup Garbonzo Beans (chick peas)
1/2 cup lentils
1/2 cup split peas
1/2 cup barley

Soak all these overnight. next morning rinse soaked beans and return to the pot with the water level about 2 or 3 inches higher than the beans. Cook on stove top at medium heat for about 30 mins. Then add

1/2 cup wild rice

cook for an additional 20 mins then add

1/2 cup Quinoa
1/2 cup hulled millet (optional)

cook for an additional 20 min.

Turn off heat and allow to cool for about an hour. Hopefully the water will be completely absorbed at this point. Rinse and drain the add about two cups fruit pellets, or however many you think looks pretty. They will absorb some moisture and become soft. This makes a huge batch and you could certainly cut all the ingredients in half. I put the mixture into glad containers to freeze so I only have to do this once a month.

[AngelsMom]

Thanks for sharing the cool recipe! :) Angel will be trying some new foods soon!

[sweetrsue]

High Protien Birdy Bread
6 Oz. ZuPreem fruit blend pellets
2 cups cooked beans (Navy, lentils, garbanzo, pinto, etc)
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup reg. flour
3 eggs
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup raw carrots, chopped in blender
1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds
1/2 cup veg. oil

Cover pellets with hot water to soften. Mash. Add all dry

ingredients to pellets. Blend well. Puree beans, eggs, and

carrots in food processor or blender. Stir into dry ingred. to

make a thick batter. Add water as needed. Bake at 350

degrees 45-50 minutes. I bake these in the miniature muffins

pans so I don't have to cut and slice them. Freeze in

individual baggies.

Hope your birds enjoy it!

[Pugwinkle]

This is a great thread. I'm confused though about how often you would feed these foods to the birds? Is this given instead of seeds and pellets, or in addition? Also, the recipes seem to make an awful lot of food. Do you all have a lot of birds to feed that you make such big batches? I realize that it will go into the freezer but I doubt they want to eat the same thing over and over again so I am thinking that one would want to make several different recipes but it seems I would have it for a year in the freezer if I only have a couple of birds.

[Cannuck2007]

This is a great thread. I'm confused though about how often you would feed these foods to the birds? Is this given instead of seeds and pellets, or in addition? Also, the recipes seem to make an awful lot of food. Do you all have a lot of birds to feed that you make such big batches? I realize that it will go into the freezer but I doubt they want to eat the same thing over and over again so I am thinking that one would want to make several different recipes but it seems I would have it for a year in the freezer if I only have a couple of birds.

I feed this daily in additon to pellets and seeds, usually in the morning. I have a friend who is a breeder and she feeds only fresh foods and pellets. Her birds have never had seeds. A very healthy diet!

It does make a lot of food and I do make up a few different kinds and freeze it. I have at this time 7 birds. 6 cockatiels and an amazon. I also give some to friends that have cockatiels and lovebirds as well as the foster homes where I have birds placed. You can always decrease the recipes if you have only a few birds.

[sweetrsue]

I give mine the bean mix every other day as a treat in the afternoon. They still have their seed and pellets. Since my recipe is the same amount of everything it's real easy to reduce. You could do it with a Tablespoon of each of the ingredients.

[Pugwinkle]

I give mine the bean mix every other day as a treat in the afternoon. They still have their seed and pellets. Since my recipe is the same amount of everything it's real easy to reduce. You could do it with a Tablespoon of each of the ingredients.

I like that bean mix, I'll try it using 1/4 cup each at first.

[Cannuck2007]

Sue's bean mix is awesome! Today, Stella polished off what was in her cage so Butterball had none when he took his turn out of the nest box. Next thing you know there is a comotion in Harley's cage, yep ButterBall wanted some more bean mix and was eating Harley's. Needless to say I had to top off the dishes again. Mr. Maggie can't get enough of it either! It is great!

[sweetrsue]

It's so good to give to parent birds too! They love having a steady supply of soft warm (I always take the chill off mine when I feed it to them) food to give their babies. I give it to pairs with babies to feed twice a day. The babies turn out so big and healthy.

[skthurley]

Birdie Bread

1/2 cup of cornmeal
1/2 cup of rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of seed mix (I use a budgie mix)
1/2 cup of oat groats
1/2 cup fruit pellets
1/2 cup natural pellets
1 large grated carrot
1 small can of sweet potato baby food (make sure that there are no added ingredients)
2 tablespoon canned pumpkin (watch for added sugars)
1/2 cup of peas
1/2 cup of corn
1/2 cup of green beans
1 large chunk of shredded broccoli
1 cup of unsweetened apple juice (or orange juice)
1/2 cup of sprouted legumes
1 jar of baby food fruit (ensure no added sugars/ingredients)
1 mashed banana
1 mashed kiwi
1/2 cup of water

If too dry add some more water or apple juice or another can of baby food.


Mix well

Bake for about 45 to an hour.... or until a toothpick, when inserted, comes out clean.

It doesn't rise very well (i don't add an baking soda or powder as I worry about aluminum that may be in it, affecting the bird), but Jack loves it.

I often mix it with his rice/bean mixture and he gobbles it all up.

[lovinbirdies]

Wow those sound good even to me ... I bet Hedwig and Albus would love it too. Does it go bad after awhile in the freezer? I think I will have to go grocery shopping tomorrow for some of these things that I don't have. Thanks for the cool treat ideas.

[Bea]

This is the really simple birdy bread recipe i use:

1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1/4 cup polenta/cornmeal
1/4 cup crushed pellets
1 egg
1 tbsp baking powder (i leave this out)
1/2 cup water and/or fresh juice
1 cup chopped veggies/fruit/nuts/etc

Mix everything together, pour into a baking paper lined baking dish, bake for 20-30 mins on 200C or until a tooth pick comes out clean. I even have some pics cause i just made a batch yesterday! :D
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r78/birdybea/Birds/February32009-birds014Custom.jpg
All the ingredients ready to mix.

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r78/birdybea/Birds/February32009-birds015Custom.jpg
Mixed and in the baking dish

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r78/birdybea/Birds/January202008-birdsbread008Custom.jpg
Old photo but same recipe, Gracie enjoying some birdy bread.

Another one my birds have enjoyed is birdie cookies:
1 cup 5 grain cereal mix
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1/4 cup seed/pellets/nuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 an egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/4 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup pumpkin baby food

Mix everything together, dry ingredients first, then wet, spoon onto cookie tray (in whatever sized cookie lumps you want), bake for approx. 10 mins at a medium temperature.

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r78/birdybea/Birds/June242008-birdiesnacks010Custom.jpg
Cookie and Bailee (i almost didn't notice him) enjoying half a birdy cookie.

And last one is homemade avicakes, these were a hit with my fids as well.

2 cups cereal (something bird friendly of course, like cheerios)
2 cups pellets
2 cups seed mix
1 cup small pasta
enough honey to mix through the dry ingredients to make moist (easiest to warm honey first)
any nuts or dried fruits and veggies you would like to add

Mix all ingredients and spread out on cookie tray, bake on lowest possible temperature for as long as it takes for the honey to thicken everything and start to dry out, it's easiest to cut into pieces when warm. Can be stored in the freezer.

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r78/birdybea/Birds/May252008-miscbirdpics039Custom.jpg
Snicky-baby eating some crumbled homemade avicake.

I'm going to try making homemade nutriberries tomorrow, if they go down well i'll share the recipe! :D I also want to add that i decrease or increase the recipes depending on how much i want to end up with. For example i used double everything in the birdy bread i made yesterday, but when i made avicakes i only used about half. :)

[skthurley]

Every morning for breakfast Jack gets this:

Cooked: Quinoa, coucous, amaranth, brown rice, dried peas, whole wheat pasta

Raw: Corn, carrots, broccoli, peas, green beans, cauliflower, cucumber, romaine lettuce, parsley, cilantro, Grass (grown from red and white millet seed mix), green and red peppers, sweet potatoes and any other veggie I feel like adding

Sprouts: Oat groats, canary seed, niger seed, red and white millet, mung beans, green lentils, and adzuki beans.

Cooled and all mixed together.

I make a large batch, freeze into small containers and dethaw as needed.

I will sometimes add cayenne pepper or cinnamon, or crushed red pepper for added flavour

I will added add some hemp seed and/or flax seed.

And once a month a tiny bit of garlic is added for medicinal value

[Danielle]

I never thought of using couscous, that's a really good idea. I kind of do something similar to what you do, I blend quinoa, chick peas, lentils and various raw veggies into a big batch, divide it into portions and freeze it. The veggies almost always go ignored, but they love the chick peas and quinoa.

I guess I'll add it since it's a bit different, but I adapted Bea's fantastic bird bread to suit my tiels, who will always ignore vegetables in favour of grains, bread and seeds.

I basically blend my cup of vegetables in a processor until it's a souplike consistancy. I don't leave in any 'bits' for them to pick out, because I know they'll probably ignore it. You will have to add more bread ingredients to compensate for the added liquid. I probably ended up doubling the bread recipe, using two eggs, about double the flour etc.

I don't have an exact recipe because I always kind of cook by feel rather than measuring things out, but if you puree the vegetables and mix the bread part seperately, then blend it together by hand or in a processor you get a nice smooth mix that looks just like bread when it's baked.

It's perfect for junk food junkie tiels like mine, they don't even know they're eating their veggies and it goes down like regular bread as far as their concerned.

[skthurley]

LOL! I do that do with my birdie bread, and even Jack's breakfast mash. He is too picky when things are in big chunks, so I run everything through the food processor til it's a mushy mess. This way I know he's getting a bite of every veggie and getting all the nutrients

[LilQtBear]

I thought it would be neat to share one of our favorite bird recipes.

Here is Mr. Maggie's!

Mr. Maggie's Egg Stuff

1 large carrot (grated)
1 apple (grated)
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
6 mashed hard boiled eggs (with shells)
1 jar organic babyfood fruit and vegtable mix
1/4 cup fruit pellets
1/8 cup seed mix
1/4 cup juice or water

Mix all ingredients together. If too runny add more oatmeal if too thick add more juice or water. Make in to balls and freeze. Store in freezer safe container thawing individual portions as needed.
Serve warm to your birds. Fresh veggies and or rice can be added as per your bird's preference.
Mr. Maggie loves this recipe and will often get right in to it, needing a bath afterwards. (No one ever said cockatiels were neat eaters!)

okay, so I know this is an older post and I apoligize if this sound like a stupid question. But on the oatmeal, is it cooked or raw??? :blush:

[Cannuck2007]

okay, so I know this is an older post and I apoligize if this sound like a stupid question. But on the oatmeal, is it cooked or raw??? :blush:

Never a stupid question here:D

I just use the regular baking oats and throw them in raw. You could cook them as well, just depends on your bird's preference. This is one of those anything goes recipes.

[sweetrsue]

I have revised my bean mix. Or maybe you could say it's evolving. I doubled the rice and quinoa and eliminated the baby lima beans. I don't put the lentils and the peas in 'till after the overnight soak and first cook. Some times I put pasta in. Also I have switched to Zupreem natural pellets.

I buy bags of dried beans for about $1.

1/2 cup pinto beans
1/2 cup navy beans (whits beans)
1/2 cup Garbonzo Beans (chick peas)
1/2 cup barley (optional)

Soak all these overnight. next morning rinse soaked beans and return to the pot with the water level about 2 or 3 inches higher than the beans. Cook on stove top at medium heat for about 30 mins. Then add

1/2 cup split peas
1/2 cup lentils
1 cup brown or wild rice

cook for an additional 20 mins then add

1/2 cup Quinoa
1/2 cup hulled millet (optional)

cook for an additional 20 min.
After it's done cooking eliminate any excess moisture and add 2 cups Zupreem Natural Diet.

[Kaoru]

I found a recipe for nutriberries:

Homemade Nutri~Berries

1 C dried fruit of your choice
2 TB coconut
1/2 c old fashioned oatmeal, uncooked
1/4 c seed mix of any kind
1/4 c pellets, your choice
2 TB honey or molasses

Put first 3 items in a blender/food processor and blend. Add the rest of the ingredients--it will be sticky! On a greased or parchment paper lined cookie sheet, roll balls of various sizes and put 1" apart. Bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 min. Check at 15 min to make sure they are not brown, but set. Cool and store in a tightly covered jar.

have not tried it yet, gonna try it shortly :)

[RobinWalters]

These are some wonderfull recipes! Can birds eat the regular white bread or is that bad for them?

[DallyTsuka]

I have a recipe i tried for my tiels and they love it so i want to share
Birdy Rice balls

Cooked rice
dried fruit of your choice (i used cranberries, raisons, and papaya)
a little bit of cinnamon

put it all into a blender and then roll into little balls and cover them and put them in the fridge for a little while. after theyve cooled off a bit and have held their shape, you can serve them to the birds :)

here's a photo of them
http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x448/DallyTsuka/310_6582.jpg

[lperry82]

I have plenty of rice that i haven't touched hmmm I will try that casey :)

[DallyTsuka]

its very quick to make too :) sticky though lol

[lperry82]

is it just plain rice

[DallyTsuka]

i use white rice, but brown rice is better i think... healthier. but you need to add dried fruit and cinnamon to it... kinda like a birdy rice pudding lol

[Mentha]

Not sure this is a recipe, but it was time to clean out the cabinets, so I threw a bunch of stuff together. here goes.....

This made a lot, the house still smells.

1 box jiffy corn bread mix
3 cups jiffy baking mix
6 eggs, with shells washed.
6 cups premium hookbill seed mix (it has bits of dried fruit in it)
3 cups chopped dried fruit
6 dried pineapple slices chopped
1 bag stuffing mix
2 cups cooking oats
1 cup wheat germ
1 can corn drained
1 can mixed veggies (green beans, limas, corn, carrots) not drained
4 squash washed and chopped
1 banana with peel intact, washed
2 dollops of peanut butter
a few drops of bird vitamins
a couple tablespoons of scraped cuttle bone
a couple shakes of cinnamon
a couple shakes of garlic powder
a couple shakes of parsley flakes

In a large bowl mix all dry ingredients & squash
in food processor mix canned veggies, banana, peanut butter, vitamins, and eggs until pureed
pour wet over dried and mix, add water until all the dry is moist, but not wet. about the consistency of cookie batter.

scoop into regular sized greased muffin baking tins and bake at 350 until a toothpick comes out clean, cool, and bag. Freeze bags of muffins until ready to serve. Feed 1/2 muffin for every 4 cockatiels or other small bird, 1/2 muffin for a large parrot.

[nwoodrow]

wow these are all great recipees, now if i could get my stubborn birds to eat it, instead of buring it under newspaper or dumping the dish, anyone have a clew as how to get birds to try new things, my birds go crazy over ricecrispies but no matter what i do i havent gotten them to try anything else. ive even got most of the recipees from Cockatiel Cottage in a recipee book so that if i find a hit i dont have to hunt it down again.

[Mentha]

Birdie Granola- I was trying to make nutriberries but didn't have enough honey

2 cups dried fruit & veggies chopped (I used pineapple, mango, strawberries, celery, carrots, raspberries, raisins, prunes, papaya, apples, dried hot peppers, & squash) I dehydrate my own fruits & veggies so I already had the mix in my freezer.
2 cups oat meal (not quick oats)
1 cup pellets
1 cup budgie seed
1 cup cockatiel seed (without sunflower seeds)
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tbs honey
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried parsley

put about half of the oats and the chopped fruit & veggies in a food processor and chop
Pour into a large bowl and mix with remaining oats, spices, pellets, and seeds and mix
add peanut butter and honey and coat everything really well
Spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 15 minutes, let cool and bag or jar.

[Mentha]

computer hiccup- double post

[geenz]

Home made Birdy Muffins
(makes around 12 muffins)

1 cup seed mix
1 cup egg & biscuit
1 cup summer fruit muesli
1/4 cup diced capsicum (aka bell peppers)
1/4 cup banana chips (broken up)
1/2 cup cooked rice
4 eggs (including shells)
2 tbsp honey
1 chicken stock cube

I just mix this all together and squish it into a muffin pan, since it hasn't got flour it doesn't rise so you can fill the muffin cups up to the brim. I usually bake for around 20 minutes on 160 celsius (320F) or until they're firm to the touch. If the mix is too wet add a little more egg and biscuit, too dry add a little water. It doesn't necessarily have to be the exact combination of ingredients, I just use whatever veggies/fruit happen to be in the fridge at the time :p

My tiels just love these, the two of them get a half muffin each day to share :D

[Mentha]

What is egg & biscuit?

[geenz]

Egg & biscuit mix, it's a powdered rearing/dietary supplement :D

[Mentha]

So it's like egg food? got it :D

[MissCV]

i tried to make my first batch, they didnt cook properly. :(

The mixture must have been too thick. I couldnt exactly find all the ingredients listed in everyone elses recipes so this is what i tried:

1 cup egg & biscuit
1 cup seed mix
1 cup apple juice
1 egg
1 cup of blended vegies (pea, brocoli, carrot, pumpkin, capsicum)
1/4 cup wholemeal flour

Ill attempt a second round this weekend and i think ill leave out the egg & biscuit and just use flour. The mixture didnt seem that thick when i was mixing it, but it just wouldnt cook through!

Lucky my tiel loves me regardless of my cooking skills ;)

Great thread though, thanks for the recipes so far everyone...

[JaimeS]

I just made my veggie/grain mash and thought I would share my recipe. It is one a breeder gave me and she gave me permission to share.

Green pepper (cut into small pieces)
Yellow pepper (cut into small pieces)
Red pepper (cut into small pieces)
1 bag frozen veggies (corn, peas, carrot, green beans) thawed or steamed
1 cup sweet potato (diced and steamed)
1 cup butternut squash (diced and steamed)
1 cup popcorn kernels cooked with 2 cups water on low in crockpot for 6-8 hours
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup cooked wheat pasta
Sprinkle with wheat germ
Sprinkle with flax seed
Mix well and put in snack size ziplock bags to freeze.
Can refrigerate for 3-4 days.

All my birds love this and I give it to them everyday along with a leafy green veggie and whatever fresh veggie I have :)

[srtiels]

JaimeS, the tiels will still needs some seed in the diet, and pellets if they eat them.

[JaimeS]

Oh yeah, they get seeds and pellets too! They are all good eaters :) I give them this when they have out of cage time because I don't like putting fresh foods in their cage.

[meaggiedear]

I have a recipe i tried for my tiels and they love it so i want to share
Birdy Rice balls

Cooked rice
dried fruit of your choice (i used cranberries, raisons, and papaya)
a little bit of cinnamon

put it all into a blender and then roll into little balls and cover them and put them in the fridge for a little while. after theyve cooled off a bit and have held their shape, you can serve them to the birds :)

here's a photo of them
http://i1182.photobucket.com/albums/x448/DallyTsuka/310_6582.jpg

I did this recipe. I used brown rice instead of white and I added a TINY squirt of honey. And I used dried mango and dried pineapple. And the cinnamon of course. Grey loved it!